The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Media Pitch

I received feedback from a freelance architecture writer last week; the kind I never get tired of hearing. It came along with a link to the published review he wrote on my client's book in The Architectural Review. Here's what he wrote:

".....you went about promoting this book in exactly the right way.......I find some publishers, even established ones, often still haven't got a clue.  Approaching freelance reviewers with special interests is the right way to get a review placed, I think - otherwise copies end up in unread piles on the magazine's office floor!"

If there's one pillar rule you should follow when pitching the media, it's personalize your pitches. I spent a lot of time researching writers I thought of pitching this book to. Although I don't operate otherwise, his note is a nice reminder that the time is well spent. 

Good pitches look like you've taken the time to care about the writer's needs and interests. Bad ones make you look clueless, and ugly ones get shared on the internet. 

See how this great pitch by the new Flipboard folks to highly regarded tech writer Robert Scoble earned a well deserved review by him, while this ugly one to The Marketing Spot blog struck out with an off-topic, painful-to-read pitch.