The Process of Pulling Together a Media Pitch for a Book


As a Publicity Director for W Publishing Group, a commercial nonfiction imprint of Thomas Nelson, Allison Carter partners with her author clients to find publicity opportunities for their books. This includes media interviews, op-eds, book reviews, and more. As she says, her focus is on "hooks from books". Her role is to review the author's manuscript and find four to five different newsworthy angles or "hooks" that she can use to pitch to media outlets. Carter also asks for the author's input since he or she is so close to the content and knows what inspired the book.

Once the hooks or pitch angles are finalized, Carter then determines which media outlets to approach based on coverage and temperature. If the outlet is more conservative, for example, she won't pitch a progressive book.

To make her author clients more comfortable with media interviews, Carter can offer media coaching. This involves going through a mock interview and learning to make sure your key four or five points are covered in any type of interview.

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