I've steered this feature towards theatre, but the same basic rules of publicity apply to all the arts. All you need is a very clear image in your head of how your show should be perceived - Research what media you need to approach. Start early enough to give journalists time to add you to their schedules.

I hope that the pointers I give below will help to de-myth the process and start you on the road to success.

The two most important things you need to know

1. Publicity is not a closed members club - journalists are nothing to be scared of.
2. Your show does not warrant, nor will get, coverage simply because it / you / the cast / script are brilliant. You need hard facts. You need to have justifiable non-emotive grounds as to why your show should be covered.

Journalists require genuine reasons to pitch to cover your show – not passion. Art is all about passion and heart - so a glut of it is pushed at them every day. Even as a publicist who is used to finding an angle and finding a convincing reason as to why a show / performance should gain attention, I know all too well how difficult it can be to remove yourself from the love for a project. The closer you are to a project the harder it is not to want to shout ‘You have to go and see it – it's brilliant.’ That won’t cut it.

The media are under enormous pressure to get coverage right. They have a position of trust to be true to their publication and readership. They commit their knowledge of the arts to decide that one show over another should be given precious column inches. They put their reputation on making these choices. So the more help you can give them in making that decision, the more likely you are to get results. They're not the enemy, they actively champion the arts – they work in the medium because of a passion for it.

Your new best friends

Arts editors seek news, human interest stories, angles to hook features around. They're always over-worked, permanently on deadline.

Arts Journalists are specialists in their area. They pitch to their editors to review / write about specific shows. Quite often they multi-task and blog online and provide diary stories. They’re often freelance, always over-worked and permanently on deadline.

Press release and photos

The press release

Your press release should be the first thing you put in place once venue, dates and cast are confirmed. Don't see it as a tiresome chore that can be done at the final minute.

Arts reviewers have to forward plan. They have to sift through information, get a picture of what else is around at a given time, put together their wish lists of shows they want to cover, and pitch their review and feature ideas to the arts editor.

This takes time - so make sure you don't miss the moment. Before you start pitching, have the press release ready. Put it up on your or the venue's website, with contact telephone number and email for your press contact. Check with your venue and get contacts for all listing pages / agencies. Email your press release to all contacts. Do this as soon as possible.

Press releases should be clear and succinct. Show title / date / venue / ticket price / concessions / ticket line / website should all be tagged in an easy-to-see manner. Professional marketing types with big budgets have been known to omit the date of the event on thousands of pounds worth of ads. It's easily done.

• The opening line should succinctly sum up what the show is about.
• Second para. More information about the show, key facts, the angle of the show.
• Third para. Information on cast and theatre group. Finish off with a final summary line and contact details for your publicist - telephone and email.
• If you have copious information about director / cast / group, put it on a second page under the heading Notes To Editor.

Don't be tempted to embed pictures in the document. A lot of journalists are freelance and have a Google or Hotmail address. Having to download big files in the middle of a busy day won’t endear you to your prospective media ally.

Please get someone to proof read it and have input. I know how a press release should be written – I’ve been writing them for years. But I also know that I tend to the flowery. I never send out my first draft press release. Be your own harshest editor or get someone else to do it. This is not an occasion for ego. You want your press release to be brief, and an interesting, informative, read.

Amazing, brilliant, fantastic: don't use emotive, baseless, words. That's your opinion. You're providing information. You’re suggesting creative angles. You are not hammering home how wonderful you think the show is. Re-read, and if any sentence might suggest the cynical reaction 'Oh really? I'll be the judge of that' - delete, amend, delete, amend.

Photos

No black and white photography. It looks arty, but publications spend a lot of money printing in colour - they want to use colour. No matter how good a shot is, if it's black and white that can actually be the deciding factor in your shot not being used.

Make sure you have four shots you're happy with. Make sure you have shots in both landscape and portrait. The page has to be designed. The more options you give the picture editor the happier they will be - and the more likely they'll be to use your shot.

If you are promoting a play, make sure you get shots from the dress rehearsal with the proper theatre lighting. For theatre reviews, they will often ask for a live shot after the review has been written. They won't have the time and regularly won't have the budget to return and take their own shots.

Brief the photographer on which parts of the play will make the most effective photos. Allocate time for them to get the photos right. Brief the cast, and give the photographer an extra half hour out of your day. Run through the most pertinent scenes several times, so that they have the best opportunity to get the photos you'll need.

For the UK, the general rule for size of photo is no less then 250 dpi and under 5mb's in jpeg format. Internationally, if you're using tiff, please call a local photo desk and double check - I don't want to give you incorrect information.

For individuals shots for all other types of shows, think about making it a personal, interesting and quirky image. A snapshot with no thought put into it won’t do. Publications need to make their pages look good. Give yourself the opportunity to be featured by giving them shots that interest and excite. Don't be lazy - think about locations, and talk to the artist / performer about how they want to be portrayed.

What's the story? What’s the angle?

Get trusted friends to sit in on rehearsals. Ask them to give you feedback on what they think the show is about, and what your angles should be. Make it clear to them that you don't want critical notes. You want ideas and concepts – and how they'd describe the show in one simple line. As mentioned, it is all too easy for you to be so close to a project that you can't see the bigger picture.

Speak to your cast / performers. Find out where they are from, what their back story is. The more information you have, the more likely you are to be able to suggest feature / story ideas to the arts journalists you’re speaking to.

By the time you contact journalists you should have:

1. A one / two line pitch of exactly what the show is.
2. An idea of any local angle or national angle - is one of the cast from the area, does the show have any pertinence for local people, is it linked-in historically or politically to events happening now?
3. Human interest stories. Journalists love a good battle over adversity.
4. Themes. If you're performing as part of a festival and your show relates to a specific subject - are there any other shows that are covering the same subject?  

Do homework

• Where is your show performing?  
• What national and local media cover the area/venue?
• Who are the journalists and editors who would have a pertinent interest in your type of show? 

A very well-known comedy journalist (whose website is synonymous with the comedy industry in the UK) told me that - come each Edinburgh Fringe - he is constantly rung up by theatre contacts asking if he will cover their shows.

Why? Because he's on the list of contacts provided to all shows by the Edinburgh Fringe Press Office. People are simply cold-calling everyone on the list without a thought as to who they are - and whether they might be the right person to contact.

Journalists genuinely want to hear about your show. But you need to respect what they do and - at the very least - give the impression that you actually know what they do.  If you clearly have no concept of who you're speaking to or what they write about, why should they want to listen to you?

Communication is two-way. You're not selling double-glazing to a bored target. You're speaking to a professional - do treat them as such.  If you're still not convinced, think about a job interview. Would you go for an interview without any research into the company or the role?

Once you've worked out which publications cover the area, spend time reading them. Note who their arts reviewers are, what sort of coverage they give, and what type of show they generally cover.  How much better to ring the right person and start with:

'I'm phoning from _. I read your review of _, and thought you might be interested in hearing about our show.'

Suddenly you sound as if you know what you're doing.

Making contact

1. Start publicising your show a minimum of six weeks in advance.
2. Don't rely on an email. Always start with a phone call and keep it brief.
3. Don't keep them on the phone for five minutes telling them why they should cover your show without giving them the chance to read your press release.

Start with an opening line, quickly explaining who you are and ask whether it'd be okay for you to send them your press release. They will always say yes unless they're having a really bad day - but it's still nice to be asked.

Check their email address. Ask if it would be okay if you call back in a couple of days to see what they think. Thank them for their time and ring off. Then email.  Don't wait a day before sending them the email.  By that time you will be a distant memory.  Remember, journalists get a lot of calls.

Email immediately. Start the email with:  Thanks very much for your time on the phone. It's a simple way for them to connect your email to the conversation they've had with you:

'I'm publicising _ taking place at _ from / on _. As mentioned, I thought our show may be of interest as _ (insert your one / two-line pitch of the show). Let me know what you think. Cheers (your name and your mobile number)'

Attach the press release and also put the text of the press release in the body of the email.  This means that if they want to save the press release it's easily there as an attachment. But also for an initial read, it's in the body of the email so they don't have to click through to the attachment to read it.

Remember again - journalists are very busy and often on deadline.  Make everything as easy as possible for them. They are then more able to give your show the time and thought it warrants.

Once you've emailed, put it in your diary to ring them in a couple of days - unless they've specified a later date to call them back. Publicity is about communication, but also about organisation.  If you always state when you will chase / or allow them to tell you when's best to ring, you will never be seen as badgering them.

If you leave it too late, they will have been chased by a hundred different shows. The harsh but understandable truth is that they will have already forgotten you.  You and your show are only central to your own universe - not to a beleaguered, hard-working journalist.  Respect this - chase when you've said you will chase.

When you chase, ask them what they think.  Does it appeal?  If they're not sure it's something they'll cover - what other information do they need to decide? Is there anyone else you should approach?  If it's still too early for them to make a decision, when's best to speak to them again? Always put the date they state in your diary to call back. Reference the fact that they said to ring back at this time when you re-call / re-email them.

Once you have the line of communication open with the journalist, it is always worth double-checking with them what else they are doing. Are they purely doing previews and live reviews? Or are they also looking for feature ideas, diary stories, online blogs?  The more you know, the more useful, interesting information you can push their way.

If your show is doing a longer run, or taking place within a festival

Seek Help

Your venue / the festival is likely to have its own dedicated PR department / person.  Make contact and find out what they can do for you, and what contacts they may be able to give you.

Ask what they need from you - photos, press release, etc.  Make sure they have your correct details. Be friendly. Ask if it's okay to come in and get some advice from them. They're there to help - it's in their interest for your show to do well.

News/Photo Stories

Brainstorm fun ideas, interesting pictures. Then set yourself a date, time and location to do them.  Do a brief press release saying what you are doing and all the details. Email / ring all picture desks to let them know. You should do this at least two days before your planned stunt.  Your venue / festival PR is likely to have a list of photographers in the area.  Contact everyone.

And take a friend along who is a good photographer to take digital photos - in case press photographers don't come.  If it's only your photographer taking photos, get your own photos out to picture desks immediately.  Publications are always looking for quirky, fun picture stories.  If the photo and story is good enough, you have every chance of getting pictures into print.

Even if they don't print the pictures, the stunt will still have been useful - it's given you the opportunity to keep awareness high for your show with your targeted media.

Keep an eye on the interesting, fun news story.  Email these out to journalists.   A comedian at Edinburgh Fringe flyered for his show wearing a dog costume. A real dog decided he was a threat and started barking, before trying to attack the comedian. The comedian escaped unharmed except a slightly bruising of the ego. There were no photos of the event - but by creating a fun news story out of it, it got good coverage throughout the news and diary sections of the daily papers. It kept the comedian’s name profiled while waiting for reviewers to see the show.

Brief everyone involved in the show to keep you informed of any stories which they think may be of interest.  It's better to be given ten worthless stories rather than missing the one that could make it into the papers.

And finally

If you get the basics right and communicate well, the rest should fall into place.  Never be afraid to ask for information and advice and always listen when people give it. Don’t panic if you don’t get results immediately. If you start the process early enough and have all the basic tools in place you have every chance of getting coverage for your show. It's a difficult job - but it truly is the best feeling in the world when you see your show featured. Good luck!

END

(c) Sarah Harries 1 November 2008

Sarah Harries is a publicist working in London. She headed Underbelly's press office at the Edinburgh Fringe 2008

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