I despise Internet petitions and am sick to death of being asked to “sign” my name for whatever and pass it along “to everyone in your address book.” Then along comes this post at book marketing guu John Kremer’s blog about a petition being circulated by an author who wants to get onto “Oprah.” In at least… Read More
Media Relations
Sidebars enhance your story pitch
If you’re pitching a story idea to journalists, give them a little something extra that will prompt them to say “tell me more.” I’m referring specifically to what’s called a sidebar. It’s a short, often boxed auxiliary news story that’s printed alongside the longer article and typically presents additional information such as statistics or bullet points. Let’s… Read More
Need publicity for a charity? Former WSJ reporter offers tips
If your charitable organization or nonprofit needs publicity, stop trying to convince the media how “newsworthy” you are. Instead, give media outlets what they want. That’s great advice, and it comes from Dean Rotbart, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who is host and executive producer of Newsroom Confidential, the one-hour live radio program from KRLA… Read More
Gifts for print journalists? Don’t you dare
Publicity Hound Ek Dari writes: “I’ve been reading your tips for quite some time now, and love the articles and ezine. “One question I had was about thanking an editor or journalist. What is the standard on that? I have had successful placements in the New York Times, Washington Post, Fortune, and top-tier magazines, but am not sure how… Read More
Press releases just got easier thanks to this free tutorial
Writing press releases isn’t easy. If you think I’m wrong, take this little quiz. Answer true or false to the following statements: I write press releases primarily to encourage journalists at newspapers and magazines to write articles about my company, or for broadcasters who will feature us on the news or invite us as guests on talk shows.… Read More
When a reporter calls, here’s what to ask
Publicity Hounds spend so much time worrying about their pitch—how long it takes, what it looks like, what it sounds like, and the number of words it requires—that they’re often unaware of how to react when the journalist makes the first move and calls them. Your first inclination might be to brace yourself for the just see… Read More
Pay-per-play alive and well, survey shows
If you’re relatively certain you’ll get a good media placement because your story can stand on its own two feet, guess again. You might be elbowed out by somebody who had the big bucks to pay journalists to cover it. Almost half of the 266 marketing executives polled by PR Week and Manning Selvage & Lee, a PR… Read More
Self-publishing makes it easier for journalists to cover you
Authors love to debate the merits of having a book published by a publishing house, versus self-publishing. I’d choose the latter any day. Here’s one more reason why. I’m featuring the new book “Publicity for Nonprofits” published by Kaplan Publishing in the July/August issue of The Publicity Hound subscription newsletter and was hoping to excerpt several tips… Read More
Spokane Spokesman-Review broadcasts editors’ meetings twice a day
Kudos to the Spokane Spokesman-Review, which is broadcasting its editors’ daily meetings at 10 a.m. and 4:30 PM Pacific Time. You’ll need to have the latest version of Quicktime installed. You don’t have to be from Spokane to learn a lot about how newspaper editors decide which stories will get into the paper. To help you understand what goes on in those meetings,… Read More
Where do reporters find stories? Here are 50 places
People in the media will never admit to outsiders, but they often think their occupation gives them a license to snoop. I certainly thought so when I worked as a newspaper reporter in Ohio in the seventies and eighties. In fact, I loved to eavesdrop during my lunch hour. I’d go to a local restaurant with another… Read More