Just before Halloween, Appletree Books in Cleveland Heights, OH, received a call from Cleveland’s Fox 8 News. The show features local Cleveland businesses and the producer of the morning show ran across appletree-books.com during her search. She called the store to ask if Appletree’s owner, Lynn Quintrell, would like to come on to talk about Halloween books.

I learned about this while visiting with Lynn’s husband, Lute Quintrell, at the Heartland Fall Forum. He showed me the photo he took of Lynn on the set.

“Lynn and the producer discussed parameters and Lynn selected what she wanted to show,” Lute told me. “Lynn sent a list of books she was presenting about a week before.”

Lute said he found it interesting that during the show, the host asked about a book group that the store is holding in a neighborhood wine bar this fall.

“Lynn did not expect this, but does show that the producer had done her homework in prepping the host,” he said. “My conclusion is that having a great web site is the key here.”

The folks at Appletree Books did not pitch the television station for this appearance, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. Morning and mid-day news programs are always looking for good content and guests to host on their shows. You can help a local program and your bookstore by sending a note to the show producer about the qualifications and availability of your staff.

Do you have a bookseller in the children’s department who had the uncanny ability to choose books for reluctant readers? Do you have a foodie on staff who loves to cook in front of others? Do you always identify that hard-to-find holiday must-have long before it’s scarce? Offer your collective skills to local programming. You’re putting your store and the expertise of your employees in front of a different audience that may not have know of your existence.

The day after Lynn Quintrell appeared on Cleveland’s Fox 8 News, a couple came into the store saying they had seen the show and decided to drive 40 minutes to see Appletree Books.

“They purchased over $60 and said they would be back,” Lute says. “Not bad for 5 minutes!”

A video of Lynn’s appearance on the program can be viewed below.