I think TC is actually quite open to new startups emailing them. The key is to be extremely concise and matter of fact. If you send them a long email full of marketing talk, their eyes will just glaze over and they'll give up after third sentence. (This holds for investors too.) But if you're (a) doing something genuinely good, and (b) you can explain it clearly, you're doing them a favor by telling them about yourself.

So tell them in the plainest possible terms what people can do, thanks to your startup, that they couldn't do before, and try to keep it to three paragraphs or less. I do this myself when I introduce startups to anyone, regardless of the strength of our relationship with them.

Some tips from my personal experiences marketing different startups as well as a stint in PR:

- Tell a story!! Whether this is your own personal journey with the company or a unique story surrounding a customer problem that you solve makes no difference.

- Press release distribution services aren't worth your time

- Develop a media list of primary, secondary, and tertiary priority media outlets you'd want to be covered on - research the appropriate writer, their old stories (look for trends, writing style, etc.), and get their contact information--definitely their email, ideally their direct phone number as well

- Be persistent, but not annoying

- Don't be afraid to follow up or ask if another writer may be a better fit/more interested

- If you're sending out cold emails, go straight to the point, don't attach large files or unnecessary materials

- Don't discount local media outlets

- Don't discount smaller, more niche media outlets--big time reporters at publications like the WSJ and NYT monitor smaller time publications for trends and interesting stories

- My personal opinion about TC: Not worth the time unless you have a REALLY unique pitch or story. Focus your efforts on more attainable, niche outlets whose readers match your target demographic

- Just because you're not an incumbent in your market, doesn't mean that you can't get good press. Being reputable can give you leverage, but it's not necessary.

Let's assume the following: TechCrunch has the largest following and the best reputation per capita in the startup news world, and YC has the reputation of being the best seed-stage funder. If, within that model, you find yourself in the unfortunate position of not being YC-funded, and thus not having any reputation, following through that assumption to its logical conclusion means that there are tech news sites with second-rate reputation, that are eclipsed by TechCrunch, and they are just as hungry to discover a possible next-big-thing as you are to be one. Go find them. Start with mashable.com

Arrington on getting press for your startup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbUnatPfSgg