A lot of this is wise and not the repititious cookie-cutter advice I've read before on too many occasions. I'd add this:

1. Know what kind of party you're attending, and have conversations you think the guests will find interesting.

2. Get on the good side of the medium staff. Think in music industry terms. Medium is your distribution network. But without the airplay the staff can give your record (feeding your stories to the readers), it's difficult to succeed. I've been on the hit list - and the shit list. I earned 100 times more when I was on the former than when I ended up on the latter. And all with the same type and quality stories.