Writing Tips: Writing a Press Release
Posted on January 27, 2007
If you are throwing an important event and want to involve publicity, a press release is what you need in the first place to attract editor’s attention. If you are not familiar with the press release writing techniques, we are here to help you.
1. How to Write a Press Release. Characteristics of Quality Writing
Definition:
A press release is useful, accurate and interesting information prepared for distribution to the media.
General guidelines:
A good press release has to be:
- concise – brief and informative, it has to save editor’s time;
- grammatically correct and free of punctuation and spelling mistakes;
- news-giving – your main hook is news that you offer the editors;
- honest – a lot depends on your reputation; therefore, be a reliable client, and there will be plenty of journalists at your events;
- timely – send it not too early (three months before the event), and not too late (one day before the even takes place), for editors also have schedules and plans.
Out tips on writing a press release:
- Very often advertisements are mistaken for news. Avoid saying something like “Come and buy…” Nobody is going to come.
2. How to Write a Press Release. Kinds of Releases
Definition:
It can be a straight news style release or a feature release.
General guidelines:
A press release has to answer the five W’s: who, what, why, when, where.
Straight news style release is written in an inverted pyramid style:
- in the first paragraph of your release you should answer at least four of the five W’s;
- the second paragraph is supposed to catch editor’s attention by giving some new and interesting information;
- if you have a couple of newsworthy items to include in your press release you might have two or three paragraphs following your first paragraph;
- the last paragraph is a standard paragraph you include at the end of every press release about you or the particular event.
Feature release puts aside the importance of the five W’s and concentrates on creativity:
- feature stories offer exclusives to different newspapers and create competitiveness;
- take a subtler approach to promoting “the client”;
- lead should set the stage with trends in the first few paragraphs and then narrow down to the exact topic by the fourth paragraph;
Our tips on writing a press release:
- An inverted pyramid style of writing gives all the important information in the first paragraph. Next paragraphs just make it wider. To find out, which of the information is unnecessary, cut it out. If the meaning is still the same, than you can easily do without it.
3. How to Write a Press Release. The Basic Structure
Definition:
Any press release has a basic structure.
General guidelines:
- Press releases should be printed on company letterhead.
- The company’s name, web address, location address and phone number should be printed clearly at the top of the page.
- ‘Press release’ should be spelled out in all capitals and centered in bold.
- The press release contact person’s name should be underneath the wording and all contact numbers printed clearly underneath.
- If the press release is for ‘Immediate release’, say so, on the left margin directly above the title in all caps.
- The Title has to be centered and bold.
- The body of the press release begins with the date and city for which the press release is originated.
- If your press release exceeds one page, the second page should indicate ‘ Page Two’ in the upper right hand corner.
- Three # symbols, centered directly underneath the last line of the release indicate the end of a press release.
Our tips on writing a press release:
- The heading has to be informative as well as catchy.
4. How to Write a Press Release. Press Releases for Email Distribution
Definition:
E-mail press releases are usually shorter in length than their print counterparts. The majority of electronic news releases sent are 500 words of text organized into five, short two to three sentence paragraphs.
General guidelines:
These requisites have to be included:
- A compelling e-mail subject header and headline.
- The five W’s first paragraph.
- Electronic contact information.
- A short paragraph at the end of the release containing background information about the company.
Our tips on writing a press release:
- An electronic press release doesn’t differ a lot from a printed one. That’s why a story is important. Give newspapers a good reason to come.
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