Most press releases get ignored for one reason: they read like an announcement, not a story. Journalists skim hundreds of these a week, and the ones that get picked up are the ones that answer "why should anyone care" in the first ten seconds. Below are 12 tips that separate the releases reporters open from the ones they delete, plus the mistakes behind most of the misses.
This isn't a list of formatting rules you've already seen a dozen times. It's the stuff that actually moves a release from "ignored" to "covered", the angle, the timing, the small decisions most people skip past because they're rushing to hit send.
If you're still working out the basics of how to write a press release, start there first. This piece assumes you already know the structure and want to know why your releases aren't landing.
74% of journalists say press releases are their preferred way to receive news from PR pros, still the top format, ahead of exclusives and data reports. – Source: Cision, 2024 State of the Media Report
Press Release Tips: The Quick Reference List
Lead with news, not context: Put the actual announcement in the first line, save background for paragraph two.
Write the headline like a journalist would: Active voice, specific numbers, no jargon.
Nail the subject line before the body: Your email subject line decides whether the release gets opened at all.
Check newsworthiness before you write a word: If it's not new, big, or timely, it's a marketing copy, not news.
Use one strong quote, not three weak ones: A single specific quote beats a paragraph of corporate-speak.
Keep paragraphs to 2–3 sentences: Reporters scan; dense blocks get skipped.
Match the release to the outlet: A trade journal and a local paper want different angles from the same news.
Build in SEO without sounding like you did: Smart press release SEO means natural keyword placement, not stuffing.
Proof for facts, not just typos: Wrong dates and misspelled names kill credibility fast.
Send at the right time, not just on a schedule: Tuesday–Thursday mornings outperform Friday afternoons by a wide margin.
Pick distribution based on your audience, not your budget: The best press release distribution channel for a local nonprofit isn't the one a national brand uses.
Have a follow up plan before you hit send: A release with no pitch behind it rarely gets covered on its own.
Expert's Tip: Most editors decide whether to read past the first line in under five seconds. If your release doesn't pass that test, no amount of formatting, SEO, or distribution strategy further down will save it, fix the lede first, then worry about everything else. – EasyPRwire
Tip #1 – 4: Before You Write
Research the outlet, not just the topic: Read three recent stories from the publication or reporter you're targeting. Match their tone and the kind of angle they tend to run a release that fits how they already write gets less resistance. A trade publication wants industry context; a local paper wants community impact. Same news, different framing.
Find the hook before the headline: The hook is the one sentence that would make a stranger stop scrolling. If you can't write that sentence in under 15 words, the release isn't ready. Most weak releases skip this step entirely and go straight to formatting.
Pick an angle, not a summary: A press release isn't a recap of what happened internally, it's a single argument for why this matters to someone outside your company. If your draft reads like an internal status update, you've written a summary, not an angle.
Run the newsworthiness check: Ask: is this new, is it timely, does it affect more than just your company? If the honest answer is no to all three, you're writing an internal memo dressed up as news, and no amount of polish will fix that at the editing stage.
73% of reporters say they reject a pitch because it isn't relevant to what they cover, and 77% say they'd block a PR contact outright for repeated irrelevant pitches. – Source: Muck Rack, State of Journalism 2024
Tip #5 – 8: While You Write
Use a headline formula that front loads the news: "[Company] does [specific, measurable thing]" beats vague phrases like "announces exciting update." Specificity is what gets a release opened, a number, a date, or a named partner does more work than any adjective.
Build the lede around the five W's, in order of importance: Don't bury who or what behind a string of adjectives, reporters need the facts before they flourish. The first sentence should survive being read on its own, with no context from the rest of the release.
Let the body flow from broad to specific: Open with the news, follow with context, close with details like availability, pricing, or press release cost for related services if relevant. This is the inverted pyramid structure journalists are trained to expect, and it makes a release easy to trim from the bottom without losing the core news.
Place quotes where they add a voice, not filler: A quote should say something a fact sheet can't, an opinion, a reaction, a reason. If it could've come from any executive at any company, cut it. One sharp, specific quote will get used in coverage more often than three generic ones.
Tip #9 – 12: After You Write
Proof for accuracy before grammar: Names, titles, dates, and numbers matter more than a misplaced comma. Have someone outside the project read it cold, they'll catch the assumptions you've stopped noticing because you've read the draft ten times.
Time the send for when editors are actually working: Early to mid week mornings consistently beat late week and weekend sends across most industries. A great release sent at 4pm on a Friday is competing with everyone's inbox cleanup, not their attention.
Choose the channel that matches your goal: A book press release aimed at literary press needs a different distribution list than a non profit press release aimed at local news and community outlets. The biggest, most expensive wire isn't automatically the right one, relevance beats reach almost every time.
Plan the follow up before you send, not after: A short, personalized pitch email to two or three key reporters usually outperforms blasting the release to a hundred generic inboxes. Decide who you're following up with and when, before the release even goes out, so it doesn't get lost once you move on to the next task.
The Most Common Press Release Mistakes (With Fixes)
These mirror the tips above, but seeing them as mistakes, not just advice, makes the pattern easier to spot in your own draft before you send it.
Mistake: Burying the news in paragraph three.
Fix: Put the actual announcement in the first sentence, every time.
Mistake: Writing a headline full of adjectives instead of facts.
Fix: Replace "revolutionary" and "exciting" with a number, a name, or a date.
Mistake: Treating the subject line as an afterthought.
Fix: Spend as much time on the email subject line as you do on the headline, it's the first and sometimes only thing a reporter sees.
Mistake: Stuffing keywords for SEO at the cost of readability.
Fix: Write for the reporter first; place keywords where they'd naturally appear anyway.
Mistake: Including three quotes that all say the same thing.
Fix: Cut to one quote that adds something the rest of the release doesn't.
Mistake: Sending without checking a press release sample for format.
Fix: Compare your draft against a solid press release sample before you finalize it, small format slips signal an amateur release.
Mistake: Ignoring the press release format entirely.
Fix: Dateline, boilerplate, contact info, skipping these makes a release look unfinished, even when the writing is strong.
Mistake: Sending to everyone instead of the right few.
Fix: A shorter, targeted list beats a long generic one almost every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important tips for writing a press release?
Lead with the news in the first sentence, use one strong quote instead of several weak ones, and match the angle to the outlet you're pitching. Everything else, formatting, SEO, distribution, supports those three.
How do you write a press release that gets picked up?
Pick a genuinely newsworthy angle, write a headline a journalist could run as-is, and pitch a small, targeted list of reporters with a short personal note rather than mass blasting a wire service list.
What makes a press release newsworthy?
It's timely, it affects people beyond your company, and it's specific. A product update is news; "we're excited about our roadmap" is not.
How long should a press release be?
Most effective releases run 400–600 words. Long enough to cover who, what, when, where, and why, short enough that an editor can read it in under two minutes.
