Booklab author lands on radio!

One of the unsung things we do at Booklab is guide authors to broadcast their writing on public radio. I used to work in radio (first at my university station, WTJU in Charlottesville; then at WUNC, an NPR station and the home of NPR's Southeastern Bureau in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and finally at WGMS, an all-classical station in Washington, DC), and I'm an occasional guest on radio, including shows like Talk of the Nation or One Union Station, or most recently Georgetown Forum, hosted at WAMU. A couple of years back I began coaching writers to get their own work on NPR member stations, and we've had several hits. Just today, a Booklab author (a retired physician) wrote to say that he had just returned from recording two pieces at an NPR member station in Roanoke, Virginia. This is a wonderful way to build a literary platform, and to cultivate radio listeners who may turn into your literary audience as well.

The photograph above is from the archives of WUNC, a radio station where I learned so much, and that I still love. Donate to your favorite radio station today...

More James O'Donnell on radio . . .

This is a fun one: the radio show Philoso?y Talk, "the program that questions everything... except your intelligence." From Stanford University, it is hosted by Ken Taylor, the chair of the philosophy department, and John Perry, a philosophy professor.

Hear JO'D on the BBC

Georgetown's Provost, James O'Donnell, recorded a piece about St. Augustine for BBC Radio 3’s new 12-part series The Essay: Greek and Latin Voices. (I was the producer on the Georgetown side, and then handed it off to a BBC producer in the U.K.) Since this office specializes in recorded pieces for radio, his BBC invitation provided an excellent opportunity to showcase our new capabilities, and to think about the spoken word and books.

You can hear the audio online here.

Books and radio are a natural pairing. For example, we know from audience analysis that public radio listeners and book buyers are almost a 1-1 match. If an author finds a public or news/ talk radio audience, book sales very often follow.

If you're an author, how can you get your pieces on radio? Drop a note to booklab@georgetown.edu and ask about a radio consultation. You may not start out on the Beeb, but there are public radio stations all over the country where your voice very well might be welcome.