Be your own publicist

Special thanks to freelancer Elyse Glickman for penning the following post. Glickman has been a published writer and editor since 1987, and since 2002 she has been an active member of the press in Los Angeles. Her work as a writer, editor and photographer has appeared in LUCIRE, Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia, Beverage Industry News, WhereLA, NEO, From House to HOME, Wedding Vow, Casa Y Hogar, La Reppublica, Beauty Store Business, Culinary Trends, JWest, Arizona Foothills, SE7EN, NUVO, Audrey, Food & Beverage and New You. Thanks, Elyse!

In 1992, I thought I had everything I needed  to move forward into a writing career.  
 
During college, I earned straight A’s in my communications classes, co-founded a campus  newspaper, freelanced for several local (Chicago) publications, interviewed  dozens of well-known rock musicians and celebrities, did an internship at an  Upstate New York newspaper with the nicest bosses on the planet and got a  master’s in journalism from a university that all but promised me my brilliant  journalism career a silver platter.  
 
Then  “Reality” bit, and I essentially relived the plot of the  infamous Winona Ryder Gen-X weepie, minus the cute guys and the happy ending.   My school employment centers were no help. After a couple of dead end  jobs and humiliating job interviews that really weren’t, I went to Los Angeles  with nothing to lose.
 
So where did I go wrong?  Here I was,  the journalism equivalent of the Heisman Trophy winner who couldn’t get  drafted by the NFL. I thought about that a lot, even as I ended up doing  public relations work.  While I disliked a lot of the office politics, I  found the work enriching. Though I secretly envied the people I pitched to, I  learned a lot more about the ins and outs of the journalism game from writers  and editors I called everyday than I did in the classroom.  Some were  supportive and helpful while others were sadistic and bent on getting me  fired.  But I gained wisdom from all of them.
 
After seven  years of selling other people’s dreams and ambitions to freelancers and  staffers, I got to the point where I decided to rediscover my own. I went to  my first journalism job fair since college in late 2001 and was rejected,  either for “selling out” and going into PR or not having current clips.   However, the day was not a waste, as a guy ahead of me in line suggested  I do some pro-bono articles and rebuild.  
 
Even writing for  somebody for free was a tough sell, but this time, a neighborhood paper  serving the San Fernando Valley listened to me instead of asking loaded  questions like, “If you don’t get this job, will you cry?”   They  asked me, “What do you have to offer us?” Rather than get insulted, I told  them what I had in my corner—more than a decade of solid writing experience in  journalism and public relations, and the power to persuade.  And that  persuaded them.
 
This was the moment I realized I had to be my own  publicist.  Having worked in PR, I knew how to work with publicists and  develop stories out of their pitches that would sell.  Having dealt with  editors and writers, I had an understanding of what to do and what not to do  when delivering a fully realized pitch. Networking is at the core of this  science, and every relationship, good or bad, serves a purpose.  Asking a  lot of questions is also a given, as every answer—sincere or snarky—helps you  refine your approach.  Doing your homework and knowing your subject,  which is a given when writing an actual story, is also a necessity when  presenting yourself to the world.
 
However, flacking  yourself does not stop with your first major breaks.  A few short months  after writing fashion and human interest stories for the suburban bi-weekly, I  negotiated some paid work (low pay, but still) at two of the city’s better  known lifestyle magazines and found my niche.  I pitched myself as a food  writer to one publisher, and a general lifestyle writer to the other citing my  recent PR accounts as “experience.”  It worked, and when my name became  linked to those magazines, doors continued to fly open on both the PR side  (superb pitches) and in publishing.  By the start of 2003, I was on my  way to becoming an established food & wine writer, but still managed to  effectively market myself as a strong generalist.  
 
Even  with my ups and downs, and the vicissitudes of editors, being my own publicist  continues to work. When I “lose” a publication due to the economy or a new  editor coming in with his/her own “favorite” writers, I don’t take it  personally.  I simply sell myself to another book.  I have a web  site that documents what I have to offer. However, I am ready to go to the  next level—large national newsstand publications—and I am ready to ask  questions and receive answers—snarky and sincere—on sharpening up my “package  deal.”  
 
Let’s trade pitches.

- Elyse Glickman