Do It Yourself Publicity: What Is The Most Effective Way To Approach A Media Contact
Great question. Knowing how to target the media contact perfectly is one of the keys to success. The media expects a certain amount of professionalism. They expect a fully-developed professional pitch or story idea. The last they want is an author sending them the newly-published book with “well here it is, now you figure out how you can make it work for your outlet.” That’s a tough approach because the media simply does not have the time to review the book and find the socially relevant underlying messages that would be of value to their audience. In this way, many a fine and eligible author can be passed over. Don’t let this be you!
Be willing to put in the time to get publicity right!
Yes, it can take more time discovering the right media for you, but it is totally worth it. As their minds are open to the subject matter because it matches the profile of their media outlet. Next, they will take a look at the quality of the pitch. Does it have all of the elements of a great pitch? If so, BINGO, you may have yourself a placement. The media loves when an author believes in themselves enough to develop a professional pitch, pitch the media risking rejection and then responsibly follow up.
Master the art of the publicity pitch.
Mastering the art of the PR pitch is worth learning for your success. There are a lot of books written on the topic. It is important to note that there are more than one kind of press release. The most popular is an”announcement” release that contains all the information about the book, such as title, publication date, publisher, author literary bio, summary of the book, any prestigious book reviews and perhaps some big brand media placements the author has secured in the past.
Avoid trying to get publicity with email blasts.
Email blasts are not targeted media and can cause a lot of clutter in an inbox. A lot of authors buy media lists and blast away. But this is not the ideal way to pitch a book because the ideal pitch, the one with the most probability of success, is the one that is targeted to the contact with the media that is perfect for you.
BIO Publicity Tip!
Do not include links (such as ‘you can review my bio here’) – the media just won’t click on it. It suddenly seems like too much work – next.
There are a lot of authors out there wanting what you want, media placements. With some of the media reporting to me that they can get about 100 pitches per hour, they just don’t have the time to go through each one. So even if you deserve the placement, that is, you are perfect and highly qualified,, they might not be able to focus on you. I recommend that everyone tell everyone else NOT to blast the media. Once the millions of self-published authors stop that practice the better it will be for the self-published community.
Follow up on your publicity pitch.
Always follow-up with the media. The “one and done” touch point is not a strategic approach. This is another reason why you do not BLAST a lot of media at once as you can’t follow up.
Now this is not saying that your follow up will be successful, as again, there is just not enough time in the day, but YOU NEVER KNOW if you will be in the right place at the right time with all of your materials prepared and perfect for the media.
Also, if you do get someone to respond, treat them with respect. Follow up responsibly but then stop following up if nothing happens. That’s your signal it did not work out.
National Publicity Firm, Annie Jennings PR – Top Author Publicity, Book Promotion and Marketing Firm
Annie Jennings PR is a top national booking firm that secures media opportunities and media bookings for authors, experts and speakers. Annie and her experienced, professional team of booking publicists help you identify your authentic message to share with others in your publicity campaign. You can choose from being booked on radio talk shows to getting booked on TV shows to being included in an online big brand media website. Optimize your potential by working with Annie Jennings PR.
Our PR Firm, Annie Jennings PR has worked with thousands of authors and clients and has booked over 25,000 media placements over the years – it’s really become too many too count, so we stopped. 25,000 bookings seems to be enough evidence that our professionals know what they are doing!
Annie says this: “I stand for authors and believe that is my job to allow authors access to the media and not to create barriers to entry, such as high monthly retainers or high fees that authors just cannot afford. Annie Jennings PR is a performance based publicity firm where all media placements are guaranteed.”
Annie adds, “the author’s money is safe with me!”