Publicity, by itself, does not sell a lot of records. It is most effective when your name is consistently in front of music fans. That will not happen overnight. You will most likely be your own music publicist in the beginning, and it will take you some time to learn how to work with the press. But, learning some basic facts about music journalists and how they operate is as important as the tips I gave you for working with distributors and radio stations.
Music journalists are a strange breed.
They are, for the most part, a fickle group of individuals with their own inconsistent musical tastes, egos, and attitudes. If you want your local music magazine, or some music e-zine to write a story about you, even review your record, there are some things to learn about these important gatekeepers. Here are some important facts for you to know about the people who may write a review of your new record. There is a hierarchy of influential music writers across the country, and everyone of them, from the tiniest local music fanzine editor, to the writers who work for Rolling Stone or Spin, all have egos. That attitude can either help or hurt you, depending on what you know about them, and their likes or dislikes.