For 20 years before I became a traffic builder for web sites, I was a publicist handling household name consumer brands. Here's a trade secret I learned: For getting feature coverage on major media outlets, press releases are a colossal waste of time.

I haven't sent out a traditional press release in the past 10 years. But I have placed stories about my clients with The Wall St. Journal, the New York Times, ABC News, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and many other major media outlets.

Editors don't need me or any other publicist to write their stories. They need me to point them in the direction of a good story, succinctly give them the facts as I see them and the sources I know, and then get out of the way so they can write their own stories. I do those things by writing good pitch letters.

Here are some tips for writing pitch letters that get read:

• SAY WHY YOU ARE WRITING
  Begin with your reason for writing. For example, "I am writing to suggest a story about," or "I'd like to recommend an interview with." Too many times, the reason for the letter is hidden several paragraphs into the letter. Editors are busy. If you don't give them an immediate reason to keep reading, your audience with them is over.

• EXPLAIN YOUR PREMISE IN TWO SENTENCES OR LESS
  Explain what makes your idea newsworthy. Why is this a good person to interview or a good story to cover? Describe your idea's relationship to current events, its connection to or beginning of a trend, or its likelihood to interest a broad cross section of the audience.

  Here's an exercise that can help you nail down a concise pitch for your story: How would you explain it to your friend if you were in the elevator on the way out? Would it take you a page and a half worth of words to make your point? Not if you wanted your friend to keep listening. Be equally kind to journalists.

• EXPLAIN YOUR STORY IDEA IN ONE OR TWO PARAGRAPHS
  In these few paragraphs, explain your idea of what the story would encompass, what it involves, and how you will assist the reporter.

  Why is this important? A journalist friend who gets a three-foot-tall stack of snail mail and more than 150 emails a day described a letter typical of the ones that he never finishes reading. The letter writer started off saying he'd been on the Joe Franklin Show, this show, that show, been talked about by so and so, and also done this and that. There were about eight more pages, but the journalist didn't bother to read them.

• TIMING CAN BE EVERYTHING
  Timing is incredibly important. Your chances improve when you can say "This is a hot topic and I have a great source." For example, suppose you're an ophthalmologist, and you send your email just as the President is going to have eye surgery. You'll have a much better chance of getting a phone call from a reporter.

• LIMIT YOUR SUPERLATIVES
  Don't make the company or person you are pitching sound hard to believe. She probably didn't do whatever you're writing about single-handedly. Describe her actual role. Be careful your claim is accurate if you use words such as "first," "only," "greatest" and "biggest." Reporters are trained to look for lies and exaggerations.

• LIST TOPICS YOUR SUBJECT CAN ADDRESS
  Give the top three or four areas of expertise your client can address. Do it in bullet form.

• GET IN ALL INTO 350 WORDS OR LESS
  Mark Twain said "If I had more time I would have written less." Edit. Edit again. When you are done, edit again.