What a Journalist might want in Your media kit.

Journalist and public speaker Lori Allen wrote some of her ideas on things she likes to find in a media kit. Among her ideas were these:

• Include your best articles you've written on the topic you're trying to promote. Or if you have a book, include it. Some TV stations want 3 copies of a book: one for the host, one for the segment producer and one for the assignment editor. [write thin books to keep this cost down 😉 ]
• 1 or 2 article reprints about, not by, you on the relevant topic/angle.
• Headshot — not necessary, but good, especially for print outlets.
• Bio — one page, bullet-point accomplishments.
• For television, if you have beta or digital footage of you speaking or doing what you're talking about in your book, let stations know it's available for their use.
• For Extra Attention — if you have something cool to add that makes you stand out, include it in the package — but it must be relevant and cannot look like you're trying to buy coverage. For instance, say your book is on building the perfect sandcastle… it would be appropriate to send your kit in a plastic pail. It wouldn't be OK to send a roundtrip ticket to the beach. [sounds gimmicky to me.]Check out her comments on SpeakerNet News inder my favorite sites, then click on "compilations". Look for the section on media kits.

So now you have a couple of perspectives on media kits.