Writing the Press Release

Writing Press Releases
by
Su Wright

Before You Write

You're having a book signing or your latest book is being released or you just won a major contest. Naturally, you want to tell the world and you think you should send a press release. You're a writer. Surely you can write a press release. Surely you can generate some publicity.

Before I talk about generating publicity, let's talk about what is publicity. When you send a press release to a newspaper, you are hoping that an editor will run it in their newspaper. There is no guarantee it will be printed in the paper. There is no guarantee it will be printed in the exact manner you have submitted it to the newspaper. If you want a guarantee you need to buy advertising space. Publicity is free but the price is there is no guarantee it will be used.

Certain steps should be taken before you write that release. First, timing. If your book signing is in Denver next weekend, it's too late to send the press release to newspapers. If your book signing is six months from now, it's too soon. Ideally, send your press release three weeks before the book signing. That gives the newspapers plenty of time to put it in, but not so much time that it gets lost in the shuffle.

Next, who cares? Who will care about your book signing other than your mother, boyfriend/spouse, best friend or immediate family? You are a Denver native/resident who writes romance. Readers of romances who live in Denver will care. Readers of romances who live in New Mexico will not care. Send your press release to newspapers in the metro Denver area.

Third, newspapers care about news. Your press release should be newsworthy and not advertising copy disguised as news. Don't write "buy my book at this weekend's book signing." Maybe the editor will re-write your release and run it anyway. Maybe they'll toss it in the circular file. To determine if your press release is newsworthy, ask yourself if people not connected with you would be interested in this information.

To help you determine newsworthiness for your book signing press release and to help you begin writing your press release, think about the five W's -- who, what, when, where and why. Answer those questions about your book signing and you've outlined your press release.

Beginning to Write the Press Release

When you begin to write your release, decide whether you will write a straight news style release or a feature release. To help you decide, ask yourself if you just want to get the information about your book signing listed in the newspaper in a calendar type section or if you will try for a bigger article that perhaps gets placed in the book section of the newspaper or a community section or lifestyle section.

Let's start with the straight news release. In journalism you write in an inverted pyramid style. That means you put the most important information in the first paragraph and other information in subsequent paragraphs in descending order of importance. The more you follow this format, the less the editor has to change and the more likely your release will used.

In the first paragraph of your release you should answer at least four of the five W's:

    Denver author Dolores Smith will sign copies of her first novel at the Tattered Cover on Monday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m.

You could add the name of the book and the genre:

    Denver author Dolores Smith will sign copies of her first mystery novel, "Spies and Pies," at the Tattered Cover on Monday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m.

Odds are the editor will take out the genre and title to shorten the sentence, but put it in your first sentence and maybe it will stay in when it appears in the newspaper. If you choose to leave the genre and title out of the first sentence, then be sure to mention it in a subsequent paragraph.

Maybe this isn't your first novel. Maybe you're an award-winning, multi-published, best-selling author:

    Best-selling Denver author Dolores Smith will sign copies of her tenth mystery novel, "Spies and Pies," at the Tattered Cover on Monday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m.

What's the next most important thing you have to say about your book signing, your book or you as the author? Is there something about your background that is important -- are you a graduate of a local university or high school? Do you teach writing classes, give seminars or workshops? Did it take you 30 years to write this novel? Was there a bidding war between publishers for your novel? Will it be made into a movie-of-the-week or a major motion picture starring Antonio Banderas?

You will need to sort through the many things about you or your book to find the most interesting, important, unusual thing to say in the second paragraph. But since this is not a feature story, you won't be saying a lot in the second paragraph. You will simply be stating something that might catch the editor's attention and hope it helps you get more than a one-sentence mention in the newspaper.

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. And, if you can quote yourself or someone notable, you might increase your chances of a larger mention in the paper.

    Smith worked as a pie maker to put herself through college. She wrote "Spies and Pies" while she made pies for Marie Calendar's.

    Smith is a graduate of the University of Denver's writing program, where she won numerous awards in fiction. She holds a master's degree in creative writing from New York University.

Your last paragraph could be a "boiler plate" paragraph -- a standard paragraph you include at the end of every press release about you or this particular book.

    "Spies and Pies" is a hardcover book published by Random House; $24.95; 400 pages. It is available in large print and audio.

Next month, we'll look at writing feature releases. In future columns, we'll look at how to write public service announcements, writing fact sheets, putting together a press kit, interviews with publicists, and publicity tips from successful authors.

Su Wright is a freelance writer who has worked for public relations agencies as well as in-house PR departments. In addition, she has worked as a newspaper editor/reporter and magazine editor. She has a B.S. in journalism and teaches press release writing and press kit preparation at Colorado Free University. Someday she will be a multi-published novelist in mysteries and romantic suspense.

Writing Press Releases by Su Wright

Writing Press Releases
by
Su Wright