“Chance favors the prepared mind.” –Louis Pasteur
Are you prepared to pitch to local media? Before you start firing off emails to your local press, there are five things you absolutely have to ensure you’ve done first.
- Update your website and social media feeds
Is your digital presence up to speed and ready for visitors? Media outlets will check these to not only verify you’re a real person but to make sure they don’t see anything offensive or untoward. (If they do, you’re out.) So make sure your online presence is clean, professional, and fresh.
- Refine talking points & prepare a “money quote”
Do you know what you want to say & how to say it? Prepare your wording so you don’t get tripped up on air. Also, have a money quote: be able to summarize in sixty seconds what your book is about and why the audience needs to hear what you have to say/the book says.
- Open your calendar
You don’t need to clear your entire schedule, but usually, you only get one chance with these outlets. Whenever they can take you, you should make every effort to be there and make arrangements accordingly. (Don’t take it personally if your segment gets cancelled or rescheduled – it happens all the time since the news cycle rules the day.)
- Take inventory
Producers will often ask for a review copy before extending an invitation. While PDFs are okay in a pinch, many want a hard copy if possible. (Make sure to bring two or three with you for on-air giveaways as well.) Take inventory, too, of digital assets, endorsements, and statistics, and be ready to share them!
- Prepare a press kit
Producers and hosts want the important information in as few words as possible. A good press kit makes it easy for them to see your availability, areas of expertise, credentials, relevance in relation to current events, biographical and contact information. For more detailed information on press kits, check out these resources.
It must be your lucky day, because once you complete those 5 things, we have 8 ready-to-use email pitch templates available to purchase! Click here to check them out.
