Following my recent story comp win, David Rollason from Pens of Erdington said "shout it from which ever roof tops you would like to" – so I thought, why not?
I wrote a press release for my local newspaper – the first time I've ever done such a thing for my own writing – giving the details of the competition, as well as some background info about my writing history. I wasn't sure if it would constitute a big enough "story" for the paper (as I said in my covering email it was hardly the Booker Prize), but in this life if you don't blow your own trumpet once in a while, no-one else is going to blow it for you.
The editor asked for some more details and, lo and behold, far exceeding the small paragraph I might have expected, the paper has published a full article, along with a photo.
So it definitely paid off to send the press release. It might be a first step on the publicity ladder, but as they say, "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".
For some tips on writing a press release, there are some good tips here.