The Author’s Guide to Media Training

Visions of becoming a bestselling author and gracing the stage of major media outlets like Oprah’s show dance in the minds of countless aspiring writers. But effective media training is required to turn that dream into reality.

In this guide, we’ll explore the comprehensive journey authors must undertake to legitimately earn major media exposure. From cultivating deep topical expertise to methodically building a local media foundation, studying target outlets, embracing platform-building, and aligning your mindset – this is the work necessary to master media training as an author. Let’s dive into the path to getting properly “Oprah Ready.”

Developing Expertise in Your Book’s Topic

When it comes to media training for authors, one of the most critical elements is developing true expertise in the topic you’re writing about. You can’t simply wing it or rely on being “discovered.” You have to put in the hard work to become an authority.

Marianne Williamson’s Journey to Mastery

This is exemplified by the story of Marianne Williamson. Before her book “A Return to Love” propelled her onto Oprah’s show and to international fame, Marianne spent four years lecturing for two hours every week on the principles of A Course in Miracles.

As Marianne describes it, “I wasn’t trying to get on The Oprah Show. I wanted to write a good book.” Yet through that consistent studying, teaching, and refining of her knowledge, she cultivated an unparalleled mastery of the material. By the time Oprah called, Marianne had effectively given over 200 lectures on the topic. Enough for the teachings to become second nature.

Becoming an Undisputed Expert

For media training success, whether your goal is Oprah or the local news, you must strive for that level of concentrated expertise. Identify the specific field or knowledge area where you want to be seen as an authority figure. Then go all-in on immersing yourself in it through teaching, writing, and researching. You want to be able to apply the concepts relentlessly until you can speak about it with unshakable confidence.

When you achieve that degree of subject mastery, media interviews and bigger spotlights become far more attainable. Producers and audiences will sense your depth of knowledge. You’ll no longer need to be “discovered.” Your expertise will position you as an undisputed expert worthy of major media attention.

Building a Local Media Foundation

While the ultimate goal for many authors is scoring big national media hits, the path to get there almost always starts locally. Establishing a strong regional media foundation is a crucial step in effective media training.

The Importance of Local Media

Aim for at least 12 local TV/radio interviews before even thinking about pitching larger national shows or publications. Ideally, you’ll want to hit over 100 local media appearances.

Why so many? Local media serves as vital training ground to hone your interview skills. It allows you to refine your pitching skills and build up those all-important video clips and credential. Earning coverage on local TV news, podcasts, talk radio, etc. allows you to demonstrate your expertise in a lower-stakes environment.

These local media experiences provide you with tangible social proof that makes you infinitely more appealing to bigger media producers. They can review your previous interviews and ee how you communicate ideas. You’ll be able to get a feel for what you’d be like as a guest.

Creating an Author Media Kit

Beyond just racking up local appearances, you’ll also want to package up those media highlights into an author media kit. This crisp, digital document should include your bio, book summary, credentials/background, sample interview clips, podcast segments, positive reviews/endorsements, and any other legitimizing materials.

A robust, thoughtfully-crafted media kit positions you as a credible, media-trained expert that the local stations have already vetted. It makes the decision to book you for that larger media opportunity much easier for producers. Consistent media training at a local level, combined with a strong kit, establishes the critical foundation for bigger things.

Studying Your Target Media Outlets

Once you’ve built up a solid local media foundation, the next major component of effective media training for authors is to deeply study and understand the specific shows, podcasts, or publications you’re aiming for.

Researching Outlets Aligned With Your Book

You can’t take a scattershot approach and blindly pitch every outlet under the sun. Focused research is required to identify the media entities that are a natural fit for the topic of your book and expertise.

Ask yourself, what are the television shows, podcasts, radio programs, blogs, newspapers or magazines that consistently cover issues relating to your book’s subject matter? Make a target list of both national and local/regional outlets that reach your ideal audience.

Then diligently watch, listen, and read those outlets. Study their formatting, the types of stories and guests they book, the overall tone and angle they take on topics related to your book. This firsthand research allows you to craft pitches and position yourself as a perfect fit for that specific show or publication.

Crafting Tailored Pitches for Producers

Media producers can spot a generic cut-and-paste pitch from a mile away. Part of professional media training is learning how to tailor your pitch to each individual outlet’s interests and production schedule.

Your pitch should directly relate your book’s premise and expertise to current events, trends or upcoming calendar hooks relevant to that specific show or publication. Use your research into the outlet to craft a concise, customized pitch that practically writes the intro segment for the producer.

When you nail this media training fundamental of custom-fitting your pitch to the interests of each target outlet, you multiply your chances of scoring coverage. It demonstrates you took the time to make their job easier as a producer.

The Shifting Media Landscape for Authors

While scoring publicity on major shows like Oprah’s was once the end-all, be-all for authors, the media landscape has dramatically shifted in recent years. Effective media training now requires adjusting your mindset beyond just chasing those traditional gatekeepers.

Moving Beyond Gatekeepers Like Oprah

Let’s face it – opportunities like being discovered for Oprah’s couch were always few and far between. But in today’s splintered media world, the power has dispersed even further from those singular gatekeepers and tastemakers.

Thanks to the internet and rise of social media, authors now have the ability to build a platform, cultivate an audience, and connect directly with readers without Oprah or any mainstream media outlet anointment. We’ve entered an era of disintermediation where the middlemen are being eliminated.

Just look at the staggering followings of individuals like Mr. Beast with more than 252 million YouTube subscribers or Khaby Lame with almost 162 million TikTok fans. Those self-made digital stars command more direct audience than Oprah ever did through her TV show. For savvy authors, this democratization of audience-building represents an unprecedented opportunity.

Leveraging Your Own Platform and Audience

Sure, major media hits still carry clout and can provide an authorial-career boost. But at our company, we train authors to focus first on developing your own sustainable platform and diehard reader community. Through consistent content creation, social media engagement, email newsletters, podcasting, and more, you can organically build a powerful platform that renders you largely “gatekeeper-free.”

This platform then gives you the ability to launch products, deepen connections with readers, and generate revenue – regardless of whether you land on the biggest TV shows. The path to author success no longer has to go through that narrow “Oprah or bust” funnel thanks to these new media realities.

So by all means, seek out traditional media exposure as part of a comprehensive media training approach. But always pair that with a strategic investment into fortifying your self-owned platform. That platform is a future-proof asset that will last longer than any overnight appearance on somebody else’s television stage.

Embracing the Journey, Not Just the Destination

At the heart of effective media training for authors is a fundamental mindset shift. Instead of being consumed by the desire for a singular “discovery” moment like landing on Oprah’s couch, you must commit to embracing the long-term journey of providing value to readers.

Avoiding the Trap of Just Wanting to be “Discovered”

We frequently encounter authors who are laser-focused on getting “discovered” by that big media break or coveted gatekeeper opportunity. Yet that scarcity mindset is ultimately self-defeating when it comes to media training success.

Investing all your effort into chasing that one elusive “make it” moment prevents you from fully committing to the consistent work required to truly move the needle. It causes you to overlook the smaller steps, put off building your own platform, and neglect deepening your expertise – all because you’re desperately hoping for someone else to anoint you overnight.

At Difference Press, we train authors to abandon that toxic “discovery” mindset entirely. Yes, experiencing a watershed media moment can provide a career boost. But pinning all your hopes on getting plucked from obscurity is an ineffective strategy that will likely leave you frustrated.

Consistently Providing Value to Grow an Audience

The path to media training mastery is to accept that there are no shortcuts – only a steadfast commitment to constantly creating value for your audience through your content, products, teachings, and expertise.

When you make this mental shift to focus on service over self-promotion, channels for media exposure will naturally open up. Reporters, podcasters, and producers will clamor to feature you because you’ve already demonstrated your ability to deliver tremendous value. You’ll attract media attention as a byproduct, not the main aim.

This is the rejection of the old gatekeeper mentality. You stop begging for a seat at someone else’s table and instead work on relentlessly building your own audience of diehard fans and readers. By embracing a mindset of servant leadership, “discovery” ceases to be the lofty goal – it simply becomes an inevitability somewhere along your journey to true thought leadership.

How Will You Sharpen Your Media Training?

Effective media training teaches authors to view major media exposure not as the sole measure of success, but rather a bonus achievement. The primary focus should be on consistently creating valuable content that allows you to build a robust author platform and loyal audience.

By mastering subject expertise, grinding through local media, studying your targets, embracing platform-building, and shifting from a “discovery” to service-based mindset, you’ll organically position yourself for media training victory. Major hits will inevitably follow as a natural byproduct of this comprehensive approach to dominating your niche.