My advice is to first choose the bookstore — one of the prominent ones in your area — and then work with the manager. One of the things you should always ask the manager is, “Who’s your favorite media outlet to work with?” Because they know which ones provide a good turn out for their book signing events. They probably already have a connection with them, making it really easy for you.
The biggest no-no is calling up a media contact and asking, “Did you get my pitch? Or, did you get my book?” Journalists are very busy. A better tactic is to follow up without following up. Gather some more information tied to breaking news or an event, like an article you found or a show segment, that’s relevant to what you sent them before. You have to give them something of value in the follow-up, not just another question to answer.
Well, it’s really quite simple actually! One of the things that I think people should make a practice of — if you’re trying to really serve the media, get with the media, be covered by the media — is to do something very simple at breakfast: Just turn on the news. I can’t tell you how many people always tell me, “I just don’t watch the news.” But, the thing that really impresses news-makers is to be a contributor to what’s happening in the news. So, turn on CNN or Headline News; download news apps on your smart phone; follow media outlets on Twitter; listen to NPR — you really have a lot of options. But your goal every morning should be the same: Find out what the current events of the day are.
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