Laura Northedge, BBC Audio Planning
Robyn Read, Free Thinking and New Generation Thinkers
Olive Clancy, Loose Ends
Laura Northedge
- All emails with press release information needs to be sent to BBC-Audio-
Planning@bbc.co.uk – this is the AI system that is used by all the programmes, and
every producer has access to it - Email to include: title of book, pub date, author, blurb and contact – the system takes the info and puts it in the planning document to work out which programmes book is best suited to
- Send individual emails for each book- e.g. don’t just send a new catalogue or summary of what is coming up as it won’t pull out as individual authors
- System is integrated with booking process, so all books need to go through the
system - Laura also checks the system to make sure the right programmes are being flagged
- Welcome to send copy of book to Laura’s office at Broadcasting House once an email has been sent
- Copy and paste info on press release into body of the email rather than attachment
- Never too early to send info to planning base
- Programmes Laura takes info for – Woman’s Hour, Front Row, Loose Ends, Saturday
Live, science programmes, Start the Week, Free Thinking, Thinking Aloud, Media Show, Arts Hour, BBC Radio 2 Breakfast - No longer cover Desert Island Discs, This Cultural Life, In Our Time
- Laura manages the internal bidding system – producers put over a tick on which
author they want- Laura co-ordinates to ensure the same authors don’t appear on multiple shows - If you have pitched to Desert Island Discs and had a yes – please let Laura know
- Laura is always happy to explain why a decision is made to go on which show- but they make the decision, e.g. if author was on woman’s hour previously
- Publicists are still welcome to pitch to producers individually
- Pitch to producers 3-4 months in advance max
- Laura also books fiction for Woman’s Hour
- Woman’s hour – looking for editorial hook, big name authors, debuts, zeitgeisty
(speaking to the moment) - Unless a very good reason they much prefer guests in person (BBC Broadcasting
House 9:30am weekdays) - Kirsty McQuire looks after non fiction
- Part of Laura’s role is to meet publishers – please do contact her for meetings to chat through catalogues
Olive Clancy
- Works on Loose Ends
- Very much sees the programme as part of the comedy slot- nearly always a
comedian on the programme - Author needs to be round table ready- jokey environment- can still have serious non-
fiction books (e.g history book) but the author needs to be funny and enjoy the
environment - The show is repeated – so 2 outings on Radio 4
- Olive books big names/celebs before considering anyone else
- Records in Salford 3 weeks a month
- Records in London on the first Friday of the month
- When pitching think about BBC Breakfast and Morning Live- if they want them very likely will Loose Ends will want them too
- Records Friday lunch time- so can co-ordinate with TV. i.e. an author can do BBC Breakfast and then come to the radio studio
- Records in Scotland every second month for 2 weeks
- Authors that would work for Scotland in-person, or can travel, please do flag- does not need to be a Scottish author
- Interested in food books, quirky science, pop history/science/medicine- author needs to be a good speaker
- Doesn’t ever do down the line – its a in-person show
- If you know an author is available and able to travel please do tell them- as helps them make a decision
- Open to children’s celeb authors- e.g. Alexander Armstrong, about author rather than the content
Robyn Read
- Front Row episodes recorded in different areas:
- Tuesday- Salford
- Wednesday- Glasgow/Edinburgh
- When doing book tours- do consider if an author is doing events in those areas as it might work well to slot them in
- Gives more opportunities for paperback- e,g. logistically couldn’t make hardback
work in wales/Salford but if on tour again for paperback gives another opportunity - Front Row- might consider down the line recording for authors
- Start the Week- 9am on a Monday- 3 guests talk to a presenter
- Mainly non-fiction, or big names in literary or poetry
- Lead times: Just confirmed Sept- producers look at a 5 week stretch- look at who has books coming out before deciding on key people- will they be available in London?
- Can link up from Scottish studio if unable to get London
- Programme forma: 3 lots of 15 mins for each guest
- Programmes key guest then looks at who would work with them
- Sometimes themed- e.g. sometimes does all science- but might mix it up and include
fiction. Like people who can riff off each other - Things in non fic world- quirky facts- pull out interesting titbits from the book
- Compelling first person stories of investigations- not everyone is a big name
- Thinking through what the conversation might be- What’s the fresh angle/take? Where
is the conversation going to go? Don’t just want to do “why did you write this book”