Why Pitching Quickly is a Waste

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #652 Oct. 6, 2012

Publisher: Joan Stewart

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“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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In This Issue
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1. Why Pitching Quickly is a Waste

2. 10 Worst Ways to Sell Books

3. New Posts at My Blog

4. Hound Joke of the Week

This Weekend in the Hound House:

I almost never read for pleasure because I read–and write–for
business up to 12 hours a day. But I can’t wait to get my hands
on the new book, “Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot.” Some
loved it. Others hated it. You?

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1. Why Pitching Quickly is a Waste
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You can have the most interesting story idea on the planet.

But unless you do your homework first and get to know everything
you possibly can about the journalist you’re pitching it to, you
could be blowing a golden opportunity for publicity.

Let’s say you want to pitch a story about tweens to Caren
Oppeneheim, an assistant editor at Family Circle magazine. You
find her email, write the pitch, send it off, and hear nothing.

You wait several days, follow up with a phone call, leave a
message, but still hear nothing.

It could be that she’s busy tweeting about her love for the
Yankees, her cravings for sweet and salty snacks like chocolate
covered potato chips, or the recipes she’s busy planning for her
next Emmys party. Or maybe she’s reading the final few chapters
of Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and
Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.

I don’t know Caren Oppenheim.

But it took me less than five minutes to find out all those
details about her. I also learned, because I did my research,
that even though she welcomes email pitches, she does not like
follow-up phone calls.

If I were sending her a sample of a product, and an accompanying
press release, guess what I’d slip into the box? A bag of
chocolate covered potato chips, and a personalized note thanking
her for tweeting about Unbroken.

What do you think Caren is most likely to do? Return your phone
call that she didn’t want in the first place? Or give a second
look at my product sample while she’s munching on her chips?

That’s why pitching quickly, without doing your research, is a
waste.

I spent most of Thursday’s webinar on “How to Find Your Way into
Glossy Magazines” discussing the many ways to research magazine
journalists, connect with them and build the relationship, long
before you pitch.

Later today or tomorrow, I’ll email the link for the video
download and all the bonuses, including my handy checklist for
“11 Ways to Prepare for a Magazine Interview.” If you missed the
webinar, you can still register and miss nothing. If you have
questions while reviewing the material, email me and I’ll be
happy to answer them.

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2. 10 Worst Ways to Market Books
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Authors, do you ever feel that book marketing is like throwing
spaghetti against the wall?

You hope something sticks.

Wouldn’t you like to eliminate the 10 things that waste the most
time and sell the fewest books, and replace them with 10 much
smarter ideas that save you time and boost book sales?

Complete the questionnaire from SpeakerNetNews.com about your
best and worst ideas for selling books, and you’ll get their
entire report, for free, as soon as they compile the results.

You’ll also learn:

–The three most powerful ways to use your book to catapult your
overall business.

–The key resources such as books, audios and presentations that
boost sales the most.

If you have published a book (e-book, self-published, or printed
with a publisher) within the last five years, you’re eligible. It
took me about 10 minutes to answer all the questions.

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3. New Posts at My Blog
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Pitching magazines? Tips for a compelling subject line

Dog Tweets: 5 clever PR pitches that caught reporters’ attention

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4. Hound Joke of the Week
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Maybe you’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places. A dog
will treat you better than anyone you’ll meet at happy hour.
Trust me. I’ve been to happy hour.