How To Get Free Publicity By Pitching To The News
Recently USA Today and ABC News did a weeklong series of stories on family members as caretakers of their elderly relatives. It hit on many levels. It involved a huge chunk of the population: baby boomers. It involved commonality: more and more people are taking on the caretaker role. And of course it involved money: the costs both in time and dollars being expended, they reported, was a good chunk of change. I immediately contacted one of my Inner Circle Workshop students, who is working on a book
This happens everytime a big story hits the news. It’s important you know this because the news always opens a brief window of opportunity for a writer to either pitch a book or get some television or radio time based on their expertise. But you have to be ready. Here’s what you do:
1.) Keep Up On Current Events
TV and radio producers need new material and must put stories together quickly. That means you have to be right on top of the news and able to send a pitch in the moment you see a significant story developing. This doesn’t mean you have to be glued to CNN daily or subscribe to an Associated Press news ticker, but you do have to be aware of what’s going on. Speed is of the essence.
2.) Know How to Write a Quick Press Release
With that in mind, you’ll have to be able to craft a good press release at a moment’s notice. There are all sorts of technical aspects to putting together a press release, but basically you want it to have a strong headline, a quick and dirty description of your story and what you have to offer and contact information so producers will know how to find you. Make sure you make the connection that you are a no-brainer to be interviewed. For instance, if you are a nurse who has worked with families struggling to care for loved ones with dementia, you could write a press release with the heading “Leading Expert Offers 4 Simple Strategies To Comfort a Confused Patient”. Then you go on to outline a 4 point plan. That’s it. A producer can see an easy 3 minute segment right there.
3.) Know How to Write a Quick Book Proposal
You’ll want to be able to do the same with a book proposal. Here the most important part will be promoting your expertise and a great table of contents. The point is to catch an agent or editor’s eye so they can start moving on the idea. You might have to flesh the proposal out after that, but for now you just want them to know you have the idea, expertise, connections and ability to follow through with the book.
4.) Use a Few Well-Chosen Email Addresses
Sure, you could mass email a press release, but for your book proposal (and for certain media contacts), you’ll want to make direct contact with a few, well-chosen people who you know will give your missive more than just a passing glance. This could be an agent you met in person at a conference, an editor who once rejected (with a nice note) one of your submissions or a producer whose email you received from a friend or colleague. Mark the email “urgent” if you must because they understand when timing is important. Just don’t do it everyday! Ideally you want a person who can tell you pretty quickly if a project is viable, whether others want to do the same or if there’s no interest period. Always be on the lookout to add such contacts to your list.
5.) Go!
You might have to do this again and again before hooking an agent, editor or producer with your idea. Don’t hesitate and don’t think “Well, I didn’t hear from this person before, they won’t be interested this time.” You never know! Be confident in what you have to say–just make sure you do have something to say! There’s no bigger turn-off for a producer or editor than to constantly receive disorganized, irrelevant information again and again from the same writer. Make sure yours is the pitch they pay attention to when it comes in.
© 2006 Sophfronia Scott
Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is “The Book Sistah” TM. Get her FREE REPORT, “The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published” and her FREE online writing and book publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com
Sophfronia is also author of the bestselling novel, All I Need to Get By. If you liked today’s issue, stay tuned for more because The Book Sistah also offers FREE audio classes, FREE articles, workshops, and other resources to help aspiring authors get published and market their books successfully.
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Tags: book, news, Pitching, publicity, Writing