

Twice on the front page of HN, but no journalist is interested. What to do? - bozho

I have submitted my algorithmic music projects - computoser.com and the related android app to hacker news and both times it got to the front page, with many positive comments.<p>That made me think I can get the algorithm covered in some tech blog/magazine, so I wrote to news@..., but nothing happened.<p>Then I tracked down journalists that have written on the subject of computer-generated music, got their emails (around 15 people), and emailed all of them, each with a personalized message, mentioning why I've picked them. No reply.<p>I've also written to multiple editorial teams with a suggestion for a guest article on computer music - no reply.<p>These include Mashable, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Ars, Wired, TheNextWeb, The Verge, GigaOm.<p>Why is it that something seems to be much appreciated by the community, but no journalist seems interested? Should I continue writing emails to these people until they either block me or reply? Or should I skip tech journalists and try to find another way to make service visible to more people?
======
coldtea
For what is worth:

1) Try music tech journalists first.

Computer Music, Keyboard, Future Music, The Mix, Electronic Musician, and
such.

2) Also try "Popular Science" style of magazines.

3) Make sure your emails dont go directly to the SPAM folder. No plethora of
URLS (looks like spam), capitals (looks like spam) etc. They should also not
look like desperate pleas for publicity, or they will trash them manually.

Better send a short message to each journalist, to pitch the idea (1-2
paragraphs), and only then send the full thing, when they will be waiting for
it.

4) Go with lesser players than Wired, Gizmodo et al. If those lesser players
pick your story up, there are high chances it will also be picked by the
majors (most news are recycled from source to source).

------
leowidrich
That's a good one. And it seems you've made the common mistake to email news@.
My general advice is: Never, ever email news@. A news site doesn't cover you,
a writer does. So go after writers, not publications.

This article should outline all the steps you need to follow:
[http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/80121/How-To-Get-
Media-...](http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/80121/How-To-Get-Media-
Coverage-For-Your-Startup-A-Complete-Guide.aspx)

(It should be easy to get a post based on the traction you have shown above)

~~~
bozho
Thanks, I knew that, that's why I also found people that could be interested
because of previous related articles.

------
mindcrime
_Why is it that something seems to be much appreciated by the community, but
no journalist seems interested?_

Hard to say. Bloggers are usually always hungry for content, but the popular
blogs are harder to crack, as they get enough eyeballs that people compete to
get on their sites. Remember that they're ultimately eyeing everything through
a lens of "What is going to get me the most ad impressions and generate me the
most revenue"?

Getting press coverage isn't necessarily as simple as "get on the front page
of HN, get mentioned by $FOO publication". The field of PR is a big area, with
a lot of accumulated idioms, patterns, experts, relationships, etc.

 _Should I continue writing emails to these people until they either block me
or reply?_

I would. What do you have to lose? Don't be annoying or whiny or turn into a
stalker, of course. But there's a lot to be said for persistence.

 _Or should I skip tech journalists and try to find another way to make
service visible to more people?_

One thing I'm a big fan of, is the work of Ryan Holiday, author of _Trust Me,
I'm Lying: Confessions of A Media Manipulator_ [1]. You might also find some
value in a fairly basic book on PR like _The New Rules of Marketing and PR_
[2] or some of the "Guerilla Marketing" stuff by Jay Conrad Levinson[3].

Also, if it's really important to you to get coverage, hiring a PR person
isn't always a bad idea. I know there's been a lot of negative stuff said on
HN lately about PR agencies and startups, but part of the "secret sauce" is
the pre-existing relationships these guys have with journalists. It may or may
not be fair, but a good PR person can help you get coverage that would be hard
to generate organically. If you're even slightly interested, I know a good PR
guy who might be able/willing to help. Shoot me an email and I can arrange an
introduction.

One final thought, is to try using a press release submission service like
PRWeb[4] or PRNewsWire[5]. It will cost you a little bit of money, but it's an
option to get some attention. Note that you won't get TechCrunch / Gizmodo
type coverage out of this (well, probably not anyway), but your thing should
at least wind up listed in Google News.

There's also a lot of interesting PR related advice on Quora. Check out this
question[6] and some of the "similar questions" links around it.

[1]: [http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-
Manipulator...](http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-
Manipulator/dp/159184553X)

[2]: [http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Marketing-PR-
Applications/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Marketing-PR-
Applications/dp/1118026985/)

[3]: [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-
alias%3D...](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-
alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=guerilla%20marketing)

[4]: <http://www.prweb.com/>

[5]: <http://www.prnewswire.com/>

[6]: [http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-blogs-and-sites-a-new-
sta...](http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-blogs-and-sites-a-new-startup-
should-send-press-releases-to)

~~~
bozho
Great, thanks for the extensive tips. I'll try these. I'll probably even try
the PR option. This is my side project, so I'm not super-keen on getting it to
market (I'm not sure if the business model is workable), but I do like the
idea and I think I can afford to thrown in some money.

------
illuminate
Music blogs/forums will be interested.

Matrixsynth, Muffwiggler, Gearslutz, check all of these out.

"I've also written to multiple editorial teams with a suggestion for a guest
article on computer music - no reply.

These include Mashable, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Ars, Wired, TheNextWeb, The
Verge, GigaOm.

Why is it that something seems to be much appreciated by the community, but no
journalist seems interested?"

Because they specialize in people who consume, not creators.

Actual creativity on the internet that isn't "viral" is niche and doesn't
bring in pagehits.

"Tech journalists" really are catering and pandering and not interested in all
aspects of technology. Pay attention to the content that gets published, is it
really ~that~ interesting or is it pushing popular nerd'ry to a mass audience?

------
dmor
Can you paste the copy of one of the emails you sent to these journalists
here? Right now you are the common denominator in the problem, so maybe there
is something in the way you're communicating or asking that could be improved.

~~~
bozho
Hello,

I'm contacting you, because I read an article of yours about computers and
music ([article title]), and thought that you might be interested in my
project as well - <http://computoser.com>

It provides a very simple web interface to a (practically) unlimited set of
music tracks, generated without any human input. And although it is not the
first algorithm to generate music, I think it's the first web-based, user-
friendly interface to such an algorithm.

When I first released the project, I submitted the story to HackerNews to
gather initial feedback from fellow "hackers", and the it was very positive -
<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4819269>, which inspired me to make some
improvements.

The improvements are already in place, and although the algorithm is not
perfect, I think it's worth taking a look at. I'd be happy to get your
feedback, or in a best-case scenario - get it covered.

~~~
Mz
You need to work on your PR-speak. Simple = "dumb". You need a word without
such unfortunate connotations, like elegant or uncluttered. Try something like
this:

I recently read your article about computers and music titled ([article
title]). Thus, I thought that you might be interested in my project as well <a
href="[http://computoser.com>Computoser</a>](http://computoser.com>Computoser</a>),
which provides a very accessible and intuitive web interface to a virtually
unlimited set of music tracks, all generated without any human input. Although
it is not the first algorithm to generate music, to the best of my knowledge,
it is the first time such an algorithm has been available via web with a user-
friendly interface.

Announcement of the project, and later the related app, made the front page of
Hacker News, an accomplishment in itself. Initial feedback from fellow tech
professionals was very positive (See
<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4819269> and {the other hn link}). I was
surprised that it did so well on such a large and competitive forum. The
experience inspired me to make some improvements. Those improvements are
already in place. There is no doubt still room for improvement but initial
response is extremely encouraging.

I am currently looking for feedback from industry insiders like yourself and
offering you the chance to be the first to cover the story, assuming you find
it worthy.

Thanks so much for your time.

Respectfully, Bozho

Edit: "Computoser" should be clickable but it should be the name of the site,
not the url. Similarly, you should name the two hn links. But hn is mucking up
my formatting etc.

~~~
bozho
Thanks :)

