Anatomy of a press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In the upper left-hand margin with all letters capitalized.

Headline
A sentence that gives the essence of what the press release is about.

Dateline
The city your press release is issued from, and the date of the release.

Lead Paragraph
A strong first paragraph should grab attention and include the information most relevant. Answer the question: Why is this news? Typically the five W's are answered: (who, what, when, where, why). Include a hook to get your audience interested in reading more.

Body
Leading with your most important, interesting, information, the rest of your press release is here (typically 350-800 words, including headline, tagline and contact information).

Tagline (sometimes called Boilerplate)
Your press release should end with a short paragraph that describes you organization, what you do, who you do it for, and interesting facts such as a short history. If this is a joint press release, include this information for both entities.

Contact Information
Name, Phone, Email

It's very important that you be REACHABLE at the phone number listed.

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