Six Steps cover

Six Steps to Free Publicity


Step Four: Send it Out


Once you've come up with a newsworthy angle and polished up a press release, it's time to send it off. You don't need fancy paper or even letterhead stationery for a press release. Just duplicate it onto plain white paper at a quality copy shop. The release should look neat and crisp. No dot-matrix fuzzies!

To choose appropriate media outlets for your message, think about who you are trying to reach and what they read, listen to and watch. Most public libraries carry one or more of the following reference books, which contain reasonably current names and addresses you can copy out for free. All of these directories cost more than $100 to buy.

  1. Bacon's Newspaper/Magazine Directory. 2 volumes.
  2. Bacon's Radio/TV/Cable Directory. 2 volumes.
  3. Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook.
  4. Editor and Publisher International Yearbook.
  5. Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media.
  6. Newsletters in Print.
  7. Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters.
  8. Standard Rate and Data Service. Look at the volumes labelled "Business Publications" and "Consumer Magazines."
  9. Working Press of the Nation. 4 volumes.
For radio and TV, address your release to the producer of a show, not the host. For magazines and newspapers, choose the appropriate section editor ("Lifestyle," "Health," "Education") whenever possible.

If you're serious about publicity, you'll want to develop your own list by copying information directly from current issues of magazines and newspapers, by phoning radio and TV stations and by keeping a list of the reporters who call you to follow up on your press release.

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Copyright © 1994 Marcia Yudkin. All rights reserved.

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