Press Release Tip 8

Include complete contact information in your press releases

You’re beginning Module 2, The 6 Parts of a Press Release.

There are probably hundreds of different formats for releases.  In this module, I’m using a press release I wrote July 1, 2000, to show you the 6 parts of a press release. It’s one of my favorites. I used it to announce two tips booklets I had published on employee recruitment and retention, at the height of the labor shortage.

The Kiplinger Letter, a business newsletter,  printed just a few sentences from it, and that resulted in many thousands of dollars in sales. I love the press release because it’s so simple.

The first part of a press release, which I’ve highlighted in yellow, is the contact information here, shown at the bottom of the release. You should include the contact information for the publicist, who journalists can call for more information. If you don’t have a publicist, include the person who is in the best position to answer questions. That’s probably you.

Contact information should include name, phone, email address and website address. Notice that the email address and website address links are live. You can also include a shipping address (why make people hunt for it?).

Remember the phrase “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE”? We used to include it on our press releases. But now that we’re posting them online in a world with a 24/7 news cycle, you don’t have to include that anymore.

Do not include an “embargo” date in the future when it’s OK for journalists to print your release. Most journalists wouldn’t honor the date anyway. Besides, you wouldn’t be posting the release online if you didn’t want people to see it yet, right?

Opportunity #8 to write a press release: Books you have written

Later in this course, we’ll discuss press releases for books. But if you need help quickly, see my full instructions in Quick & Easy Media Kit Templates for Indie Authors. All 12 templates, including templates and ample press releases for a fiction and nonfiction book, will help you create a complete media kit in only a day or two, depending how much information you have already compiled about your book.   

Next: Write a clear, compelling headline and subhead.