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How To Write & Send a Press Release
Phil Peretz –
President/Founder Indie Artists Alliance.
If you are looking to get yourself noticed, the press release (or news
release) is the most common tool used to bring an artist or business
publicity.
Basically, a press release is a simple, neat-looking sheet or an e-mail that
provides news to reporters, editors, bloggers and other media people. Any
press that you get from your news release will be free, so it's easy to see
why writing a good press release is a valuable skill.
When To Use A Press Release
You can use a release to notify the media about any sort of
happening - a new CD release or CD release party, a special gig, or label
signing. The thing to remember is: this is news so the press release needs
to be "newsworthy".
The “So What” Factor.
The worst thing that you can do is to write an article about you or
your event that leaves the reader thinking to themselves “So What?” You
want to make sure that your article leaves the reader with the desire to get
more information about you and will drive them to go to your website to
learn more about you.
The articles that get published are the ones that
target the readers with your news. You have to find people who actually care
about your news and, you have to figure out if the places where you are
submitting your articles have readers who will care about reading about you.
If you send your calendar listings to publications that don’t print them,
this is a waste of time. If you take a local angle about your news, you
won’t get published in the non-local publications. Do your homework and
find out what kind of topics are of interest to the readers.
It’s best to explore different angles. Find something that is universally
interesting and is appealing to the readers (and the editor)
Let’s explore several angles of the same event and discuss how you can get
additional press.
Scenario 1: OAKLAND BAND RELEASES NEW CD
This may be of interest because of a local angle. A local band with a local
following releases a CD. This has limited appeal and will probably only show
up in your local publications, college papers, neighborhood papers, maybe
the daily paper. It’s NOT going to show up on the Billboard Magazine website
nor will anyone really care outside your close geographic area.
Scenario 2:
Oakland Band Goes Green with the release of new CD.
Now, the interest widens. There are now several approaches. First, you have
the local angle and you are involving people who may be interested in how
and why you chose to Go “Green” with the manufacturing and distribution of
your CD release. If the press release is interesting enough, the editor or
writer may want to interview you to get additional facts about this. The
article is now more timely, touches not only on the band but on a worldwide
commitment.
Scenario 3:
Oakland Band Goes Green - Donates ProfitS to “Save the Earth Foundation”
See the difference?
The news story is now very broad and touches everyone, everywhere. The story
is not only about the band but will compel the reader to take action. After
reading about how you have chosen to Go Green, if they want to help the
organization that you chose to support, they will need to go to your website
and get involved. They will want to subscribe to your newsletter and they
may want to purchase your album.
By taking a creative approach, you gain readership,
additional fans, sales and a sense of community.
The writer or editor has a duty to their readers. Their job is to report
interesting news. They do not owe you a story, its your job to come up with
a reason for them to pass on information.
If you can appeal to their readers, you have a much greater chance to get
printed. There is credibility in having an article printed about you. Anyone
can buy an ad, but not everyone can have an article written about them. When
an article or news release is published, there’s a perception that you have
been endorsed by the publication.
How to Write The Release
There is a simple format for press releases and it’s easy to learn.
Start with an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. Many people
suggest 1-1/2 spacing or double-spacing and leaving a minimum of a one inch
white border on all sides of the paper. Use an easy to read font (type
face). You can use any word processing program to build your press release.
Press releases follow the same similar format and are
easily recognizable to writers and editors.
1)
All Press releases start with a release date or FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE.
2)
Contact Information. Make sure that if you send out a press release
that the phone number will be answered promptly during the period that the
release is sent out. If there is interest in running the story, the writer
or editor may want to contact you directly. Keep in mind that writers and
editors typically work during the day and will contact you during their work
hours.
3)
The Headline. This should be typed in all capital letters and is the
single most important item in your press release. If the headline sounds
interesting, the reader will read further. If the headline is boring or has
the “So-What?” factor, they will skip the article and will move on to
something else. Take a look at some news sites and look at the articles that
are there…get a feel for what sounds interesting and what sounds dull or
boring. Draw the reader in. Remember the discussion that we had before with
the three scenarios of headlines.
4)
The Body of the Press Release. Just like the headline, the first
paragraph needs to be attention getting. The press release should be
concise, easy to understand and written in the third person reading as if
someone else wrote the story. Use “he” or “she” instead of “I” The only
exception to this is if there is a quote in the article. Maximum length
should be two pages and preferably one page. The body starts with all
of the important facts starting with the city, state and date descriptions:
August 1, 2008 (Oakland, California)
Do not abbreviate the state and include the full date description. Be sure
to use Who, What, When, Where, Why and How in your news release and be sure
to share your news without any flowery or fluffy adjectives. Remember, it’s
supposed to be news. You can use quotations to add more interest.
”We want to show our fans that responsibility for the earth starts with
ourselves” says band leader Ryan Williams, “by going green and sharing
profits with the Save the Earth foundation we are sending money and a
message that will make a difference.”
5)
At the end of the release summarize your story and add the “About Us”
information that is necessary along with a link to your website.
6)
End your press release with the symbols ### after your last lines of
text. This lets the editor know they have successfully received the entire
release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information,
contact:
Your Name
Your Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Phone
Fax
Email
HEADLINE
MONTH DAY#, YEAR (CITY, STATE) – Here’s where you add important information
answering the who, what, when, where and why. It’s important to make sure
that the first paragraph summarizes your news clearly.
Add additional details
here.
About The Band…
About any other organization discussed in the article
For further information, contact Your Name at (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
Sending Your Release
Almost every newspaper, magazine, radio station, music blog site and
music related website can be a possible point of distribution for your music
news release.
You’ll need to build a media list where you can regularly send your news
releases or if your want to distribute your press release quickly, you can
use a music PR services like the one that Indie Artists Alliance provides
(www.indieartistsalliance.com).
This service will send your Press Releases to 400-500 online publications
ranging from Billboard Magazine to College and University publications for
very little money.
Be aware that you are one of hundreds or thousands of
people who are sending in press releases to the publication and the writers
and editors do not have time to take your phone calls. If the news release
is interesting and newsworthy, they will print it.
If you e-mail the press release, stay away from html coding. Make it easy
for the writer or editor to easily and quickly “cut and paste” the news
article. Have photos available if the writer or editor contacts you for
additional information.
If you mail the press release, address the envelope neatly and clearly,
making sure to spell the contact's name correctly. If you are unsure of the
name, try "News Director", "Music Editor", or "Features Editor".
It’s easy to get free publicity by learning to write an
effective press release. All you have to do is to remember to make it
newsworthy and timely and you’ll quickly build a new following for your band
and your accomplishments.
© 2008 No part of this article may be copies or reproduced
except with permission and with all links and byline intact.
Submit your News Release
to Indie Artists Alliance and we will blast your news to over 500 different
music publications across the United States. We will also post the news
release on the Indie Artists Alliance website and Create411.com.
$29.95
User Agreement - Terms and
Conditions
The creator of the news/press release and not Indie Artists Alliance are
solely responsible for the content and accuracy.
You (the customer) agree to the following:
You are authorized to submit the Release for distribution.
Your Press Release is factually and legally accurate and does not contain
any defamatory material
The Release does not violate any state, federal or common law or other
proprietary rights of any third party.
Refund Policy
There are absolutely no refunds on completed distributions of your press
release. We guarantee to keep our list updated and will deliver to a
targeted media list, however, we cannot force them to open, read or give you
publicity.
In the event that we are able to deliver your press release in a timely
basis, we will contact you, let you know what the delayIn the unlikely event
that we are unable to deliver your press release in a timely bases we will
let you know how long the delay will be and give you the option of a refund.
We reserve the right to publish your feedback of successful news releases on
our website.
Customer's Responsibility
In order to get a response from the media, creators of the press release
must submit information that is interesting and newsworthy. Material
including contact information must be accurate.
Pricing
Single Press Release submissions are $29.95
For more information contact
info@indieartistsalliance.com
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