Contacts - Organizations, Media

The list of publisher requests goes on. Among the 23 items on my checklist is organizations, local and personal media contacts (newspaper, radio/TV) and any interview CD, DVD, or digital files you might have. The marketing department requires names and addresses of each.  I'll try to include email addresses and phone numbers.

For me, organization information is easy and quick. If not, I'd Google it.

Media contacts requires more time. To find names and addresses of newspapers, TV and radio, I first Googled "Colorado radio stations" and found On the Radio.net at this link: http://www.ontheradio.net/states/colorado.aspx. They list every station ID frequency, city, fornat and website. Surfing the websites disclosed contact information and sometimes the person responsible for receiving press releases.

When I changed the Google subject to "TV/radio," another source, News Link, http://newslink.org/cotele.html, came up. It lists all kinds of media - TV/radio as well as newspapers and magazines - by state. However, I didn't see weekly newspapers like the Lyons Recorder for whom I regularly write. In that case, I'd Google "weekly newspapers" or the name of the paper in which I'm interested.

When the release date of my book comes, I'll personally call, write or email my local media sources, introduce myself and make them aware of my upcoming book. If I'm lucky, they might invite me to appear via print, video or audio.

Unlike me, be ahead of the game. Make a media/organization list while submitting your manuscript. You never know when that editor's call or contract will arrive. Good luck.