more on print from trunk

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The more I read of Penelope Trunk, the more I wish I read more of her.

An oldie but goodie is her advice on how to get your blog mentioned in print. My favorite:

1. Don't pitch yourself, pitch an idea.

Yes, yes, yes, yes yes.

Unless you're a celebrity (or someone moderately famous and beddable [or just attractive and beddable]), you're going to be disappointed over how few people care to hear you talking about yourself.

One of the first things I learned in this business is that the people who have the fun jobs--writing editorials, the lyrical pieces, the humor column (well, to an extent)--are the guys and gals who made their bones by first writing really good, really informative articles--and that holds true in a lot of print mediums, not just magazines.

Number 5--answer questions strategically (read: succinctly, then flesh out the details if they ask) is another gem--the only thing I would add to it is, if you're explaining something, do it in terms of an anecdote. Nothing especially long--just four or five sentences--if you keep it interesting, informative, and short (and in that order), it'll be tough not to mention you.

Anyway, the whole thing's worth a read and available here.

Anyone else have some advice?