5 steps to increase the chances of getting your news release to run - from a former newspaper editor.
Think a news release will let the world know about your product? Think again.

Agents promote them. Companies charge for them. Books have been written about them. The truth is, you have about as much chance of getting your news release printed in a large newspaper as you do of sprouting wings and flying. Why? Well, you have to understand what is going on in a newsroom.

Large newspapers get 100s of faxed releases every day. Once in a while someone will glance at one and pass it along to the appropriate editor who will then roll it into a ball and toss it into the garbage with much the same expression you might have if you bit into a hamburger with fly poop on it. Most likely it will simply land in an overflowing pile of releases. Because of the type of paper faxes are often printed on, and the fact that no wire basket on earth will actually contain them all, they often become airborne. When the air conditioner kicks in, someone opens a window or the elevator doors open, any unweighted pile of releases will magically float into the air; Eventually they land, get trampled on, and mercifully some intern will be ordered to scoop them all up. Although the ordering editor or manager will never actually say so, the implication is to "deal" with them. This is one of those cryptic, unspoken requests, sort of like a Mafia order to "take care of it". What is really being said is: kill it. Toss it. Send it to meet the great shredder and be recycled into something really useful, like toilet paper or children's birthday hats.

So, how do you get your release to run (run means printed in newspaper lingo)? Well, news releases fall into one of three categories: regular/significant communications, such as a White House press release; hot news topics such as the fall of Rome...er, I mean Enron or high-profile murder investigations (preferably with a Kennedy as the main suspect) and FILLER. Yes sir, about the best chance you have to get your news release into the paper is to make it useful filler, unless you happen to be a serial killer and can somehow work your way into category two. No matter how great your book, service, business or product is, unless your mom happens to be the managing editor, you have committed at least one well-publicized indictable offense or have a name like Jackie Collins, they ain't gonna find room for you.

So, what can you do to get a release to run?

1. You should contact the page editor for therelevant section and talk with him or her personally before submitting your release. This will give you an idea of what your chances for publication will be. You'll also have a real live (well, they claim they're alive) editor to address the release to and you can follow up with every editor's favorite call: "did you get my release, huh?? Huh?? Did ya? Did ya?" You'll have exactly one chance to call the editor after your release arrives before you're put on call block or mysteriously vanish without a trace.

2. Make your news release attractive filler and you could win the promo equivalent of the state lottery. Filler is necessary in any publication. All sorts of things happen to create "holes" on a page. Ads get pulled, stories are shorter than anticipated, photos can't be used. Holes happen. The bigger the hole, the better for waiting filler. This is a good reason to make sure a photo accompanies the release.

3. Your best chances are always with smaller papers, local papers and weeklies. They're usually on tight budgets with few staff. If you make your release interesting enough, they might even turn it into a story. If it's a small community, they'll run it simply because you're local. The first trick is to write a good release. News releases are almost always rewritten. This choice assignment usually goes to summer students, part-time staff, interns or

4. Most people, even those in big ad firms, make two main mistakes when writing a release: not using the newspaper's style and dead lead-ins. Most papers use AP style, (CP in Canada) with some "enhancements” unique to that particular publication, so make sure you're not using "she said" when the paper uses "says". Ensure you're not capitalizing things that newspapers normally do not (many professional titles, for instance) and for heaven's sake, know what a possessive noun is. It is not correct to write 90's with an apostrophe in a sentence that reads: "based in the 90's". CDs , the plural of CD, is another common victim of misused apostrophes. Likewise, make sure you know when to use single quotes, double quotes and a triple quote with space. Editors do not mind editing a full-length article, that's their job, but news releases are simply not something they want to deal with. News releases are also shorter, so errors tend to stand out more than they might in a feature-length story.

Lead-ins are the most important aspect of a release in terms of selling your product first to the editor and then to the public. The lucky guy or gal chosen to do the news release rewrites usually picks them from a pile and reads the first sentence or two to see if it's worthwhile or interesting (unless an editor requests a specific release - another good reason to call ahead). If your release starts: "Ardinia Salata of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, announced the release of her first book, Pushing Up Daisies, on July 4, 2002. " forget it.

Rewrite that to something with a little life in it like: "Pushing up daisies isn't just a pastime for the dead, anymore. Local author Ardinia Salata tells us exactly why we all should do just that in her new book....” Chances are the editor will continue reading just to see what the heck the author is talking about.

5. Another way to make your release stand out is to include a photo. I'm not talking about some boring head shot that will only prompt deadline-weary staff into making jokes about your ears, but a publicity shot, taken by a professional photographer. Try not to make the photo look posed. Action shots are preferred. A photo of Ardinia doing her daisy thing is more likely to be remembered by the editor simply because images are remembered longer than text, and it also offers an alternative to the release itself. Sometimes harried editors will simply grab an attractive photo to fill an empty space. A nice big photo with a cut line in the gardening section will do a lot more to promote Ardinia's book than a 3 inch release stuck in the left hand column of page 26. Submit an 8 x 10, black and white and make sure that any people in the shot (there should be no more than 3) will print with their heads at least the size of a quarter.

The main thing to remember is that you're only one of dozens, if not hundreds of people trying to get their releases into any particular paper. Target your market well, send interesting, well-written copy and include a photo. Stand out in the crowd. Iall else fails, you can always make yourself a news item (hey, it works for the Kennedys).

About the Author

Cathi Stevenson is a former editor and journalist who has sold more than 2000 articles world-wide. Her eBook "How To Publish & Market Your eBook For Just $5" made the publisher's best sellers' list within months of its release. Learn how she did it with tips from the Author's Cafe Newsletter. Sign up at: http://www.authorscafe.com. Cathi also owns the highly successful book cover design company: Book Cover Express. http://www.bookcoverexpress.com