A quintuple whammy!
Press coverage can be a often be a double-edged sword: It's great to receive the free publicity that it offers, but you have little control over content, audience or misrepresentation. Years ago, I remember a local newspaper publishing a direct quote, attributed to me. I was annoyed, because it misrepresented what I believed and what I was trying to achieve. The reporter had telephoned my office while I was in a meeting and, having failed to speak with me personally, invented a quotation and published it that day. The irony was that, when I had finished huffing and puffing, the article moved things forward to a satisfactory conclusion much more speedily than the truth would have done!
Since then, I have always tried to prepare and issue my own press statements and email them to the relevant parties. It's true that editors still 'tinker' round the edges, but at least the facts are usually accurate. Sending in a prepared statement also gives you the opportunity to include everything you need to. The latest article in The Forester is a good example of this, as I was able to:
promote not just one book, but two;
advertise the book signing event, while giving the Festival some free advertising;
Praise Macmillan Cancer Support
and finally, to give shout out to Lydney Harbour.
At least a quintuple whammy!
