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Underground > Creation >

Help me write a press release

wembley can change in 28 days

08:55 / 04.09.03

Okay, I've done a few of these, but I don't by any means consider myself an expert. Most of what I've done has been for theatre.

Firstly, if you write press releases (for my purposes, stick to music, film and theatre; but any comments on writing for other audiences also welcome), what pisses you off about bad press releases? What do you always make sure you put in/leave out?

If you read them (ie are a journalist), the questions are ditto. What helps you? Should the style of the writing be close to the style of the publication - say, a magazine?

All questions/comments welcomed.

14:38 / 04.09.03

Some quick points:

* Don't try to put clever/punning/smart intros on things - journalists like to do that themselves, and if you come up with the best intro in the world, professional pride/arrogance on the journalist's part will dictate they don't use it and try to find something else.

* Double check all your facts - ages, spellings of names, etc, because if the journo hasn't time to check things either with another source or you, they'll be pissed off if things are wrong.

* Always put a contact number for yourself or someone else in there who can be got at in office hours. Journalists don't want to be told they have to ring someone at eight pm that night to check something. They'll probably not bother.

* Enclose good quality pictures, or say you can e-mail hi-res j.pegs very quickly. Always helps.

* Put in a few succinct, pithy quotes attributable to a named person which can be lifted if the journalist needs a quick turnaround.

* More is better than less when it comes to information included in the press release. You can include this in the "notes for the editor" section at the end if you don't want to overload the main body of the press release with facts and figures.

* By all means call to check if the press release has arrived, but don't hassle. And avoid Friday afternoons - all PR people chase up their press releases on Friday afternoons, which generally means pissed-off journos get a string of phone calls on what is often the busiest day of the week (they can be working on stuff for Saturday and Monday editions).

More points as I think of them.

14:45 / 04.09.03

In my fairly limited experience, most press releases (for records) are really poorly put together and full of mistakes. So assuming you're not a moron and can spell, I wouldn't be too bothered about keeping up with the competition..

Whisky Priestess

15:49 / 04.09.03

How do nice pictures, silly gimmicks (beermats, postcards) and bribery (chocolates, condoms, fiver with the product's name on) work for you, Sax?

18:57 / 04.09.03

Like a charm. I got two boxes of Cadbury's new donuts in the post today, the ones with a tub of chocolate to dip them into and Crunchie bits to roll them in.

Threw the press release in the bin, though, so go figure.

19:01 / 04.09.03

That was a throwaway comment but actually, thinking about it's true. Gimmicky stuff always gets noticed, but rarely is it accompanied by a usable press release. There seems to be a direct correlation between the uselessness of the press release and the amount of money the company has to throw away on tat.

wembley can change in 28 days

05:29 / 05.09.03

This is great. Sax, you rock my world. Maybe I'll send you some chocolate - sans press release (to save the environment, you understand).

Whisky Priestess

12:57 / 05.09.03

Doughnuts aren't news, mind - if they had been used to illustrate a point about some art exhibition or community event might they have been a better idea?

i.e. Art is like a doughnut - most people don't know much about it, but they know what they like. Find out what the new generation of UK artists is doing with its holes at the Britwank Exhibition, Toss Gallery, this month. Surprising fillings guaranteed.

That's the kinda thing I mean - make people take notice because a familiar event is promoted in a different way. Or does the sender just look like a smug, smartarse git and incur your wrath? (not that I have any interest in publicising plays and gigs, hem hem)

13:32 / 05.09.03

It's a real tough one to call, really. Sometimes stuff sent with press releases just looks too gimmicky and you immediately think that the actual news value of the press release can't be up to much if they're resorting to doughnuts and condoms.

Another way through this is to send the gimmicky stuff but not as an accompaniment to a serious press release. For example, Sky TV sent in a clove of garlic and a set of plastic Vampire teeth when England played Romania at football a couple of years ago... there was no actual press release with it, it was just done to raise a smile from journalists. Which it did. Whether said journalists went on to think fondly of Sky TV when they sent their next serious press release, who knows?

So perhaps say you were promoting a play. Let's say it's Waiting For Godot. Maybe you should send in the first instance a postcard, possibly with an image from the play on the front, and just bare details on the back: Waiting For Godot by the Cocknob Players, June 15 2012.

Then a week later send, oh, I don't know, a Rubik's Cube with nothing more than a ticket attached which reads: "Something to do while you're Waiting for Godot".

Then the week after that, send in the full monty press release, professional and serious. If all that was sent to me, I'd probably like that. You get something to play with and a proper story, but it's not all jumbled up together.

Oh, and another point: Make an effort to find out the name of whoever you're posting the press release to. Just "Features Editor" or "Arts Editor" is impersonal and makes it quite clear you haven't done your homework; even worse is referring to an out-of-date database and putting the name of the previous incumbent of the job on the envelope. All it takes is one telephone call to ask: "Who should I address a press release about a new theatre production to?"

Mister Six, whom all the girls

13:56 / 05.09.03

Sax is a genius.

Reminds me why I love this place.

It's a haven for great advice.

Whisky Priestess

14:54 / 05.09.03

A shaven haven for good advice. Useful and a little bit kinky.

09:02 / 08.09.03

Please don't send hair clippings with your press release, though.

19:30 / 08.09.03

The single most important thing is to put the single most important fact at the very top, in the first paragraph or first line.

Don't make people read stunning and seductive prose to figure out what the point is.

09:21 / 09.09.03

And don't, don't, please don't send out a release that just tells of some stupid way that an old product can save you money. There has to be hard news.

I just wasted an hour trying to work out what the news was in an email from Opera, the browser people. Then they called me, and the twit of a spokesman talked round in circles for 30 minutes, refusing to directly answer a question, until I eventually pinned him down to admit there was nothing new here at all. Nothing. They were just pointing out that you can use Opera with Linux in set top boxes, thereby saving money. Given than Linux is free, well, duh.

Sorry, that was a bit of a vent but I do have a serious point - there has to be news in there, not waffle. And they didn't even send me a clove of garlic and vampire teeth to soften the blow.