Journalists, and bloggers who pose as journalists, get a lot of pitches over email.
I get about 20 a day, so Im pretty heavy on the archive button.
Last month, game developerAndrew Millerasked me for advice on how to pitch his work for coverage.
Heres what I told him.
Thanks for letting uspick your brain!
Id love some ideas for how to communicate with journalists without being a bad person.
Im a tabletop RPG game developer.
Good news: If youre worried about being spammy, that already means you probably wont be spammy!
Then sort them by how much you wish you had been in those pieces.
Maybe you wish you were in theNew York Times, because it reaches a wide, mainstream audience.
you might like different pieces for different reasons.
But this will help you figure out whats most important to you.
Now start at the top of your list, and reach out to the writer of the piece.
Tell them why you liked it.
Feel free to tell them what you like about their other work, too.
Be specific, so they know youre not bullshitting them.
And of course, be positive; this isnt the time to debate or critique their work.
Be confident and dont self-deprecate.
You, Andrew, are probably not at risk of being a blowhard.
Some tactical things:
Its OK to start with a form letter that youd send to every journalist.
But customize it as much as you’re free to.
Its also great to write your email from scratch for each journalist.
Youre not a PR professionaluse that to your advantage.
You dont have to use their obnoxious corporate speak, or offer to hop on a quick call.
Always be thankful and polite, even if theyre not.
Better to have one great piece written than several OK ones.
Because a great piece usually spreads to all the other blogs that cover this stuff.
(But theres also a good chance theyre done after that one piece.
Let me know how it goes!
Former Lifehacker writer Patrick Austin once got 13 followup emails on a single unanswered thread.
Whatever you do, make a run at be the opposite of that man.
