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How to Write a Press Release
So they get read and released
by Demian
© 2011, Demian
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The clearer your releases, the less an editor will need to guess at what you may have meant.
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Critical Data
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Press releases should contain the most important information:
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I cannot tell you how depressing it is to receive a play’s press release from an author who does not know how to write a grammatically correct sentence or spell. However, these authorial cretins are more to be pitied than scorned, so we have here an educational article specifically to show them the literary light.
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Sample Release
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Text Sample
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Explanation
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Press Release
March 22, 2004 - for May 25th release
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Header, release and embargo date
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“Michelangelo’s Boy Toy Models”
by Robert Patrick
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What & Who #1
Title of production and author
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A romantic comedy set in 1506 Rome. Michelangelo at 33 is the most noted artist in Europe, and must decide what to do with his talent, power, and life. Three older artists (DaVinci, Botticelli, and Bramante), and three beautiful young men (a hustler, a prince, and a peasant) offer possible “models” for Michelangelo’s future life and loves. Pope Julius II, the painter Raphael, and beautiful Simonetta Vespucci (the model for “The Birth of Venus”), become entangled in the romances and ruses of this Renaissance romp.
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Why #1
This is your pitch, the play’s content. Titles often reveal little. For instance, one would never know that “Return of the Vengeance of the Deviant Hell-Breath Riders” was a musical comedy.
Briefly mention:
- genre
- main characters
- main dramatic conflict
Do not go into plot-point details.
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Cast includes: C. Rice, C. Powell, H. Kissinger, and special guest A. Greenspan.
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Who #2
Cast List
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“Patrick has given us the essence of the Renaissance, both its loftiest aspirations and its basest motives, thus making it human and easily integrated.” - Michael’s Thing, New York
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Why #2
Reviews, Praise from Others, Awards - These are optional.
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Directed by J. Ashcroft and Italian Renaissance scholar M. Buonaroti
Produced by D. H. Rumsfeld,
Presented by Theatre for Indifference
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Who #3
Production Personnel
List only top staff. If a musical, also list the Book, Lyric and Composer personnel.
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Play dates: June 4-July 10, 2004
Times: All shows 8pm
Kind Gentle Theater, 1 Bush Blvd., Bagdad, D.C.
Wheelchair accessible
$15; $12 students, seniors, teachers
Contains nudity: adults only
Reservations: xxx-xxx-xxxx
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When & Where
Important Data: Date, Time, Place (full address includes street, city and state), Wheelchair Access, Cost, Adult Content Warning, Box Office Contacts.
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Photo attached: C. Rice (Simonetta), C. Powell (Botticelli)
Photo by George Eastman
More photos at http://sample.web.site.url.com/photos.html
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Who #4
People in photos are always listed left-to-right.
Always credit the photographer or poster maker.
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Contact Ms. Publicity Maven at Kinder Gentler Publicists:
206-xxx-xxxx; pub@kind+gentle.com; http://web.site.url.com
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Who #5
Contacts for more information.
You know the drill: Always Leave Them Wanting More.
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Common Writing Errors
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- Self-generated praises about the author/director/actor/producer is easily seen as amateurish and, hence, to be ignored. Especially if the press release author is the play’s author/director/actor/producer.
- Keep it Very Brief — One printed page is enough.
Most events, culture, and news desks get 200+ releases a day. They usually do not have time to read more than the first two paragraphs.
- Run your spell checker and your grammar checker in your word program, before copying the text to e-mail. Send in a Plain Text E-mail. Do not send formatted E-mails, which can easily be misinterpreted by all the different E-mail readers.
- Era dates should be “90s” not “90’s” - Dates are not capable of being possessive.
- Always use lower case for position titles. Should be “André d’Artiste, artistic director” not “André d’Artiste, Artistic Director.”
- Theater locations should have full addresses, including the city and state. Many releases are foolishly sent with only a street address. As releases are sent all over the world — especially by E-mail — it is rude to expect everyone to know where your own personal theater is located.
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How to Capitalize a Title
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Nothing should be all caps - especially titles.
Some words are more equal than others.
- Always capitalize the first and the last word.
- Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (“as,” “because,” “although”).
- Lowercase all articles, coordinate conjunctions (“and,” “or,” “nor”), and prepositions, when not the first or last word.
- Lowercase “to” in an infinitive.
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Common E-mail Mistakes
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Item
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Problem
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Solution
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HTML formatting
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Many e-mail readers cannot translate HTML.
Viruses get passed via Web page formatting.
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Turn off the HTML.
Send message as Plain Text.
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ALL CAPS
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Rude.
Irritating. Visually like shouting.
Nothing should be all caps - not even the play’s title.
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Use capitol letters only for:
- First letter of a sentence
- Play and book titles
- Proper names (not staff titles)
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Large image file attachments
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Long upload times when attached to E-mails.
E-mail attachments may be blocked by Internet Service Providers as a virus prevention measure.
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Give the address to your Web site for big file-sized images.
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Web address unlinked in e-mail
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Requires copying or retyping.
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If you put “http://” before your Web URL, most e-mail readers allow a simple click to launch the browser. Example:
http://buddybuddy.com/pc.html
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