What to Say to Edtors to Get Free Publicity

I thought I’d share a pitch I wrote to my local newspapers in April for Earth Day. It illustrates how we authors need to figure out how to make a query work for their particular title—in whatever news cycle might apply to its theme, characters, settings, or whatever.  

This query matches my poetry book (with Magdalena Ball) called Sublime Planet with Earth Day, but you might adapt yours to other holidays or current events. I also include a few basic dos and don’ts at the end of the query letter. And, if you are a blogger or have a radio show or about anything else that would benefit from a current topic like this, feel free to contact me at hojonews@aol.com. I mean, have at it! (-: Magdalena and I have poetry chapbooks that celebrate most of the major holidays in any given year.  Here it is: 

Hi, I’m an award-winning author who knows how hard it is to find good stories for Earth Day or to fit with current news about global warming which we both know is always a topic of interest.

Earth Day is sneaking up on us but I have an idea for you that will help the environmentalists in your audience celebrate. They’ll love the accessible poems about the fragility of our cosmos by my Aussie poetry partner Magdalena Ball and I. We love to share my poems about XXX and XXX. (In fact, I welcome reprints of any of my poems from any of my award-winning poetry books!) 

Further there is a feature story in how we came to be partners living in separate hemispheres without having ever met. I can schedule interviews just about any time that works for you.

Please let my Sublime Planet poetry book help you with a feature story this month—one probably unlike one you have ever published.

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Here are the tips I promised you readers of this SharingwithWriters blog:

Notice that I didn’t bother giving the editor my name. Unless your name is already known by the contact or you are as famous as J. K. Rowling, it isn’t necessary and just keeps you from the interesting stuff that will help them choose your idea for their book page, blog post, entertainment section, radio show or whatever it is that they do.

I also didn’t mention the title in the first sentence. The only time that should come up front is if it is very catchy or outrageous.

Notice how precise the idea is. Query letters need to be clear about the benefits for the media or editor (they need material for current events and holidays). Editors are perfectly capable of moving from the particular to the general or adapting one detailed idea to another of their needs.

By the way, sending media releases—even releases that get ignored--benefits you because you can contact the same editor for the next holiday or current event. Soon they will have come to expect ideas from you that are well considered for their needs. I included another script by well-known publicist Raleigh Pinsky that you can use as a template in my Appendix of my The Frugal Book Promoter. Well-known publicist Raleigh Pinksky gave me permission to reprint it and it will give you even more detail for formulating pitches—in this case telephone pitches—that work.

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 Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Why Doesn't Anyone Give Me Details on the Perfect Pitch?

People tell authors to pitch to the media; they even tell us how to write a pitch. But only sort of. Don't you wish they would occasionally tell you how to do that? And do it effectively? 

Here are three things your pitch can do to keep a gatekeeper interested long enough to book you:

1.   A headline or first sentence must capture the reader. Here are ideas for doing that? 

• Use a statistic that is so off-the-wall that it’s hard to believe (but it’s true).
• Make an outrageous statement. 
• Be so clever with rhyme, alliteration, or pun that the gatekeeper just plain wants to read some more. 
• Make it be about something that is somehow so closely related to the media gatekeepers' demographic (meaning their reader or audience) that it will be immediately obvious how it will fit into their own plans or business needs. Make it even better by letting them know you know it does relate because you read their magazine or column or blog.

2.   Throw in adjectives. No, not “awesome” or “great.” That’s up to them to decide if your story idea is awesome or great.  Words like “award-winning,” “multi award-winning,” “bestselling” or “two decades of experience” do work, though.

3.   Actually be about something more than “I published a book.” Substance. Concrete. Useful. Powerful. Think “benefits” when you write this sentence or paragraph.

4.   Offer exclusivity.  Maybe offer exclusivity with a deadline. You can make that offer to someone else when that deadline passes. 

5.   Let the media know that you are equipped to handle their needs. With experience in radio (or whatever) as an example. With Toastmaster experience. As a team leader and speaker in the business world.

6.   Close with a sentence that makes it clear you’d like to provide them with anything that would make their job easier.

7.   Don’t ask questions. It’s your job to make it so clear they won’t have to ask any.

So, what sells? If you can angle your pitch around current new, sex, money, kids, celebrity, better health, travel or sports, go for it. You’ll be ahead of the game. Just make sure you send your pitch to the right editors/gatekeepers for each topic. Celebrity? Entertainment or politics. Money? The business section of your newspaper. Kids? Some women’s magazines. You get the idea.

Bonus Tip:  Know how to write killer query letters. You can get tips right from the mouths of agents who share their pet peeves with The Frugal Editor.  And, step-by-step guidelines for all your PR sales tools with The Frugal Book Promoter

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 Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .