Radio sells books in a way that other media does not. For book publishers, getting an author on Conversations is something of a holy grail because of the large audience of a demographic that includes many potential book buyers. Publicists pitch the show’s producers all the time, so to be selected is extraordinary. I won’t repeat verbatim what I said to my publicist when she shared the good news with me, other than that it was a more salty version of ‘Are you kidding?’
For those interested in the process, interviewees must attend the ABC Brisbane studio in person, where Sarah is based, which meant a very early morning for me. Several days ahead of the interview, the producer calls for a pre-interview, running through the rough outline and conversation topics that the presenter is thinking of covering on the day. And they like to take a head and shoulders photo of each interviewee before the show.