Have a great story / hook.

Reach out to outlets who 1) are relevant 2) write about Kickstarter campaigns regularly.

Determine why you want the press, pre-launch. It should either be for social proof for your "Kickstarter As Seen In Logo Banner" or to drive any traffic to a landing page to gather pre-launch opt-in emails.

That is explained more in these blog posts. Enjoy...

http://crowdfundinghacks.com/this-kickstarter-project-is-already-funded-and-it-hasnt-even-launched-yet/

http://crowdfundinghacks.com/how-kittyo-used-the-macgyver-trick-to-crush-their-kickstarter-goal/

http://crowdfundinghacks.com/how-kittyo-gathered-13000-opt-in-emails-in-only-5-months-part-1-includes-successful-templates-strategies-etc/

Most definitely. I actually highly recommend it so that you can collect emails before launching. This can be done through creating a beautiful landing page with content. Depending on your press approach, you could email writers or hire a PR firm.