Tips for Getting Booked on National TV

Serve, support and assist. When you're pitching to a national television show, your job is to add value, not to sell your book or be the star. Throughout the process, you need to be prepared to help in any (and every) way you can.

Being the most helpful guest the show staff ever worked with, while also delivering a stellar on air performance, can take you a very long way.

(Most bestselling authors I know refine this skill with professional media training, which teaches you how to balance self-promotion with delivering valuable content to viewers.)

Research is king. Before you write the first word of your pitch, you "need to know the audience, the people watching the show you're pitching." If you're pitching a morning show, for instance, your story should appeal to stay-at-home moms and seniors, who are most likely to be home during the day.

Short is good. Punchy is better. Given people's packed schedules and abbreviated attention spans, the length of your pitch definitely matters. "Shorter is better, punchy is best, and sexy is always good. Try to hook them in 9 or 10 sentences".

Be the squeaky wheel. The goal of your pitch is to get attention. Once you've done that, you'll need to follow up, often multiple times, by email and phone. Pitching major media, requires that you "aggressively pursue" each opportunity.

Work the system. Your initial point of contact at a television show is typically the booking department. Approach them first, but remember also to pitch the show's producer(s). The more points of contact you have, the better your chances of getting on air.

Never discount the "little gal." The more senior the person you're pitching to, the less time they have to look at your pitch. Assistants and associates, whether in the booking or production department, can be valuable allies -- if you approach them in an interesting, respectful way.

Be exclusive. The shows you're pitching want to offer their viewers fresh stories, so listing all the other shows you've been on can be "a real turn off," because it makes you look "overexposed." Share your media resume if and when you're asked for it.