Writing Press Releases

If you're lucky, your dealer or someone else will right press releases for you for upcoming exhibitions. Even still, you have to cultivate your own relationship with editors, writers, reporters, and critics of various publications. You should alert the press, not only about your exhibits, but also with other things like your lectures, honors, awards, etc.

Newspapers and other publications are best reached by sending a press release. Although email has become the most convenient form of communication, it is not always to most effective. If you don't already have a relationship with an editor, I would suggest sending the press release the old fashioned way, by good old mail.

Plan Ahead

Sit down with a calendar and figure out when you need to send your press releases in order for the publication to get to your exhibit on time and write for it. Most magazines have a 3 to 4 month lead time. Newspapers and local publications can respond much more quickly.

Do Some Research

Find out what publications list arts-related information. Read the masthead or bylines to figure out to whom you should direct your press release. It is much more effective to address it to the John Doe, Arts Editor, than just sending it to the Arts department.

Even if a publication doesn't have a separate arts section, it may still be a viable target for your press release. For instance, if your exhibit has a community or local slant, it can be sent to local publications.

The most effective way, of course is to go down to the newspaper and meet the writer in person. This way, you can provide them with slides, an in-person interview, and answer any question they may have directly. Make an appointment with the person who will be writing your article, and show up on time.

Writing

You don't have to be a great writer to generate a press release. A typical release covers the essential things the reporter would need to know in order to cover your story - the who, what, when, where, why, how. Type your press release in double space, limiting it to one page. Editors get hundreds of press releases a week and don't have time to sit down and read each one in depth.

Put your name, address and other contact information on top. Don't forget to list your email address and phone number so that editors or fact checkers can get to you right away to meet their tight deadlines. Then, go into the details of the piece. Get their attention by starting out with the most important information.

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