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When Old News is Good News

by: Penny C. Sansevieri

Sometimes when you’re pitching your topic or learning the art of the media pitch all you will hear is “your topic must be newsworthy, it must be trendy AND it must tie into a current/relevant topic.” So let’s say you have a great pitch, the only thing is it’s from last year. Is old news good news? Sometimes, yes it is. If your pitch ties into something current and relevant then it’s what we can an “evergreen.” In fact I have pitches that I’ve used several times over, they are seasonal pitches that become relevant when that particular season rolls around. Let me give you an example.

Let’s say you have a book on relationships and Valentine’s Day is looming on the horizon. Well, you might create a pitch or two for this holiday and strike media gold when it comes to their interest in your topic. But once the holiday is history you can still file away your pitch, providing it wasn’t pivotal to a news-topic that won’t be coming around again.

Several years ago I created a topic for Valentine’s Day called: “The one thing people DON’T do that screws up their marriages.” Now since divorce rates aren’t getting any better for the foreseeable future, this topic will continue to remain fresh year after year. Certainly I might tweak a sentence or two or offer a fresh set of tips or questions, but the pitch itself remains consistent.

So, how do you go about creating evergreen hooks for your book? Well, start this as you would any campaign and open a calendar to map out the next twelve months of your marketing efforts. During those twelve months you will no doubt find a pitch or two that you can recycle the next time this date comes around. Or, alternatively, you might find a topic that isn’t date sensitive meaning that it can be used over and over again with a few minor changes. Health, relationship, and diet issues all tend to have this “evergreen” component to them. We’re equally interested in this topic no matter what the season so for example when the holidays come around people are talking about family issues, dieting issues, etc. And while they might have a different twist to them, they pitch is essentially the same. This also holds true for a book you are promoting year after year. Let’s say you have a health book, and while you keep updating the book with current trends and relative information the content is essentially the same. Save for a few references to the low-carb craze your pitches might be quite similar year after year. Or better still a book on personal finance or relationships. These are the staples of our life and barring any new research, remain fairly static throughout our lives.

Creating evergreens for your topic will allow you the freedom and flexibility you need to keep the momentum going on your campaign without siphoning off an overwhelming amount of creativity every time an appropriate seasonal angle comes along. Knowing when to craft a fresh release and when to recycle an old one will go a long way to keeping your media campaign strong and perhaps a tad less time-consuming.

About the author:
Penny C. Sansevieri
The Cliffhanger was published in June of 2000. After a strategic marketing campaign it quickly climbed
the ranks at Amazon.com to the ##1 best selling book in San Diego. Her most recent book: No More Rejections. Get Published Today! was released in July of 2003 to rave reviews. Penny is a book marketing and media relations specialist. She also coaches authors on projects, manuscripts and marketing plans and instructs a variety of coursing on publishing and promotion. To learn more about her books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@booksbypen.com
Copyright ã 2004 Penny C. Sansevieri