This article contains a checklist to writing a press release. And it includes single most important ingredient of a press release, that will dramatically improve your chances of getting your news published.

=> Introduction

Firstly, let me say straight away that I am *not* an expert at writing press releases. Over years, I have read and studied many articles on how to write a press release; I have then submitted my press release only to see them fail to get noticed by editors.

That's not to say that articles I read were poor - all offered good advice, but not in format I wanted: a simple checklist.

So I created my own checklist to help me write a press release. A do-able step-by-step guide to writing a press release that makes writing news release a straight-forward process.

And I was ready to write this article nine months ago, but something was missing from my press releases at time - a vital ingredient - and so my press releases were still not getting published.

I am only writing this article NOW simply because my last press release WAS published, in several UK computer magazines. I am only writing this article NOW because I now know what missing ingredient is to a successful press release (that gets published). It's simple, really, *and* obvious! (Read on!)

Note: I'm still not an expert when it comes to writing a press release - you'll find links to experts at bottom of this article - but I am much more confident that my press releases will get published now. And you can be confident too...

=> Press Release Checklist

o Step 1 - What's Your Story? o Step 2 - Think Like A Journalist o Step 3 - Mechanics Of Writing A Press Release o Step 4 - Example Layout Of A Press Release o Step 5 - Is Your Press Release Ready?

o The missing ingredient - K-I-S-S

o Appendix: Expert press release resources

So, what follows is advice distilled from many sources, organised in a way that allows you to follow basic steps of writing a press release. (And you can always find out more detailed information, should you need it, in Appendix!)

What also follows is vital ingredient missing from many how-to articles, that improve your chances of getting your news published...

=> Step 1 - What's Your Story?

1.1) Find your story, and develop it!

1.2) Position yourself as being different

1.3) Develop different angles

- holiday and event tie-in articles - tips, articles, advice - politically and socially important editorial tie-in articles - new, unique products, Internet innovations and developments - human interest angles - interpersonal relationships on difficult issues - unusual events, unique personal accomplishments, unusual creative ideas - humor and wisdom, fun and tragedy

Some suitable news-sources to aid your research: - http://news.bbc.co.uk - http://www.zdnet.com - http://www.backwash.com - http://www.moreover.com

=> Step 2 - Think Like A Journalist

2.1) What reasons would an editor want to publish your news (what benefits are there for them?) - is it relevant? - is it mildly interesting? - is it newsworthy?

2.2) Make main benefit headline - only purpose of your headline is to get attention of editor, to get him/her to read your release - write headlines from prospects point of view (use words YOU, NEW and/or How To in headline)

2.3) Remember subtext

2.4) Remember K-I-S-S (keep it simple stupid!) - write for scannability; write short, punchy paragraphs

2.5) Remember to answer: "Who? Why? What? Where? When? & How?"

2.6) Write press release so it can be put into a magazine, with just a few simple edits

Why? Well, standard of your writing has always been important. Today, though, more than ever before, FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT. We are bombarded by written word in its many forms -- books, pamphlets, magazines, signs, e-mail, web sites and many other media.

We are all suffering from information overload and are forced to find ways of screening out as much as we can. We thus tend to make quick decisions on what to read and what not to. First impressions increasingly determine what we read and what we don't, and poor writing leads to a poor first impression.

The following list of tips should help you to avoid some of most common slip-ups.

1. Capitals: Avoid temptation to capitalize words in middle of a sentence Just To Provide Emphasis Like This. If you want to be more emphatic consider using bold face, italics, color or larger text.

2. Commas: The most common use of comma is to join together short sentences to make a single longer sentence. We do this with one of following small joining words: and, or, but, yet, for, nor, or so. For example:

We have finished work, and we are looking forward to weekend.

Notice that two halves of this sentence could each be sentences in their own right. They thus need to be separated with a comma and joining word. In next example, though, we don't need a comma:

We have finished work and are looking forward to weekend.

The halves of that sentence could not stand alone, so no comma was used.