For hard-core publicity insiders, though, there's a rhythm to generating coverage, based upon the natural ebb and flow of the seasons. Such an approach can help you score publicity throughout the year, and will help keep your eye on the ball from January through December.
Essentially, a yearlong approach consists of two strategies:
- Timing your existing stories (new product introductions, oddball promotions, business page features, etc.) to fit the needs of the media during particular times of the year.
- Crafting new stories to take advantage of events, holidays and seasonal activities.
Before we run through the four seasons of publicity, a few words about lead time. In this age of immediacy (only a few seconds separate a Matt Drudge or a CNN from writing a story and putting it before millions), it's easy to forget that, for many print publications and TV shows, it can be weeks -- and sometimes months -- before a completed story sees the light of day.
The phrase lead time simply refers to the amount of time needed for a journalist to complete a story for a particular issue of a magazine or episode of a TV news program. For example, a freelancer for an entertainment magazine may need to turn in a story on Christmas movies by September 15.
That's a lead time of three months, time needed for the editor to review and change the piece, the issue to be typeset and printed and distributors to place the issues on newsstands before December. Lead time can range from a day (for hard news pieces in newspapers) to a few days (newspaper features) to a few weeks (weekly magazines) to many months.
The longest leads are the domain of "women's books" like Good Housekeeping and Better Homes & Gardens. These publications often have a lead time of up to six months, which means they need information for their Christmas issues as early as May!
Here's a tip to help you discover the lead time of a particular publication you're targeting: call the advertising department of the publication and request a media kit. Since advertisers need to know when their ads must be submitted, each issue's lead time is clearly stated in the media kit.
Factor the lead time into your planning as you look over the following sections. If you have a great story idea for Rolling Stone's summer issues, you need to be on the ball well before Memorial Day.
