Over the years, I’ve worked with some incredible PR people. The good ones make my job easier: they understand my beat, send thoughtful ideas, and help me build stories that actually get published.
PR people and journalists are supposed to work together. Peanut butter and jelly. Biscuits and gravy. Two sides of the same story.
I’m not going to pretend I know how to do your job. But I do know what makes me open an email, and when something works for me, it usually works for you too.
So, to my PR friends—with love—here are a few things I wish more of you knew.
You Don’t Know Us
I’ve been sober for several years now, so I don’t write about alcohol. When I do write about beverages, it’s about mocktails and the sober-curious movement. And yet, every single week without fail, I get emails about whiskey launches, bourbon tastings, and new wine labels.
That’s just one example. There are also the GLP-1 pitches, the men’s sunglasses, and the skincare lines that have absolutely nothing to do with me.
I get it. You probably inherited a spreadsheet with hundreds of “friendly journos” on it. I’m just one name on a list.
The spray-and-pray approach is fast. But how effective is it, really?
Your Pitch Doesn’t Have the Details We Need
My nervous system hasn’t been fully regulated since 2020, which is bad news for the massive press release you’ve pasted into the body of the email.
I’m scanning. Looking for bolded information, links, maybe a quick stat or two. Something that tells me why this matters and whether it’s worth pursuing.
If I have to read six dense paragraphs to figure out what the actual story is, I won’t. I’ll just move on.
The Follow-Up Is Way Too Fast
We connected. Amazing. You have a story that might help me land a pitch. Incredible. We chat. We vibe. We part ways on a mutual high.
Then five minutes later, I get an email asking if I’ve landed the story yet.
Even with editors I work with every single month, I’m not getting assignments every week. Sometimes I haven’t even had time to pitch the idea yet.
The ultra-fast follow-up reads a little… clingy. A little desperate.
If the story is good, trust that I’ll come back to you.
When a relationship works between us, it’s mutually beneficial. I land a story, and your client gets a win.
And I’ve had some of those seamless experiences that I selfishly wish I could replicate: from the first message to the story idea to the published piece, back to a win for your client.
If every email in my inbox worked like that, we could all go back to having regulated nervous systems.
What the Best PRs I Work With Do Differently
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