So you’ve written a press release and after spending hours looking for the right reporter/editor to address it to and tailoring the piece to them, you’ve sent a batch of them out. Good work! You’re on your way to getting some press coverage.

But don’t fret or get angry when some media ignores your press release. In fact, you should expect that your press release will be passed over.

Just because you write a press release doesn’t mean it’ll get published. It may have gotten lost in the shuffle (editors receive dozens of press releases a day), it may not be deemed newsworthy enough, you may have sent it to the wrong editor, they may not have received it in time enough to be used, or maybe they’re holding it to be used in a related story in the days ahead.

Of course, your press release may get published word for word. Or it may be shortened. Or it may be rewritten. Once you send the release, the media may do any of this with your release, and they’re all within their rights to do so.

Also understand that sometimes what is newsworthy to one news organization is entirely uninteresting to another. A lot of this is based on the amount of news generated in a community and how hard-hitting that news outlet might be. For example, I had no trouble getting an article and picture in a daily newspaper for a small New Mexico town of 10,000 where I taught for a mere two school years two decades before my book came out. But the daily newspaper serving a community of half a million residents where I worked as the editorial page editor only five years before made no mention of my book whatsoever.

Regardless of all the frustration that may come from having your press release ignored, if you don’t write a press release, you’re virtually condemning yourself to no press coverage whatsoever. The goal is to get some kind of mention of your book in the newspaper, on the radio, on a blog, on a website. The more mentions made, the greater the chance that they will generate additional interest in and mentions of your book. That in turn probably means interviews and invitations to write articles. And all of that will lead to additional book sales.