Lynn Montgomery herself shares many of the same values. Born in the L.A. suburb of Ontario, Lynn recognized at a very early age her own gift for storytelling. She grew up in a close and loving family, which supported her creative endeavors. A graduate of U.C.L.A., Lynn worked as a fashion model in Paris for a year before returning to the United States to launch a writing career. After serving as a writer of syndicated radio specials for Westwood One, she began writing screenplays in the early eighties. She sold In Sorrow, In Secret to Columbia, Oklahoma Christmas for CBS, and Crucible for Jon Voigt, yet none of her scripts were produced. Then in 1984 she wrote and produced Child Abuse: The Day After, a documentary on the failings of the child protective custody system. It won a local Emmy for Best Documentary that year.
Lynn continued writing short stories, poetry, plays, and scripts, and finally her persistence began to pay off. In 1988 Disney Studios contracted with her to write and develop TV pilots and films after they read Queen for a Day, Lynn’s screenplay based on her Oklahoma past. Recalls Lynn, “I never had a doubt, from the moment I first wrote it, that this material would sometime be seen by a large audience.” Several incarnations later, a half-hour four-camera version, dubbed The Torkelsons, was presented to NBC.
“When Brandon Tartikoff read the script, he said to me, ‘Lynn, I read this at a time in my life when I needed something life-affirming, and The Torkelsons was it.’”
As writer and creator of the show, it would seem Lynn has her hands full, but she is currently completing several other pilots, a movie for television, and other works in progress. Despite the load, she’s not at all a Hollywood fast-tracker. Lynn owned a bed-and-breakfast inn near Big Bear, California, for a time, and also formed a poetry workshop at a shelter for homeless children in Santa Monica. “I’m not just writing,” she points out, “I’m living too.”
Together with her artist husband, Richard Kriegler, Lynn makes her home in Los Angeles, and looks forward to having a family of her own in the near future. In the meantime, she’ll continue creating memorable characters and valuable stories. “I’ve always been a storyteller,” says the soft-spoken writer. As Americans will soon learn watching The Torkelsons, she also happens to be one of our best.
As you study these two examples, notice a certain flow. I’ve written a lot of these, so it comes rather easily to me. But with practice, you can do it too. As an exercise, write your own bio following the suggestions described. Strive for flow. After you’ve composed a first draft, cut at least 25 percent of what you wrote. Tighten it up as much as you can. It’s really not hard to nail it down.
Photos
My previous comments about photos don’t apply uniformly to a press kit. If your press kit contains a bio of an individual, you may wish to include a photo, preferably an 8 × 10 black-and-white head shot. Your virtual press kit must include a high-resolution digital photo of the individual, but it should also have something a little less formal and predictable, in case the publication wants to add color to the story. If your subject is an event, a product, or a place, a photo can be helpful in making your project more concrete in the minds of media people. But a photo isn’t always essential. If you play your cards right, you’ll make the media come out and photograph or film you, rather than having to run the expense of printing photos yourself. It’s always best to have the media do the photography, since it indicates a definite interest in your story and also will usually result in a better image. And that’s what you’re always shooting for. Remember, a statement gains more credibility when it comes from someone else, and a photograph seems more official when the media outlet sends a photographer. It’s all a question of perception.
Clips
Obviously, if you’ve never mounted a press campaign before, you probably haven’t amassed a collection of press clippings on your project. But it ain’t necessarily so. It’s possible there have been stories on your project, or closely related projects, before your arrival on the scene. You might have blogged about your project, or there might have been others who did. Run a Google search on your project, or company, or even your own name, and you’ll likely find that there have been mentions in online or print media that even you haven’t heard about. Don’t despair: that’s great! But even if there are no such articles, it’s perfectly legit to include reprints of stories that simply pertain to your subject.
For example, say I wanted to include some clips in my press kit for the fictitious Mid-Valley Youth Center. I would include recent hard-hitting articles from the national or local press on gangs or community efforts to help troubled teens. These would add ballast to my pitch. Reprints from other publications tend to legitimize your project by showing journalists that other media felt the subject worthy of coverage.
It doesn’t matter that none of those articles mention the Youth Center by name, or even refer to it indirectly. They are acting as a foundation, providing legitimacy and credibility to the issues the Center addresses. Let the reporter become concerned about the problem, and then provide yourself or your project as a possible solution, and you’ll see an increase in the number of interested responses you get to your pitch.
If you do include reprints in your press kit, paste them up as precisely as possible and photocopy them on one sheet of paper, two-sided if necessary. With PhotoShop and other software programs, it’s easy to make things fit together, but try very hard to keep the print legible. You don’t want a reporter to have to pull out a magnifying glass in order to read your clippings. For one thing, the reporter won’t do it, and your press kit will end up in the round file. But avoid more than one sheet for any one article, because media people are usually too busy to do any more than glance at what you send them. Use only the most persuasive clips, and don’t try to overwhelm your quarry with size. Let quality carry the day.
Canned Feature
A canned feature is a newspaper article you write yourself. Many small papers and magazines lack the staff to report on every subject that interests them. A canned feature can significantly help the media help you. However, they aren’t so easy to write. Unlike a bio, which is written by the numbers, a feature doesn’t always follow as strict a formula. And if you’re already nervous about your writing ability, composing a full-fledged article may spook you.
Not to worry. Though I’ve never worked as a journalist, I know a few of their tricks. First, keep paragraphs brief. Newspapers are well aware of the short attention span of most readers, so you need to make your piece scannable. Next, pack your article full of quotes. Keep in mind that the quotes don’t have to be anything you’ve actually said out loud. In public relations, if you write a quote, and the client (in this case, you) signs off on it, then it’s a legitimate quote. But try to make the quotes sound like something you’d actually say. Too many press releases include quotes like this: “With the industry in its current state of flux, it takes the experience and talent of a seasoned professional to slice through the difficult patches and make the system 100 percent workable.” Nobody talks like that! It would be better to make it more conversational and say, “Things in the industry are tough right now. But because our staff has a lot of experience and knows the territory, we can help clients through the hard times.”
Reading the newspaper, you’ll notice that most light features contain an abundance of quotes. That’s because usually a reporter would rather have the subject tell his own story. This fulfills the journalist’s need to remain objective, and it gives the reporter that much less story to write; they love that.
So, for example, if I wanted to write a canned feature about the Youth Center, I would first select a theme: “Financially struggling center helps troubled teens despite adversity.” That’s not the headline; it’s just the theme you’ve chosen for yourself. You have to focus on what the message is going to be, and stay with it throughout the feature. With that premise, I’d write a brief headline and lead paragraph, recap the center’s history, then let the quotes speak for themselves. Thread quotes t
ogether with a narrative to lend continuity, and always end your piece with a quote. Lace in new words to say the same thing, i.e., “He says,” “He comments,” “He notes.” But don’t get too fancy: “He expounds,” “He pontificates,” or “He elaborates” will look pretentious and stick out like a sore thumb. Don’t distract with fancy words. Let the story tell itself.
Here’s my own attempt at a canned feature:
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Youth Center Endures Despite Ongoing Budget Battles
While gang wars claim young lives in the streets, many lives have been reclaimed at the Mid-Valley Youth Center, now in its fifth year of operation. But today, the Center faces its biggest fight yet as it struggles for solid financial footing. It’s a fight the Center may not win.
Center Director John Jones has his doubts about the future. “We’re really being squeezed right now,” says Jones. “Many of our funding sources have dried up, including half of our government monies.” The Center had been 50 percent funded by the county until earlier this year, when the Board of Supervisors voted to slash programs like the Center.
“With only private funding, we cannot offer the same kinds of activities for the kids as we used to,” notes Jones. Already, a successful Midnight Basketball program has had to be cancelled; arts training offered in the afternoon has been cut back by half. The Center has provided not only sports and recreation facilities but an on-site job counselor who helps teens find summer work. In addition, the Center has sponsored drug rehab and anti-gang programs, encouraging inner-city teens to avoid self-destructive patterns.
“Our success rate has been higher than many other similar centers because our staff came from the neighborhoods and really cares about the kids,” commented Jones. “Some of them are volunteers who give their time and energy simply for the reward of knowing they’ve done something to help keep their community together.”
In order to stay afloat, the Mid-Valley Youth Center is preparing to launch long-term fundraising. A carnival, rummage sale, candy drive, and other projects will be scheduled throughout the year. Says Jones, “We need the community to give back to a place that has given so much. These fundraisers could go a long way to keeping us going.”
Launched five years ago, the Mid-Valley Youth Center was the first self-contained center of its kind in this part of the city. With gang and drug activity dominating the neighborhoods, the arrival of the Center was met with initial skepticism. But soon, the comprehensive program brought results. According to local police statistics, violent crime in the area was down 23 percent within a year. Despite the success, the Center faced continual budget crises.
But Jones remains confident. “We’ve stared down guns, crack, murder, and despair, and we’ve triumphed. I’m sure this budget battle is one we can win too.”
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Any canned feature you write will echo your own leanings. But such features can be useful in presenting your case in a more impartial setting. And it’s always a hoot to see your own self-congratulatory words gracing the pages of your hard-hitting local newspaper.
That’s not to say that a newspaper—or an online media outlet—will print your feature exactly as you present it. You can’t count on any media outlet to simply accept what you’ve written and re-create it in newsprint or megabytes. A decent reporter will rewrite to the newspaper’s style; a good reporter will call with his or her own questions, do a live interview, and write a piece based on the information you’d provided, but with the media outlet’s angle explored and presented.
Don’t for a second consider this an insult. You were trying to get media coverage, and you’ve succeeded beyond all realistic expectations. You’ve got a legitimate news organization interested in your story. You shouldn’t be concerned that you can no longer control the way in which that story is presented. It’s best to remember that adage about there being no such thing as bad publicity (there really is, but not in this case). If they’re writing about you and raising your profile, you have accomplished your goal. Open a bottle of champagne and celebrate!
Vital Statistics and Quote Sheet
In many ways, you have to play midwife to your own media success. Spoon-feeding information to the media and doing their work for them not only endears you to them but increases the chances they’ll go to bat for you. A quote sheet or vital statistics sheet typifies the kind of visual aid the media love.
On one sheet of paper, can you list fifteen informative statistics about your project or about your subject in general? If you don’t think so, think again. Go to the library, go to the computer, go to Google, delve into research. You can quantify almost anything. If you own a retail store in an exciting growth industry, find out how many similar stores have opened nationwide in the past year. If you are a divorce attorney, cite the latest numbers showing the percentage of marriages that end in divorce. Find ten similar facts, and you’ve got yourself a vital statistics sheet.
Here’s a sample fact sheet I received from a local homeless shelter network recently. Notice that it says nothing about the shelter program itself, but by recitation of these stark facts, it reinforces the need for such a program:
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Sample Fact Sheet on Homelessness
Los Angeles County has the dubious distinction of being the homeless capital of the nation. In 2006, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Society placed the number of permanently homeless persons in the county on one given night in 2005 at 82,291. Of those, 72,413 were not living in shelters, hospitals, jails, or other facilities.
Almost 20,000 of those were classified as “families.”
Between 700,000 and two million people are homeless every night, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Families with children present the fastest growing sector of the homeless population.
28,000 to 32,000 children are homeless in L.A. County.
Since 1980, budget authority for all federal housing assistance programs has been cut by more than 75 percent. By 2006, funding for HUD programs had declined by $3.3 billion (or 8 percent) in comparison to 2004, once adjustments for inflation are made. For 2007, the Bush Administration proposed further cutbacks of $1.3 billion.
Since it is estimated that some homeless people find shelter during the year, the number of those who are homeless for any part of the year 2005 was 221,363.
More than one in five people in the county will seek food assistance this year.
* * *
A quote sheet consists of statements by individuals directly bearing on your project. Don’t include epigrams, such as those I’ve sprinkled throughout this book. Rather, use only those that pertain specifically to your project or field of interest. If you have a collection of reviews of your product, excerpt the best of them.
If you can collect several quotes from well-known people commenting on your area of expertise, use them. For example, if you’re an inventor marketing a new skin-care product, perhaps you can find recent quotes from dermatologists, government experts, movie stars, or anyone else talking about skin care. This augments your pitch by expanding the arena beyond yourself and your project.
Here are some examples of quotes appropriate for a quote sheet:
“The spirit is there in every boy; it has to be discovered and brought to light.”—Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts (England)1
“The Mid-Valley Youth Center’s midnight basketball program, which had been ridiculed by this paper when first proposed, is unequivocally a complete success. We were wrong, and we’re glad.”—Editorial, The Herald-Star, June 25
“I visited the Mid-Valley Youth Center to talk to a few kids, and ended up staying for five hours. The energy there is incredible; I wish I had it on the basketball court every night.”—Lawrence Timmons, point guard, Los Angeles Lakers
“It would be a terrible shame if the Center had to close down. My son has stayed off drugs, and out of gangs, and I can only credit the Center with giving him a place where he knew he’d be welco
me every day after school.”—Edna Williamson, local resident
Backgrounder
You may want to include a backgrounder if your business or project is based on highly technical knowledge, requires an understanding of its history, or is in any way tied to complicated subject matter. A backgrounder is simply a document, of any length, that thoroughly explains the background of your business. It is rarely quoted, but it will serve to properly educate the media people as to the nature of your project.
Video Press Kit
In the original edition of this book, I debated whether to include video press kits in this book because of their cost. “Most Guerrilla P.R. budgets cannot encompass a video press kit, but I felt I should at least give you the information and let you decide for yourself,” I said then.
Well, video isn’t expensive anymore. Good video is another question. Do not, under any circumstances, send out a piece of video that was shot on your cell phone. Do not ever try to represent your project or your business with amateurish, unedited, cheap digital video shot with your brother’s camcorder with no lighting, no script, and no prior planning. It will, I assure you, end up as an embarrassment to you and the very entity you’re trying to present in a positive light in the press.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t include anything but a high-budget Hollywood-style video with your press materials. On the contrary: it’s never been easier and it’s never been cheaper to produce an impressive-looking package of moving Guerrilla P.R. that anyone with a DVD player can watch seconds after opening the envelope.
A video press kit provides much of the same information as a written press kit, but tells the story visually. It is not a home movie.
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