“Long-lead PR” means public relations activities that have a long lead-time—they take awhile to set up. Magazine articles are a typical example. Most national and high-end regional magazines plan their content at least six months before they publish it, so if you want to coordinate publishing an article with your book launch, you’ll need to start early. Also, getting published in a national magazine generally requires a track record of previous publications, or celebrity status, or a great PR professional on your team.
But the results can be worth it. I received generous coverage from Marin magazine for my new book, Lost, Kidnapped, Eaten Alive! when Marin published one story (which they titled “Botswana”) in their travel section. They showed an image of the book cover and mentioned that the article was excerpted. I was thrilled!
Next step: Get your audience engaged with your book.