Pitch Smarter, Not Harder: Media Placement Strategies for Aspiring Authors | Ep. 39

What’s the real key to turning media placements into a book deal? Spoiler alert: It’s not just about landing a big-name feature. 

In this episode, Allison answers a listener’s question about pitching magazines and shares expert insights from powerhouse literary agent Sam Hiyate. You’ll learn why visibility, consistency, and audience targeting matter more than ever for authors trying to get published. 

Whether you’re a seasoned writer or an aspiring author in the world, this episode is packed with actionable strategies to boost your author marketing game.

Tune in now to discover how to pitch smarter and turn small wins into big opportunities!

What You’ll Learn:

• How to evaluate media outlets based on visibility and digital reach—not geography.
• Why pitching consistency (like one pitch per day) can transform your results.
• Tips for amplifying your media mentions to build long-term discoverability.

Resources Mentioned:

• Sam Hiyate’s agency: The Rights Factory https://www.rightsfactory.com 
• Magazines referenced: Chatelaine, Toronto Life, Chicago Tribune
• Allison’s email for your questions: allison@lanelit.com

Timestamps:

• [00:02:00] Why one media placement isn’t enough to land a book deal?
• [00:03:00] How to evaluate magazines for their audience reach and digital footprint.
• [00:05:00] Sam Hiyate’s insights on pitching Canadian vs. U.S. magazines.
• [00:06:00] The power of consistency: One pitch a day for 29 days.

Tune in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1WwJUKJf6I 

Your book launch is your chance to build your visibility and grow your audience. In the Bestseller Launch School guided program, I'll show you how to get buzz before your book hits the shelves, master pre-orders and early sales to get attention and keep sales going long after launch day. Live trainings start April 30th - June 11. Grab your seat now: https://lanelit.com/bestseller 

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Transcript

Allison: 1:34

One media placement does not equal a book deal. Media placements are like dominoes with one leading to the next one until they pick up speed. Hello and welcome back to the Author's Edge. I'm so excited to talk to you today. Today is one of our shorty episodes every Thursday. I'm answering your questions. You can send any question, any request to me at allison@lanelit like literature.dot com. Here's the question. Are there any Canadian magazines that are equivalent to American ones, such as McLean's or the Walrus that would likely result in a book deal? Or if that's only true with publishing in big American mags. Let me back up and say that because of the globalness of our world now, try not to think of a magazine or a media outlet as American versus Canadian. Because the websites work no matter where you live. I want to give you my perspective as a lifelong PR and marketing exec and also the perspective of a literary agent. So, I shot this note to my good pal, Sam Hiyate, powerhouse literary agent and owner of the Rights Factory. Now, I'm going to give you my take and then what Sam said. I'm going to read directly from the email he sent me back. Let me see. I like to see how long it takes him to email me back, and today it was, ooh, just under two hours. Okay, here's my thought. That one media placement does not equal a book deal. It's about how visible the piece becomes. Media placements are like dominoes with one leading to the next one until they pick up speed. And of course, there are magazines with large readerships, large audiences. In Canada, there's Chatelaine, which is the equivalent of Vogue in the U. S. and they're like sister magazines. But don't get taken in by one magazine. Think instead, not of Canada versus the US or even the US and Canada versus the UK. Look at how many people you're reaching when you are writing a piece or being quoted in an article in one of those magazines. Look not just at the readership of that outlet, but also the digital footprint of that media outlet. Oftentimes on a website, the coverage will be much multiplied exponentially versus what you get in the print magazine. So, it'll be a web page, maybe a video, and a Q& A. And then, the digital media editor can share with you the views on that particular page. Also, if the media outlet is syndicated or part of a family, so maybe not Chatelaine but like, if you're contributing to the Chicago Tribune, that's a syndicated paper. That article could end up being published in 20 other magazines. And outpacing one placement in a larger magazine. So, the measure of success is whether you're reaching the people who are interested in the topics you write about. It's not one. There's not one like golden ticket. This isn't Willy Wonka. Now, let me share with you what Sam said. He said,"Allison, your answer is sound." Thank you, Sam. He said the big issue with Canada's small English language market is that no Canadian magazine can match the big New York based magazines or the national magazines. It's equivalent to like Texas Life magazine or something like it, since Canada's English speaking population is about the size of Texas. One aside is that Toronto Life magazine is like New York magazine. So, a feature article in there could lead to a Canadian book deal especially, if it resonated with everyone. So, you see there's a lot of if, but of course, and what it comes down to is; are you reaching people? Are you discoverable? It's not,'did you get this much of a write up in a really big magazine if it's not being seen and shared?' And then, you have to do the merchandising, right? You have to promote the fact that you've been in this article or featured in this magazine. So, it's not just that it happens, but that you make hay out of it. There's no magic formula. There's no golden ticket. It's about marketing. Marketing what your results are. But I think your question, Yolande, was specific to where you should be pitching. So, don't start small, start big, and send out a pitch or two. on every Friday. Or one pitch a day. February is coming up. Make a commitment to yourself. You're going to send one pitch a day for 29 days because this year is leap year. A pitch a day. It'll take you 15 minutes, I swear. Don't think too hard about it. But when you start getting your sea legs and practicing pitching, it becomes a lot simpler and a lot easier. And one pitch a day, your results will improve. And even if you get three yeses, that's three yeses inside of one month. So, that's what we're shooting for. But you gotta try. You gotta aim and you gotta try. So, do that and let us know how it goes. If you have a question that you would like me to answer or something that you want to share or even a website you want me to take a look at. Send it to me. Send it to me. My name is my email allison with two l's lane lit like literature dot com. Okay, with that, I will see you next week.