How to capitalize on a pending, big announcement

December 15, 2018 1:37 PM

I'm about to publish a book about public radio fundraising. I want to take advantage of the certainty that when President Trump submits his 2019-2020 budget to Congress, it will again recommend the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Public radio's own research shows that when supporters feel their public radio is under threat, they dump cash into it to protect it. His last two budgets have tried to zero out funding. How can I leverage that announcement (usually in February or March) to get maximum publicity and promotion for the book?

posted by CollectiveMind to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

1. Plan a campaign of press releases with different angles on the story; send them out one per day for seven or ten days after the budget is released. Have those press releases drafted now; you can fill in the details, actual dollar amounts, &c., but you could have most of these in the can well in advance.
2. Talk to a press agent now about getting scheduled into interview to talk about the issue. You've written a book; you're a subject matter expert now.
3. Donate some copies of your book for stations to give out as a thank you to contributors. That will get your book's title on the radio a LOT during the fund drive.
posted by gauche at 1:49 PM on December 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

I would pitch the story well in advance, not just after the announcement (probably after the holidays, at this point). Find the journalists who are likely to be interested now and then start reaching out. If someone wants a source to interview when the news breaks, they'll need to already know about you. Publicists also usually send me books well in advance--do you have advance copies now? What is your publication date?
posted by pinochiette at 4:35 PM on December 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

Write and pitch an op-ed on the topic pegged to the announcement (but draft and potentially pitch it beforehand, if you know for sure this will happen). The op-ed shouldn't mention your book directly—it should focus on the implications of the budget cut and make some sort of recommendation/call to action. If you haven't written one before, here's a good guide.
posted by karayel at 12:22 PM on December 16, 2018