The Writing Jobs

Most of the time, media contacts won't respond to your attempts to engage them, but don't give up or become discouraged. Don't stop -- just regroup and try again and again. Follow up promptly.

Following up is essential in getting publicity!

Professional publicists follow up their initial appeals by e-mail or phone to inquire about the contact's interest. Following up is what distinguishes professional publicists from amateurs.

Following up is the repetitive and unglamorous aspect of getting publicity that many authors don't want to or won't do. However, professionals will. If you want to get the media to publicize your book, learn to follow up!

Call a day or so after they should have received your initial contact. Then follow up every day or two. Leave your silver bullet, your initial message, only once, but give your name, identify yourself, and state how you can be contacted. For example, say, "This is Jim Brady. Call me about the latest handgun death."

After you contact people in the media a number of times, they begin to recognize your name. They start connecting it with your area of expertise and your book, which is the way that you start building relationships.

Be persistent; continue following up until you make contact or are convinced that it's hopeless. Some media contacts will appreciate the fact that you follow up because it may alert them to items they missed or remind them of others that they might want to revisit.

Remember -- timing is everything with the media! In the course of a week or two, everything can change. A contact who was totally disinterested last week may now want lots of information on a subject that he or she virtually ignored before.

Rule of Seven

Publicity is a business with lots of rejections and few responses. It can take a dozen phone calls to get an interview with a major-market media outlet. Remember the Rule of Seven -- it takes at least seven tries before you make contact. But one response, one "Yes," may be all you need to get your story told. Look at each "No" or lack of response not as a defeat or a setback, but as a small victory that puts you closer to the "Yes" that will land you a feature or a booking.

When my close colleague and friend Robyn Freedman Spizman -- a fellow expert publicist -- began pitching her books, she always thought a "No" was just the word "On," backward. "So when a contact said No, I began to passionately pitch because I knew it was do or die," Robyn explains. "I carefully listened to the media and in a few moments, I'd know if I was shooting blanks or connecting. I always knew what I wanted to convey and was ready to shift into rocket gear. Sometimes it helped to ask, "Thank you for your feedback. Do you know anyone working on any topics that relate to my focus?"

To follow up without being a pest and to get the media to lower its guard, say something like, "I'm sorry to bother you so much, I know how busy you are. But I thought my new book would really be up your alley, and you'd like to know about it." Usually, your apology and understanding of how busy they are will loosen them up.

When you don't have something to pitch, stay on their radar screens. Periodically call, e-mail, and send information. Put them on your Christmas card list. Send copies of your promotional materials and newsletters. When they cover you or your book, send thank-you notes. Convey your congratulations when they get awards, promotions, or new jobs. Send them birthday cards; consider it a part of following up, but sincerity is key. Send items in order to connect with people in the media, get to know them and enable them to become more familiar with you.

Press Releases

Publicity expert Paul Hartunian believes that conducting a press release campaign is the most effective way to get bookings and coverage. So he instructs his clients to:

- Start early, as soon as they think about writing a book and even before they write or try to shop it.
- Every week, send a different press release. If you can't send one every week, send one at least every other week. Distributing press releases at longer intervals is not as productive.
- In each press release, give solutions to specific problems. Think of the most common and troubling problems in your area of expertise and provide answers for them. When the media continually receives your solutions, it will recognize your name and think of you as an expert in your field.
- Continue sending press releases well after your book is published in order to continue your media presence long after the buzz on your book has faded.

Although writing and sending so many press releases sounds like a ton of work, Hartunian feels it isn't difficult. First, he recommends that authors develop a template that they can easily follow, which will become routine after a while. An effective approach is to first identify the problem. Then, explain why it occurs, its implications, and its impact. Finally, offer solutions.

Hartunian notes that after about six months, old press releases can be recycled. "The reporter you may have pitched may have moved to a different paper or might not have read your release the first time around," he explains. "Audiences change and those who read a release today may be different than those who read it before. Set up a stable of press releases, update them, tweak them, link them to current news and developments, and recycle them," Hartunian advises.

Anticipate and capitalize on events. Hartunian knows that in every field, certain events will eventually occur, so he prepares to use them to get publicity. When he represented a client who marketed a golf putter, he realized that sooner or later, some high-profile professional golfer would miss a putt that would cost him a tournament.

So, he dashed out a press release with the headline, "Did You See _____ _______ Just Miss That Putt?" and left the name blank. Under the headline, he added the subhead, "Call me. I can tell you why ___ ________ missed that putt and how it could have been prevented."

Then, Hartunian filed the press release and waited. Sure enough, before long, a major golfer missed a critical putt to lose a major tournament. Seconds after the miss, Hartunian pulled out the prewritten release, filled in the golfer's name, and faxed the press release to his distribution services, which in turn forwarded it to tens of thousands of media outlets. The media was floored by Hartunian's lightning-quick action and overwhelmed him with interview requests.

Rick Frishman, the founder of Planned Television Arts, has been one of the leading book publicists in America for over 30 years.

Working with many of the top book editors, literary agents and publishers in America, including Simon and Schuster, Random House, Wiley, Harper Collins, Pocket Books, Penguin Putnam, and Hyperion Books, he has worked with best-selling authors including Mitch Albom, Caroline Kennedy, Howard Stern, President Jimmy Carter, Mark Victor Hansen, Nelson DeMille, John Grisham, Hugh Downs, Henry Kissinger, Jack Canfield, Alan Deshowitz, Arnold Palmer, and Harvey Mackay.

In addition to his work at "PTA" Rick has now taken on the new role as Publisher at Morgan James Publishing in New York. David Hancock founded Morgan James in 2003 and in 2007 "MJ" published over 130 books. Morgan James only publishes non fiction books and looks for authors with a platform who believe in giving back. Morgan James gives a portion of every book sold to Habitat for Humanity. (http://www.morganjamespublishing.com)