How to approach local papers for promotion

You might think about approaching them with a press release, a press kit complete with book photos, author photos, sample reviews, background that relates to the local angle, etc. rather than a phone call. If you do enough of the work for them you will make the story pretty irresistible. Check The Self Publishing Manual for more detail on this, but you do have the right idea!

You might want to take a look at Tim Herrera's book on media relations. He is a long-time newspaper guy and is an acquaintance of mine through local writers groups. See http://www.timherrera.com/ .

If you have (if you ARE, really) a good local interest/human interest story for the paper, a columnist might want to write about you. News article, maybe not so much so, but columist, could be.

--Ken

I live in a small town, so I rang the local newspapers. They took photos and interviewed me for the article. They also include news of my book signings in their area, from time to time. I also contacted the local radio station and was interviewed by them, on air. Have answers ready for all the predictable questions - short, witty answers. Good luck.