Tips on approaching the press for indie developers

Hello, I'm from Dropout Games, an indie studio from India. We'd like help of fellow developers in relation to different approaches we should take at this stage of development. We just finished working on our first game with some minor things left. The trailer should be ready as well in a few days. I'd like to know how I should approach with the release of the game from here on.

There's alot of information about the press sites and different places indies can approach to get some news about their games but there's not alot of mention on how they should do it, what steps should they takes,etc

I'd like to pose a few questions that might help us and other rookie developers tackling this big issue. We would love other developer's opinion on the topic.

1) What are the best times to approach press prior to the release of one's game?
2) Now that my game and the promotion materials (trailers, screenies, etc) are ready, what should be my timeline from here on for the release?
3)The VERY FIRST email we send to a website is what determines the fate of the game for on website. What should be the contents of that email? Should be a direct mention of the game, some details and a press release link? Or should the developer first have a word with the journalists and then send the details?
4 )If one should talk to the journalist first, then what should the email be like?

If other have similar questions it'd be great to see those in the comments and It'd be great if you guys can share your press related experiences or provide some advice on how to approach the press.

Quote from Xanthi

Read this: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MikeRose…_Indie_Game.php

Thank you Xanthi. That's some insight on the contents I should have in the email. What about the timings. When should I start approaching the press for previews? If i'm interested in having my game featured twice atleast, once before the release and once after the release. What should my strategy be like in terms of timings to approach the journalists?

Quote from Taylor

Be in a clique.

Sadly, not alot of networking session happening around in the local or even national community here for any Clique interaction.

What is the right time to approach the press the first time for a small game?

Quote from FrieChamp

Sadly, not alot of networking session happening around in the local or even national community here for any Clique interaction.

Maybe that in itself is an information that you could use in your pitch. Instead of focusing too much on whether the press kit should contain 10 or 12 screenshots or how many times you want to send out press releases, you should think about why the journalist should write about your game. Maybe game development in India and the team behind the game is a good hook? Maybe it's something else. Here's a summary of a presentation Mike Rose gave at GDC, which should provide to be helpful to you as well: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/1983…ess_in_2013.php

Do journalists like dev stories aswell in the press release or do they only prefer sticking to the game?

Quote from Vilham

Honestly, most of the games that get reviewed are fairly far along in development, ie nearly finished or entering beta/alpha but are of a final quality.

There have been a few games that have got in earlier than that, but generally they don't, TotalBiscuit for example has said he ignores most projects as they aren't in a state where he can really pass judgement and he doesn't have the time to review games that aren't ready given how many he gets sent.

Our game is finished and the trailer should be ready within this week. We are quite a bit behind schedule though.

We just released the trailer on youtube a while back and would probably have to rush through the release to come close to the planned schedule.