Don't forget your press list
Just start. You'll thank yourself later.
All November, we’re focusing on non-fiction writing prompts per usual but through the frame of also taking a good, long look at your writing life and overall creative career things you want to do.
We’re reaching the end of this monthlong effort to dig into the outward expression of our writing careers just a little bit deeper. And, one area we haven’t looked at just yet is building a press list for your work.
It’s not as much of a list as it sounds like. And, once you set it up, you really only have to tend to it and update it as needed after that. But, you need this and most people go about it all wrong and leave great contacts out.
Here’s the place to start:
Think about your work and the themes present in it over and over. Think about expertise you’ve developed, both about specific aspects or types of writing, and about subject matter. Then: who might connect with the themes, characters, and style of your work? Does your work fit within a niche or cater to a specific subculture? (Ex: a dark horror novel about a bunch of goth kids versus a mass-appeal novel about a person obsessed with crossword puzzles.)
Brainstorm news outlets, publications (magazines and online outlets), podcasts, individual journalists, and bloggers related to each of those themes. Add those to your list. (At this point, you probably want to make a spreadsheet out of this list.)
Go back through your list of themes and see what regional outlets you might add given where you live, where you’re originally from, and where any of your promotional events might take place (e.g., book signings, literary festivals, academic conferences, etc.). Add those to your list, too.
Now follow as many of those outlets on social media. And, spend some time looking up their websites and see who you need to pitch when you need them. Note those people’s email addresses on your list.
There. Now when your book is out and you want very carefully aligned press or when your next piece is published and you know it’ll be a great talker for podcasts, you have already done the heavy lifting and all you need do it pitch.
(And, you know I gotchoo on the pitching part.)
