BlogTalkRadio and #Queryfail

“Radio is the most intimate and socially personal medium in the world.” – Harry Von Zell

Harry Von Zell began his career as a radio announcer in the 1920s. He didn’t live long enough to hear about BlogTalkRadio but I think he may have been impressed by the technology that allows those who wish to host their own radio show the ability to do so. Here’s a little bit about BlogTalkRadio from one of their press releases:

“Launched in August 2006, BlogTalkRadio is a free, web-based radio talk show platform that allows any user with a phone and a computer to host a live, interactive radio show – no downloads or extra equipment needed. Hosts call into the service by phone to broadcast. Each show can accommodate unlimited live listeners. Upon completion of the live broadcast, each show is automatically archived as a podcast. Since the company’s launch, thousands of hosts have broadcast more than 200,000 shows. Many businesses are also utilizing the platform as a tool to extend their brand on web. Notable hosts include brands such as: Woman’s Day; Harper Collins; Hachette Book Group; PBS; Walmart; Sun Microsystems; and the Department of Defense.”

I bring this up because Wednesday night I was a guest on Christine Rose’s radio show. Christine is the author of Rowan of the Wood. Other guests included Heidi Thomas author of Cowgirl Dreams and David Odle, who recently acquired an agent and is now working with her to find a publisher for his book, Blue Redemption. It was great fun. The discussion first centered on agents. David had a good agent story and I had the bad agent story. Heidi and Christine are both still in the process of finding representation.

The other topic was #queryfail, where agents got together in real time on Twitter to discuss actual query letters while keeping the author’s identity anonymous. Read the March 5, 2009, The Swivet blog for more details.

Though my immediate response would be embarrassment had my letter been among those aired, I’d be so happy to find what I should have done better or shouldn’t have done at all that I’m confident I’d quickly forget about my mortification. The end result would be a much better letter to send out to a different agent. Though the four of us agreed on this subject, a lot of people are quite hostile to the agents that participated. I find their view shocking and fascinating.

Katherine Owens has written a blog on this subject which I think is not only right on but it’s also very funny. I’d recommend reading it.

Although being a talk show host has never been on my list of things I’d like to do, I enjoy listening when I have time and being a guest when invited. The programs don’t feature only new, relatively unknown writers. I ran across an interview with on Topp Shelf with Janet Evanovich. There are also many shows on topics other than books such as health, politics and music.

You may want to check out BlogTalkRadio for yourself. I’m not familiar with many of the shows, but along with Christine Rose’s show, I can recommend Morgan Mandel and Robert Reid. If you click on December 12, you’ll hear Robert interviewing me.

Would you want to host your own show? Do you listen to BlogTalkRadio? Do you have strong feelings one way or the other for #queryfail?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Harry Von Zell, blogtalkradio, queryfail, Christine Rose, Heidi Thomas, David Odle, Evanovich, Robert Reid,