Last Thursday I officially launched my new e-book in style. I took to the airwaves of our local BBC radio station for an interview on its popular morning show to tell the world (or at least the county of Gloucestershire) all about Coming To Terms With Type 1 Diabetes: One Family’s Story of Life After Diagnosis.
Still buzzing with the adrenalin triggered by a busy few weeks preparing the e-book, I drove to the station’s Gloucestershire study in glorious late autumn sunshine.
Welcomed with a cup of tea by a helpful, smiling receptionist (what a great job to have, listening to the radio and meeting people all day!), I was soon shown in to the studio where Chris Baxter’s three-hour long programme was already in full swing. (I’d been listening to it in the car on my journey to tune myself in.)
I’d never been interviewed inside a studio before – previously it’s been down the line or as part of an outside broadcast, most recently at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last month. (More about that here.)
In The Hot Seat
After the bright sunshine outside on the noisy London Road, the thickly padded studio was dark and peaceful, womb-like and comforting. A big smile across the desk from presenter Chris Baxter put me immediately at my ease, and we were soon chatting at length about my book.
Chris Baxter is a kind, sympathetic and caring type whose programme is a real community service, reporting on achievements and concerns of local folk and bringing them together for common causes. I was delighted when a listener phoned to join to our discussion.
“I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 68 years ago, and I still do all my own gardening,” she said proudly. “I’m coeliac too, but that’s just another diet to get on with.”
Just what the anxious patient wants to hear, or the anxious parent of a newly-diagnosed child, or indeed the medical professionals whose lives revolve around keeping the chronically ill healthy.
That’s exactly who my e-book is aimed at, so you can imagine my delight when one of the earliest reviewers turned out to be Dr Carol Cooper, the medical journalist, broadcaster, and lecturer to doctors in communication and consultation skills. She summarised the book as follows:
“It’s a lovely uplifting little book, full of insight, wit, and practical know-how. I think it will appeal to anyone with Type 1 Diabetes and their family. Health professionals would also find it useful. The book is beautifully written. A little treasure as well as a ray of hope.”
Over And Out
After the interview was over, the receptionist kindly took a souvenir photo of me looking a bit pleased with myself. Then I stepped out, blinking, into the bright sunshine, only to realise halfway back to my car that I’d left my black beret on the floor of the studio. I retrace my steps to retrieve it. (I think I was stretching the limits of the receptionist’s job description that day.)
Later, the show’s producer kindly emailed me some .mp3 files of the interview, spread across two files because I’d talked too much to fit into one easily emailable package. I have BBC Radio Gloucestershire’s kind permission to share them here with you, for the benefit of my friends who can’t catch the show on BBC iPlayer because they live outside of the UK. I hope you enjoy the interview. I certainly did!
Click here to hear the first part:
Click here to hear the second part:
To my delight and surprise, by the time I got home, my e-book was already in the Amazon bestseller charts in its category, #4 in the “Health and Fitness > Disorders and Diseases” chart! Admittedly, I’ve never had a burning ambition to top that particular chart before, but if it helps raise funds to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, that’s fine by me!
To order your copy of my e-book in the UK from Amazon, click this link . In any other country, just enter my name and “Coming To Terms With Type 1 Diabetes”, and it should magically appear. UK price is £1.99, US $2.99, and all profits go to the Type 1 diabetes research charity, JDRF. Thank you for your support.
Debbie, just curious as to why you don’t link via Viewbook which takes browsers straight to their local Amazon? I like it because it gives me a breakdown of which countries the viewers are in, as well (although I am always slightly puzzled by how many browsers pop up in France after a hashtag-laden tweet, for example). The URL is http://www.booklinker.net/
Thanks, you’re right, I probably should! I have used Viewbook and a couple of other similar things in the past – and sometimes Amazon Affiliate links – but I ought to make my mind up and be consistent! Though in my experience whenever I’ve accidentally gone into Amazon.com and tried to place an order, it’s redirected me to the UK site anyway…
Oh, excellent – my sister-in-law was diagnosed in her early 20s, I’m emailing her now to find out if she has a Kindle!
Thank you for spreading the word and I hope your sister-in-law finds the book helpful. By the way, if she doesn’t have a Kindle but has a PC, tablet, laptop, netbook or smartphone, she should be able to download a free Kindle app for it, and read my book on there, without needing an actual Kindle.
I’ve only put it on Kindle so far, in order to take advantage of KDP’s exclusive promotion opportunities, but am planning to expand the e-book into a longer paperback in the new year, to enable me to reach more readers than with e-book alone. Currently in search of a commercial sponsor, so that I can maximise the funds raised for the JDRF. (All profits go for research – it’s cost me nothing to produce the e-book, thanks to support from kind friends.)
I really am full of admiration for what you’re doing, Debbie. You’re a brave and talented woman! Congrats on the great launch and you absolutely should be “looking a bit pleased” with yourself. 🙂
Oh, thank you, Laura, I feel better now!
Glad you enjoyed being interviewed on local radio – sounds slightly less scary than Radio Oxford! I mean to listen to the recordings while eating my lunch. (That usually goes with the Archers…) I can really imagine what went into writing the book, being a subject inside your family, and having begun Sell Your Books, I am guessing this one’s going to be equally helpful to its target audience.
Thank you so much! I’m a lunch-and-Archers fan too, and I love Radio 4! I’d met the BBC Radio Glos team before, at Cheltenham last month, which certainly made it less nerve-wracking, as they are all really nice people and very laid back. Felt drained by the end of it, though – I take my hat off to those who broadcast for a living, live for 3 hours at a time! Phew!
Congratulations, Debbie, on your radio interview. I’ve just downloaded the book too – fabulous reviews you’ve got so far on amazon. 🙂
Thanks, Kate, I really appreciate that! I’m so pleased with the initial response – as you can imagine, it was a very personal book to put out into the public domain, but I’ve been overwhelmed by the feedback so far and am so glad I took the plunge!