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Every weekday afternoon at 2:00 central time I host my own Internet radio show called Book Bites for Kids on blogtalkradio.com. Each segment of the show features a 30-minute interview with a children's book author and/or illustrator.

If you're a freelance writer yourself, there are all sorts of advantages to hosting your own show like this. Probably the biggest advantage is that you get to meet and network with so many interesting people and sometimes this leads to exciting publishing opportunities. I LOVE talking to other writers every weekday afternoon. And I learn something new about writing and publishing from every single guest I interview.

You might consider starting your own internet radio show. If you do, here are a few things I've learned so far that might help you get started:

1.) Do your homework. Before each show, find out as much as you can about the guest you have scheduled for that segment. If the guest is an author, read his/her most recent book (if possible). Ask authors who wish to become guests for ARCs (advanced reader copies) of their newest book(s) several weeks before they are scheduled for the show so you'll have a chance to receive and read their book(s). Also, find out if the author has a website. If he/she does, then plan to visit the site before the show so you'll be more familiar with the author and his/her work.

2.) Send the author (or other person you will interview) a list of the interview questions a day or so prior to the show. That will give the interviewee time to look over the questions and develop answers to them. Some hosts let the guest submit the questions he/she would like to be asked during the interview. But I find that many times the person I am planning to interview has never been interviewed before and doesn't really understand what types of questions listeners would like to have answered. Also, you don't want to have "dead" air time during your show, so you want to be sure you and your guest will have plenty to talk about.

3.) Be sure to send a reminder email to your guest the day of the show. Also, be sure the guest is clear about the time your show starts. You'd be surprised at how often guests get mixed up about the time of the show when the show starts at central time yet they live in the pacific time zone or eastern time zone. Help the guest figure out what time he/she should call in to the show according to where he/she lives to make sure you don't start a show without the guest (I've had that happen, and it isn't much fun).

Starting and hosting your own Internet radio show can be fun and beneficial to you since you'll widen your network of writers and publishers, become more familiar with books currently on the market, and also create a wide audience of listeners who'll recognize your name and will begin to look for your books (as well as the books of your guest authors) in the bookstores.

Suzanne Lieurance is a freelance writer, children's author, and The Working Writer's Coach. She helps people who love to write become "working" freelance writers. Visit her website at http://www.workingwriterscoach.com to receive two f.ree ebooks for writers and a f.ree subscription to The Morning Nudge (a few words of inspiration and motivation) to help you get a little writing done each day. Listen to her radio show, Book Bites for Kids every weekday afternoon on blogtalkradio at Book Bites for Kids.

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