Steps for finding the right media contacts, writing a great pitch, and getting better engagement

How do books get covered by digital magazines, newspapers, TV talk shows, and radio programs? Publicists spend a lot of time cultivating relationships with specific media contacts to help their authors’ books get the recognition they deserve. After more than a decade of helping our clients secure coverage in top outlets like The New York Times, NPR, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and many more, I have some time-tested strategies that will help you find, pitch, and get more responses from the media outlets you want to reach.

But first, what is a “pitch”? A pitch is a succinct, persuasive email sent from a publicist (or you as the author) to a media contact about a book, for the purposes of getting that book “covered” or featured in some way by the outlet.

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During the early days of the quarantine, I kept silent when writer friends revealed they’d turned a viral lemon into a pool-sized vat of lemonade. Stuck at home, they wrote. Some, incessantly. They sold their books. They started new manuscripts. Some found agents. Bottom line, they adapted to the new restrictions, but still engaged their creativity and continued to succeed as writers.

I didn’t. When COVID hit, I couldn’t go near my writing, or even relax enough to read for fun. While many turned their anxiety into literary fuel, I fueled my anxiety with everything COVID. I became obsessed with the news. Ultimately, I created alerts from eight different sources and read their similar stories multiple times. I even set my browser default to the New York Times. At my core I believed my actions were a search for clarity. I wanted – I needed – facts. All the facts. I felt compelled to stand a vigilant watch, otherwise the virus could storm the gates. Of course, it did anyway.

According to a March 2020 article in The Washington Post, when Isaac Newton quarantined at home for a year during the 1665 Great Plague of London, he didn’t allow a similar event to wipe out his creativity. On the contrary, he discovered the Laws of Gravity, Optics, and just for grins, he invented early Calculus.

The showoff.

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