I spent Thursday morning, Day Two of RT, giving my presentation: How to be a Shameless Hussy — Working the Media Like a Pro. (For those of you who don’t know, I’m a professional journalist by day.)

RT did a media track of workshops this year, and I was chosen to do my workshop, which is basically a crash course in media relations — how to contact journalists, how to write a press release, common interview questions, etc. Everything authors need to know to pitch stories to newspapers, television stations, and other media outlets, and what to expect during an interview. (BTW, I’m available to give this workshop to local RWA chapters and other writing groups. If you want me to speak to your group, send me an e-mail).

I was a little nervous, the way I always am when I give a workshop. Public speaking isn’t my favorite thing – I’d much rather chat one-on-one with someone. For the longest time, it was just me and another woman sitting in the room, and I started to wonder if anyone else was going to come to the workshop. I think J.R. Ward was speaking during the same time slot, so I didn’t expect a huge crowd to start with.

But people started trickling in, including Susan Helene Gottfried of the West of Mars book blog. I really enjoyed meeting Susan in person and talking about books with her and Ann (the three of us kept running into each other during the rest of the convention). And Susan gave me a lot of great tips about stuff to do in Pittsburgh. Thanks, Susan! :joecool:

When the dust finally settled, I had a crowd of about 20 or so folks. So I did my spiel, went over the worksheet, answered questions, and tried to be informative and witty and charming. I got a couple of laughs out of the crowd, so that was good. I don’t think anyone was too bored. At least, I hope they weren’t.

Giving the workshop at RT was a different experience from RWA, though. It was just me sitting at this big, long table by myself. There wasn’t a moderator, so I kept having to stop during the first ten minutes and ask people to come up and get worksheets so they wouldn’t be totally lost. Also, there wasn’t a sign outside telling people what the workshop was about. I think a sign would have helped cut down on the confusion (for all the workshops) and some of the people going in and out at the beginning of the workshop.

So I went, I talked, I blathered, and the presentation was over. A couple of people came up to me at the book fair on Saturday and said they enjoyed my presentation and that I gave them a lot of good info. So I hope folks got something out of it.

BTW, if you want to see what the media workshop is all about, go to the Appearances & Contests page. Scroll down to the workshop section and click on the media link.

Up next: More RT stuff.