The advice here is good but it really varies by journo/outlet

I was a mag technology writer at Forbes, then a dot com guy, and now help run the website. If anyone wants to talk about how to approach journalists (no pitches please) just email me w/your HN username and I'm happy to help talk through your ideas: taylor.buley@gmail.com

One question: It sounds like the author is advocating changing around your story to get as much coverage as possible, ie. saying how gift cards are bad for the environment when in fact it wasn't necessarily something they thought was central to their product.

What effect does this have in terms of credibility? If a particular company says one message and then says another message a few months later, just to get press, wouldn't that tend to decrease overall credibility, even though it may increase exposure?

Startups aren't fighting for credibility, startups are fighting against nobody caring. It's good if someone reads one story about you and then reads another one a few months later. Even if they get mad at you for changing your story, that's much better than them not caring, at least they've heard of you.

Maybe it's just me, but I think calling a number from a WHOIS record could be very creepy for the call receiver.

It isn't. It's public information. Creepy is digging into someone's somewhat private information.

If the publication is anything larger than a 1-man operation, you'll end up w/the wrong person, distract her from her work and probably end up making fewer friends than you make

I've had recruiters looking to place engineers get my contact info this way, and I agree with you that it's creepy.

Can't knock the hustle.

Great post, thanks guys, we've been struggling with the exact same thing. I hadn't thought about calling them- I can see how that would significantly increase the response rate.

I'm confused. GiftRocket sends the recipient the money via PayPal, so they can spend it anywhere? What's the difference between this and PayPal?

This article isn't really about whether GiftRocket is a cool service or not. It is about getting PR coverage. It really doesn't matter if their service is good or not.

Great post as always. Keep them coming. TC should get you to do some guest posts.

Write the story for them. Let them edit it.