Artists suck at PR. No, really. They do.
Last week I sent out a query to the Help A Reporter mailing list saying that I would like to interview artist entrepreneurs who believe that the starving artist is a myth. I specified that I wanted to hear from artists who are financially successful entrepreneurs.
I received 150+ responses within six hours.
I am excited because I have received some amazing emails from some artists who are doing things that just blow my mind. I really cannot express how grateful I am for the opportunity to talk to some of these creative luminaries.
That said, those amazing emails were a very small minority. Perhaps 120 of those emails were not pitched well…or pitched at all for that matter. If you are serious about getting some press coverage, here are some tips for when you contact reporters, bloggers, and other media producers.
Read what the producers are looking for and make sure you are a good fit. I was looking for financially successful entrepreneurs. That may be a vague term, but artists who are “managing to scrape by” are not a good fit for this pitch. Media producers are usually looking to tell a specific story. You have to make sure you are making their life easier, not harder.
Respond immediately. I received 150+ emails. In six hours. How many do you think I actually read all the way through? Most likely the ones I got first. Producers have deadlines and schedules. The early bird gets the worm.
Tell a compelling story. Did you just get a $100,000 grant? Did your company do $1 million last year? Did Ben Brantley rave over your work? Tell that story and how it grew your success. “I’ve been a painter for 20 years and am passionate about my work,” is not interesting or unique. All of those things appeared in emails I received. Bonus points if you can tell the producer how your story will fit in to what they are doing. Make their job easier.
Keep it short. Tell your story in two or three sentences. Leave a bio after your pitch if you must, but don’t share your 20 year history. A compelling bio highlight the best of your awards and accomplishments.
Leave contact info. Even if it’s on email, you should include your email address, phone number, and best time to contact. You’d think this was a given…but…see that first sentence again.
Follow up politely. Following up to see if the producer got our pitch is fine, but don’t expect them to take the time to respond to every email or phone call.
PR Agencies suck too. You should ask your PR agency to see the pitches they’ve sent out on your behalf recently. Just because they work in PR doesn’t mean they’re good at it. Just ask the Help A Reporter people how many PR people get booted from the list every week. Some of the worst off-topic pitches I received were from PR agencies.
Artists have a distinct advantage in PR. They are inherently interesting. Even though I’ve been a little harsh in this blog post, I read almost all of the emails because so many of the artists were so interesting. The creativity of the human race constantly surprises and overwhelmes me.
Any questions about how to pitch?
Cory,
I don’t think you were “a little harsh” at all! What you’ve written is the bottom line in pitching. I’m not an expert at the art of pitching — by any means — but your short, concise list mirrors what an interview pitch should look like. Awesome!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go tweet the link to this really great post to let other artists who are struggling to get their interview pitch in front of the right eyeballs know about it.
@mediaChick
Thanks mediaChick!
I like posts that give practical advice – and this one does. Thank you! I’ve shared it with my community.
Since you mentioned it, I’m very interested in who you chose to interview when it was all said and done.
Lastly, for the record, I feel the same way you do about artists being interesting and being overwhelmed by the creativity of humanity.
Thank you for all you do for this community of artists.
.-= Tara´s last blog ..Connecting =-.
Potentially useful article, so much so that I thought I would subscribe to the feed. It didn’t work with my Opera browser, so while I would be very interested in following this feed and even passing around the word, but I can’t because the over fancy feed subscription utility is not egalitarian. Now I shall have to read only when someone else recommends an article. Drat.
BTW, I remember your HARO request. In this article I would have liked to see some figures on how many of those respondents actually fit the requirement, vs how many did not.
.-= Patricia´s last blog ..October’s Opals and Tourmalines Part I =-.
Good question Patricia. Of the 150+ requests that I got, I decided to interview about 25 artists. There were a few more that I could have potentially interviewed, but 25 booked me out for weeks, so I decided to leave it at that.
Hm, from what I understand are the norms for such inquiries, that’s not a bad ratio. Thanks for responding.
.-= Patricia´s last blog ..October’s Opals and Tourmalines Part I =-.
Hello,
I loved this post! I’ve been pitching my book for the past couple months and it’s tough. The advice you give is golden. Thanks.
Regardless of your first sentence being a tad harsh, I truly enjoyed reading this! Loved your closing statement and that many of your points validated my own opinions ; ) “The creativity of the human race constantly surprises and overwhelmes me.”
Quite frankly, I think your article should have been your pitch to interview them!
Very helpful article. Thank you!
I would be curious to see some pitch letter templates or examples for artists, to have a sense of what exact language is considered successful. For example, do you recommend launching straight into the pitch, or does the letter ease into it somehow? I also understand that how you close your letter might make a difference. Do you suggest you make yourself very available and accommodating or don’t even directly address it (just leave contact info). Lastly, I’m on the fence about if it’s appropriate to mention your intention to follow up with the person, or just do it if you don’t get a response.
Would be really curious to have the finer details down, since I’ve found that as artist’s we’re great mimics, and having a sample letter or two to go off of would be hugely beneficial — not to copy, but to really get what a pitch can/should/could look like. More transparency on this would definitely empower people to write better pitches and for journalists to get less awful pitches!! Thank you for your great blog and generous information! I’m grateful you’re helping artists get to a more transparent place and a place of finding success for our important work. Keep it up.
Best,
MK
*as artists
Hi Cory,
Great post- really interesting and to the point!
I would be very curious to know when it is appropriate for an artist to approach the press for a feature?
For example, I am an emerging artist from the UK (I don’t have a huge resume of impressive awards or huge financial success from my art). Is it appropriate to approach them for exposure then?
Any comments would be so appreciated, I’m fairly new to this!!
Thanks,
Emily