Being a publicist is more than knowing how to craft a snazzy email, it’s a dedicated, ongoing effort. If you do it right, you can accumulate great mentions, features, and reviews…and sell more books! Know the rules, honor the rules and if you’re lucky, the media will beat a path to your door.

1. Think Like a Journalist: Journalists care about one thing: “Will this interest my readers?” Use that objectivity to gain greater access to media, both online and off.

2. Know the Rules: When to pitch, who to pitch, how to pitch. A good publicist knows this, updates her information constantly and lives and dies by these rules. And don’t forget to read outside of your market – you’ll gain access to information that could affect your message long-term or inspire some some great pitches.

3. Media Alerts: Use an alert system like Talkwalker or Mention.net to stay informed, see who’s getting quoted, and which media is covering your genre.

4. Understand the Importance of Local Media: There’s gold buried in your back yard. Local media loves local “celebrities” and if you haven’t reach out lately, you should.

5. Realize the Importance of a Subject Line: I can’t state enough how important a good subject is or how much time a good publicist can spend agonizing over one. You should, too.

6. It’s All About Relationships: Once you get media, stay in touch with the person who interviewed you. Find them on LinkedIn, thank them for the story (hand-written thank you notes are a particularly nice touch) and follow up regularly. If you become a reliable media source for someone, you’ll likely always be in their rolodexes.