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A Press release is an announcement of an upcoming event or project.
Press Releases Can Go the Distance
A well-written release can dramatically increase your sales, expose your company to the masses, and greatly enhance the image of your business or products.
Any release, which tries to sell or advertise, will be tossed out! Be factual -- not promotional.
Make it newsworthy. Are you solving a problem or filling your readers' needs? Pinpoint what that need or problem is and write the press release from the perspective of the readers' benefits.
Give detailed explanation from the reader's perspective. Give details of the news so the editor understands why it's important to his/her readers. Any background information, quotes of note, comparisons to similar products or services, etc., which illustrate the importance of this news should be included here. If you're announcing a new product, mention shipping date, price, and other points of interest.
The best is one, two or three paragraph publicity releases summarize the contents (nonfiction) or storyline (fiction) and if done well enough are a wheel that doesn't have to therefore be reinvented by the reviewer in the crafting of a review for publication or broadcast. What a good reviewer will do, in addition to utilizing the publicity release in this manner, is to then add a line or two or three of personal commentary or advice to the reader of the review as to the value or "recommendability" of the book the prospective reading public for which the book would be particularly appropriate.
Editors of newspapers, newsletters, magazines and journals are on deadlines and must occasionally resort to "filler" to round out the column of a page, or the page of a section, or a section of an issue. Many editors resort to volunteer reviewers, some of whom wouldn't know a deadline if it were to bite them on the ankle! So an editor's resorting to incorporating the publisher's publicity release info is an ideal tactic to use as a fall back measure to getting an issue out on time.
Still others reviewers are but fledgling in the art and craft of book reviewing and what they turn in must be augmented by the incorporation of publicity release info. Don't forget to include the ISBN number and the suggested retail price. Providing a brief overview of the book rather than the author's background would make a whole lot more sense to an editor.
4. What editors want: - Keep it short! Not a press release that would print out to be six pages long. A brief single page summary is all that is needed.
The less work the editor needs to do, the better.
-If you have a lot of info on the topic you're pitching, post it on your web site and include the URL in your press release. Pages of detailed information can be organized and presented much better on a web site than in an e-mail. If an editor requires further information, a simple link to your web site would serve much better than scrolling through a long e-mail.
* However, it is equally, if not more, important for the individual to maximize the potential of their website prior to its launch. How fast does your site load? How easy is the site to use? Does the site direct people where YOU need them to be? Is the message crystal clear?
The better crafted your PR; the better your chances of that "publicity release chain reaction" will take place.
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