aBe a Media Darling in 11 easy steps!

There are approximately 8.23 kajillion other writers in the world, all clamoring for coverage for their inspired epic that is the culmination of their writing career. Sadly, there are only a handful of journalists in any market who actually care about covering books because books are hard to cover. For every review, there is a significant time investment when compared to covering a movie which only requires a journalist to trim an hour and a half out of their day.

It is still possible to rise above the fray and get coverage though. As a journalist, I've managed to take some of the mistakes and handy tricks I've picked up from other writers, artists, and musicians to grab some extra ink for my projects. Here are some of the techniques that have been the most effective:

Everything start's with the pitch. Your press release needs to be flexible and be customized for each media outlet. Your pitch to a local paper will focus on the "local boy made good" angle with the actual substance of the book being secondary. For blogs, angle the pitch to appeal to the blog's specific angle that makes your book a good fit. If you send out a blanket press release, you might get a bite here and there, but a little strategy can go a long way.
Start local. Local papers and glossy mags are always looking for features. The best thing about local is you are much more likely to get a positive review which will then beef up your bio which will then make it easier to pitch your work to larger media outlets.
Be prepared to be ignored. I receive around 20-50 emails a day from publicists and I only open the ones that specifically mention something in their subject line that interests me. Editors get even more than that and probably read even fewer than I do. Customize that subject line for each journalist to give yourself the best shot of getting them to actually read the email. There are services that construct email lists for you and send out blasts. I've never used one, so I don't know if they are affective. I do get plenty of their emails in my box, though,  and quickly learn their names and ignore anything from them.
Keep your press release concise. It's like writing a script for a politician. There are certain talking points that are absolutely crucial to getting across you message. The more talking points you have, the less impact each has, so it is better to say too little than too much.
If it is appropriate to call the media outlet, do. This mostly just applies to local media sources. Don't try to sell the story on the phone, just call ahead and let them know that you are sending an email their way and if they want a review copy, you would be happy to send it along. Many media types are starting to prefer digital copies because it is one less thing cluttering their office. If they do want a physical copy, don't be stingy.
Don't hound them with follow-up emails. If they don't want to cover it, no amount of badgering is going to change their minds. In fact, you will just annoy them and guarantee no future coverage. My rule is to call ahead if I can, email, then send one more follow-up email. If I don't hear back from them, it wasn't meant to be.
Worse they can do is say "no", so if you want to get your book in the New York Times, screw it, call up there, find out who the book editor is and send them an email. You aren't likely to ever hear back, but its not like you have to pay for postage, right?
If they do agree to cover your stuff, set a time for the interview as soon as they are ready to talk to you. Stories sometimes fall through the cracks as writers come and go from newsrooms or bloggers run out of steam. Also, make the interview count. Most interviews only last 10 minutes or so. Know what you want to talk about and make sure you hit every point by the end of the interview. Don't dodge questions or try to dominate the interviewer, but make sure you say what you need to say, even if you have to kind of wedge it into answers. As a journalist, I would rather talk to people who have a good handle on their message and feed me print-ready quotes. Also, thank the journalist for their time at every step of the process.
Have print ready images of yourself and your book. Print ready means 300 dpi jpeg. If its an image you pulled from your Facebook page, it won't work for newspapers or magazines since the picture is so compressed, it'll look pixilated on the page no matter how good it looks on your computer screen.  Good author images aren't mug shots or you playing with your kids. Hire a photographer and get something slick that mirrors the mood of the book. Always present yourself like the real deal rather than just another retiree who thought it would be fun to publish a book.
Do Not Be A Dick. The journalist might get their facts wrong, they may have typos, they may not ask the most probing questions you feel your book warrants or they may not have even read the book. Regardless, once the review/interview runs, thank them warmly and promote it to your readers like it was a stellar. Don't point out that this main character's name is wrong or that quote was taken out of context. They aren't going to go back and reprint the story without mistakes, so don't even bother. All you will accomplish is annoying the journalist and guaranteeing that they will never cover you again. Plus, you are probably the only person who will ever notice the mistakes.
If you make friends with a journalist, don't hound them to cover every little thing you do and don't get your feelings hurt if they pass on your future projects. There are tons of writers out there and there isn't enough press to go around. Take what you can, be grateful for it and do everything you can to make the journalist's job easier and you will put yourself in a good position to one day become a media darling.