2019-10-01_Writer_s_Digest

WritersDigest.com I 19

INDIELAB

New rules. New strategies. New paths to success.

debut novel, Th e Black Lens. Local

publisher Boyle & Dalton just

released this dark literary thriller

that exposes the underbelly of sex

traffi cking in rural America.

• COPY: As a Columbus resident
  and former reporter with a mas-
  ter’s degree in journalism, I con-
  ducted more than three years of
  research on sex traffi cking for this
  novel, including interviews with
  survivors, social workers, and
  police offi cers.


• CALL TO ACTION: Let me know if
  you’re interested in doing a short
  interview. For more information,
  please visit my novel’s website at
  ChristopherStollar.com.
  EVALUATION
  Bryant responded immediately to my
  email and ended up airing a three-
  minute video about my novel that
  resulted in more than 500 visits to
  my author website and over 50 book
  sales. Th at media coverage was the
  start to more than a dozen other news
  hits. While it’s hard to evaluate the
  success of any pitch, make sure you
  have a clear call to action. Th at could
  be directing people to your author
  website, Amazon page, or even a local
  bookstore that carries your work so
  you can track clicks and sales.
  Only you can defi ne success, but if
  you convince even one person to pub-
  lish a story about your book, I believe
  you will have succeeded. WD

Journalists are a lot like agents—they

love a good story.

But convincing them to cover your

book requires a unique hook that

must go beyond a traditional press

release. Like any good public relations

strategy, there are four main steps to

craft ing the perfect media pitch that

answers these questions:

• RESEARCH: Who should I pitch to?


• PLANNING: Why would they care
  about my story?


• IMPLEMENTATION: How do I pitch
  to them?


• EVALUATION: When will I know if
  I’m successful?
  RESEARCH
  Spend the same amount of time
  researching a local reporter, feature
  editor, or book blogger as you would
  an agent before pitching to them. Th at
  includes checking out their most recent
  stories, people they’ve interviewed, and
  other books they’ve covered. Th e goal
  is to make sure this specifi c person is
  the best fi t before planning your pitch.
  Every publication has diff erent target
  audiences, but here are the three main
  categories of outlets you should consider
  pitching for both fi ction and nonfi ction:


• Local newspapers (feature editors,
  arts editors, and/or metro reporters)


• Alternative weeklies (editors and/
  or reporters)


• Trade publications (editors and/or
  reporters)
  PLANNING
  Once you’ve developed a list of contacts,
  start planning individual pitches to
  each one of them. Just like when que-
  rying agents, think through why they
  should care about your book versus

BY CHRISTOPHER STOLLAR

ILLUSTRATION ©

WRITER’S DIGEST: JASON WILLIAMS

Christopher Stollar (ChristopherStollar.

com) is the award-winning author of The

Black Lens, a literary thriller that exposes the

underbelly of sex traffi cking in rural America.

His debut novel won Grand Prize in the

2016 WD Self-Published E-Book Awards.

thousands of other books. Every jour-

nalist has their own beat, tastes, and

priorities, but most media are looking

for a story that:

• Sounds new or unique


• Addresses timely themes, trends,
  or topics


• Includes data or research
  Th at last point is especially impor-
  tant. For nonfi ction, research could
  involve public records you ana-
  lyzed or fi rst-hand interviews you
  conducted. For fi ction, that could
  be places you visited or personal
  experiences you had for the sake of
  grounding your book in reality. If
  you haven’t done any research, do
  some now. Media are oft en more
  interested in the story behind the
  story. In fact, that could end up
  being the best part of your plan.
  IMPLEMENTATION
  Most media professionals are slammed,
  working on deadline and juggling doz-
  ens of other stories that are probably
  more pressing. So, your best chance
  at cutting through the clutter is craft -
  ing a short email pitch. It’s similar to
  a query letter, but shorter. Like any
  writer, I will strive to show versus tell
  with a successful pitch I sent to a local
  TV reporter:


• HEADLINE: Local novel about sex
  traffi cking


• INTRODUCTION: Bryant, I’ve read
  several of your traffi cking stories—
  most recently “Human traffi cking
  victims, advocates call for legisla-
  tive action”—and am writing to see
  if you would be interested in run-
  ning a short feature piece about my