𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
About 5-6 month ago, a little before our Kickstarter, I knew I needed to start reaching out for press but I had NO connections. None. Zippo. As far as anything newsworthy was concerned, I was persona non-grata living the glamorous life of a mom/writer/self-publisher.
I wrote a press release, edited a bit by my marketing gal and sent it out to my first few contacts.
Didn't hear a peep, but I knew this tends to be the case.
The next day, I looked up the editor of our local paper that covers a small section of northern Phoenix, the North Phoenix Times.
It's actually a great local paper and I enjoy reading all of the micro-things that go on in our area.
I hopped on LinkedIn and brazenly sent a DM to this editor telling her how much I loved her paper.
To my shock, she actually wrote me back. She and I chatted for a bit and she told me to send her my release.
This amazing woman, Shelly Everson took her own time to edit my release, tell me *exactly* how news sources wanted to receive it and what would get me better recognition.
Fast forward a few months and she extended an invitation on LinkedIn for self-published authors to write about their experiences, specifically starting in mid-life.
I jumped right in and sent her my musings.
The article was published about three weeks ago on Next Avenue.
And now... 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐄𝐒 has picked it up.
Yeah, like the tiny financial almanac.
Here's the best part: It's under the 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 section 
I must have emailed or queried FIFTY news sources. I heard back from one or two, but this amazing lady gave up her time to help a newbie.
𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭: All it takes is one. Person-to-person contact is so very important. Not only that, but this publisher's kindness and compassion made such an imprint on my soul that I should never think of myself as "too green" to turn around and help someone else.
If you need help with writing press releases or are just looking for a *starting point* for PR, I'm here for it, and I'm here for you.