Illustration by Alicia Traveria
Crafting a Business with Jenny Hart
Getting some ink: How to score good press
By Jenny Hart
Published: January 11th, 2008 | 12:00am
Dear Jenny,
In your December 2007 column ("The deal with book deals”), you mention that your business has gotten a lot of press. I must know: How did you get this press? Did you send out samples? Write press releases?
— Tara Swiger of Johnson City, Tennessee
How did I get so much press? Aren’t you really asking how you can get so much press? If you’ll give me a little breathing room with all of the cameras, microphones, and notebooks, I’ll tell you how to get some ink. You won’t mind if I keep my sunglasses on. Thanks. Are you taking this down yet?
Editorial press is the stuff money can’t buy and is the most valuable kind of PR you can get (assuming the publication gets your Web site right), after word-of-mouth on the street. One of the questions I’m most frequently asked is how I manage to get so much press. And it’s true: I’m extremely fortunate to get a lotta ink — about three national to international print magazines a month. I haven’t updated my press page in more than two years because I can’t scan it all, which is a good problem to have. How’d that happen? Well, it requires that special sumpin sumpin and also learning how to work it.
Now, before I get settled into this column, I’ll start by saying promotional approaches (promo cards, advertising) aren’t exactly what I’m going to cover here. Sure, they’re a huge part of getting your name out there and might even be what helps get you some ink. But I’ll save that for another column. I’m going to talk specifically about working with that rare and elusive creature: the magazine editor.
There are many different reasons for ending up in a magazine, zine, newspaper, or blog. You could be a contributing writer, a featured personality, or your product could be showcased in one of those I-want-that-thing-now splashes. I know you want it. But are you sure you want it? Are you ready to meet the increase in demand that press can produce? Didja know that most businesses fold under the pressure of newfound success due to failure to meet increased demand? Imagine going from making 20 sets of those earrings to 200 if you land that holiday-guide blurb. Just think about that before we move on, OK?
I can’t promise you’ll get into a magazine by reading this, but I can tell you how to go for it. Or at least how I did (which seems to work). I’m going to assume most folks reading this column are looking for ways to get their creative products and small businesses some press notice. Bottom line: Give samples to an editor.
Just skip the press release. I’ve never written one, which isn’t something I’m proud of. I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn, or that they don’t serve a purpose, but they’re not the most effective way to get an editor’s attention. Many large companies hire art firms to design special promotional packages solely created to capture the attention of a magazine editor. Just to get their attention! You too want to capture their attention, without being a pest. So …
Be aware that magazine editors, (writers, art directors, and photographers) are generally very busy people. Understanding this is your first step in making one your friend. They get tons and tons of un-requested samples (like mine!) and products filling their cramped offices. They have need-it-yesterday deadlines and, if one contacts you, she may start making demands of your time and efforts that put you in a tight spot: “Do I really have time to take new photos of my goods by Friday?” Do you want to be in a magazine? See what I mean?
First, start with smaller magazines. In other words, try contacting any of the numerous independent (but nationally distributed) publications. They tend to be more indie-friendly and accessible. This is exactly what I did. Chances are better you’ll actually land contact with an editor, and you’ll start learning the drill for the back-and-forth when the editor from a larger publication contacts you. It also means that chances are increasingly better that other editors with larger publications will see your stuff and might contact you. And, possibly, so it grows.
How to make contact? Well, assuming you can get (and often, you can’t) editors’ e-mail addresses, politely ask them if they’d allow you to send them a sample. What if you can’t get any contact information except for a general mailing address? Send your sample to the attention of a specific editor. When sending samples to editors, I keep it short and sweet — a handwritten note on my company’s letterhead politely asking them to consider my goods, a printed list of recent press, along with a very brief explanation of my company, the sample enclosed and my Web address. I also include my business card (or two). I rarely, if ever, hear from blind submissions like these. But, it has happened.
So you’ve heard from an editor. Now what? Ask where and how to best send your stuff to them, and do it immediately. Then wait a week or almost two, if you don’t hear anything, before checking in. If you are actually mailing something to them, either be sure it’s something you’re fine with never seeing again or pre-arrange for having it returned to you (and include a SASE with your submission).
Hearing nothing but crickets from their direction? Well, just because you didn’t get a response doesn’t mean you’re off their radars. They might be saving your sample for the right season or seeing what you come up with next. The key is to be cool. Don’t be annoying. Don’t bug. It’s really easy to be bothersome, and if you do, you’ll get nowhere fast. But don’t let it set you back. Keep doing your work, which is the most important thing.
I got my foot in the door simply by saying “Excuse me, kind editor, but would you please consider my goods for your publication?” The majority of it now comes on its own after successfully getting the word out there. It was as if once I got some large press, that exposure built on the opportunity for more. It also came from generous cross-promotion of friends and associates at the very beginning.
One of the ways I got the press ball rolling was through the formation of the Austin Craft Mafia. We made a handshake agreement early on that whenever we came into contact with newspaper editors, magazine writers, or media of any kind, we would be sure to tell that media contact about someone else in our group. Writers and editors are constantly looking for new stories, and if you can recommend something interesting to them, it helps them and might help you. None of us had magical connections to begin with. We each had unique companies that make for good content, and once we got contacts in the press, we kept them by letting them know our latest news and offering up leads for other stories.
Have you already gotten some press? Did they get something wrong? Don’t be too disappointed if your information isn’t exactly correct. That will be par for the course (and cause you to question everything else you read). I’ve had my Web site misspelled, my story all wrong, and the worst: having quotes practically made up with me name-dropping celebrity clients, that made me cringe with deep embarrassment as I read it. I don’t need any help putting my foot in my mouth, thankyouverymuch. I can do that on my own. I generally conduct interviews via e-mail so that I can be careful with my words and leave out the possibility of being misquoted. You might not always have this option and need to be mindful of the editor’s timeline. When you’re getting press, it’s a tender push-pull situation. You are appreciative to get the press, but you don’t want to do or say anything you’re not comfortable with, and drawing those lines can sometimes feel awkward. However, if something like your company or Web site comes out wrong, you should contact the editor to bring it to their attention and politely request a correction in the following issue.
So, pick three magazines or zines that you would and could like to see you or your wares in. Contact your local newspaper. E-mail your favorite blog. See if you can sleuth out an e-mail for the editor you’d like to contact. Ask politely if they’d allow you to send them a sample or tell your story. See what happens! If you get some ink, even if it’s in that photocopied-and-stapled zine with a run of 150 copies, blab about it! Beat your drum. Me? I’m huge in the Netherlands, dears (dodging rotten fruit flying past head).
—
Jenny Hart will appear in the March 2008 issue of Lucky Magazine as a featured designer modeling a very sparkly top. This is the third installment of Jenny Hart’s “Crafting a Business” column, which is published every fifth day of each month. Send your questions to askjenny [at] sublimestitching.com. View other "Crafting a Business" columns here.
Want more tips on how to run a DIY business? The spring 2008 issue of Venus Zine (available in March 2008) features a special section with tricks of the trade. Subscribe to Venus Zine here.
Issue #35
Comments
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lovenotes (8 months)
Jenny, Do you email editors and if so what do you say? I've moo mailed about a dozen press kits and have not heard back from anyone. What do I do now?
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