How a UT Law Professor Landed on The Daily Show

…and What It Shows About Pitching Big

One of our wonderful Press Shop PR authors, University of Texas Law School professor Mechele Dickerson, appeared on The Daily Show to discuss her new book, THE MIDDLE CLASS NEW DEAL. For a serious nonfiction book that digs deep into economic inequality and the American middle class, this is a dream placement. And it led to the book landing at #5 on the New York Times paperback bestseller list.

Here’s how it happened—and what it shows about pitching big.

1. The pitch is everything. Booking producers receive hundreds of emails a day while juggling dozens of segments already in the pipeline. You have to break through all of that to reach them. And remember: they are indifferent to how great you are; they’re only booking with an eye towards their audience. Why does this book or topic matter now to them? Why are you the right person to bring it to them? 

2. Don’t stop—adapt. We first pitched Prof. Dickerson in October and received a polite email back: “thanks, we’ll consider this.” Better than silence, but not enough for us to pop the champagne yet. After the November elections reshaped the political conversation, we tried again, reframing the book's arguments within the broader political themes gaining traction. Adjust to the news cycle. 

Your book doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so connect it to the moment. If you wrote about immigration in the Ellis-Island era, how does your book resonate in the ICE era? If you wrote a memoir about growing up in a small town, how does your story connect to current issues in rural America?

3. Make your own luck. Jon Stewart happened to want to discuss the economic realities of the American middle class, and we happened to be pitching it—lucky! But we earned this luck: we pitched consistently, refined the angle, and made sure we were putting Mechele's expertise front and center. Many people can speak about affordability—they chose Mechele. 

Give yourself the best possible chance to be the one they choose.

4. Buy snowboots :) We spent the weekend before the segment closely watching the weather and seeing the snow forecast rise from 6-8” to 12-14” to the possibility of 2 feet. We worked with the producers to fly Mechele in early, meditated, poured ourselves a drink, and hoped it wouldn’t be cancelled. Luckily, the show must go on—so we put on all our warmest winter accessories and sloshed to the studio on the far West Side of Manhattan. You can see Mechele’s great conversation here—and here’s a hard-won behind-the-scenes picture!

Mechele, Leah, and Nora in the famed green room!