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I got this Substack article today and I thought it'd be helpful for those doing media pitching and not getting traction. Nicole is a freelance journalist who has written for NY Times, Rolling Stone, AARP and others. Link at the end to her Substack. Full credit for this goes to Nicole Pajer. Subtle Tweaks to Make Your Pitches Timely You’ve got a solid client. A credible expert. Maybe even a great story angle to send to a journalist. But if your pitch doesn’t answer the question “why now?” it’s probably not a fit. Writers aren’t passing because it’s a bad idea. They’re passing because they don’t see the urgency. And when we, as writers, send pitches to our editors, the first thing they ask us is: “Why should we publish this story now?” We have to prove to them what we can tie a story idea to so they can tell their higher ups where this fits into the editorial calendar and then decide if it makes sense to run. What PR pitches often miss Most pitches writers get focus heavily on what: - A new product - A book launch - A service offering - A founder’s story - An announcement of a new client All fine. But none of that is a reason for an editor to assign a story today. Journalists are looking for relevance. Something that fits into what readers are already thinking about, dealing with, or searching for right now. If that connection isn’t clear, the pitch feels… floaty. Easy to ignore. Easy to come back to later (which usually means never). What makes writers actually move on a pitch It’s almost always timing. The pitches writers respond to quickly do one of three things: - They plug into something happening now. - They anticipate something about to happen. - Or they show me why this story suddenly matters more than it did last month. Here’s what that looks like in practice: You can tie clients to: 1. National holidays 2. Seasons: summer BBQ season, graduation season 3. Health awareness months 4. Pop culture moments 5. Trends But you can also do this in more subtle evergreen ways with tiny tweaks in your pitches:

I'm excited because I got my final manuscript fully designed and now I've unlocked the next level: ARC REVIEWS. I have read @Julie Broad book but it doesn't mention Book Sirens or Hidden Gems Books, which are recommendations from other sources. What platforms have you used and saw the best results? Thank you.

I had No Idea this was even a possibility until I saw it mentioned on Reddit!! Having your book Printed in China! 🤨 This is just One place that popped up, but Alibaba is Full of them! https://www.mainlandprinting.com/

Hello Everyone. My name is Ed Sullivan and I've been working on my book for a while and I'm ready to put it out in the world. The name of the book is "Kungfu Baseball" and it is written for parents who are frustrated teaching their children baseball. The idea came about when my wife filed for divorce, I had one goal: see my son more. I signed up to coach his baseball team just to guarantee those extra nights together. There was just one problem—I’d never really played the game. I couldn't explain a swing, but I had 10 years of Kung Fu training. So, I stopped using baseball slogans and started teaching them Martial Arts mechanics. We struggled at first, then something clicked. That ‘experimental’ team didn't just improve—they won the Championship. That’s how KungFu Baseball was born. It’s a system of balance, focus, and power that, I hope, finally makes sense to kids and parents. The writing is done but I'm working on marketing, design, accompanying videos etc. any questions, feedback resources etc would be welcome. Great to meet you all...