press-release-writing

$27

AP Style Format

Structure

HEADLINE IN TITLE CASE, PRESENT TENSE, NO PERIOD

Optional Subheadline With More Detail

CITY, STATE (Month Day, Year) — Lead paragraph with WHO, WHAT, WHEN,

WHERE, and WHY in the first 25 words.

Second paragraph expands on the lead with supporting details, context,

and significance.

"Executive quote providing perspective on the announcement," said

[Full Name], [Title] at [Company]. "Second sentence of quote adding

depth or forward-looking statement."

Body paragraphs with additional details, arranged in descending order

of importance (inverted pyramid).

"Supporting quote from partner, customer, or analyst," said

[Full Name], [Title] at [Organization].

Final paragraph with availability, pricing, or next steps.

About [Company]

[Company] is a [description]. Founded in [year], the company

[brief background]. For more information, visit [website].

Media Contact:

[Name]

[Email]

[Phone]

Section-by-Section Guide

Headline

❌ Company X Announces Revolutionary New Product That Will Change Everything!

❌ Press Release: Company X

❌ Company X's Amazing Product Launch

✅ Company X Launches AI-Powered Analytics Platform for Enterprise Teams

✅ Company X Raises $25 Million Series B to Expand Global Operations

✅ Company X Partners With Acme Corp to Accelerate Cloud Migration

Rules:

• Present tense, active voice

• No period at end

• No superlatives ("revolutionary", "groundbreaking", "best-in-class")

• No exclamation points

• Include the key news element

• Title case

Dateline

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2026 —

NEW YORK, March 3, 2026 —

LONDON, Dec. 10, 2026 —

AP month abbreviations: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (March, April, May, June, July spelled out)

Lead Paragraph

Answer WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY in 25-35 words:

❌ "We are thrilled to announce that after months of hard work, our talented

    team has created something truly special that we think you'll love."

✅ "Company X, a developer tools startup, today launched DataFlow, an

    AI-powered analytics platform that automates reporting for enterprise

    engineering teams."

Quotes

Rules:

• 1-2 quotes maximum (CEO/founder + partner/customer)

• Never start a quote with "I"

• Attribution format: "Quote," said Full Name, Title at Company.

• Quotes should add perspective, not repeat facts from the body

• Forward-looking quotes work well: "We believe this will..."

❌ "I am so excited about this launch," said John Smith.

❌ "We launched a new product today," said the CEO.

✅ "Enterprise teams spend an average of 15 hours per week on manual

    reporting," said Sarah Chen, CEO of Company X. "DataFlow eliminates

    that burden entirely, letting engineers focus on building."

✅ "Since adopting DataFlow, our reporting cycle dropped from three days

    to three minutes," said Marcus Lee, VP of Engineering at Acme Corp.

Boilerplate (About Section)

About Company X

Company X is a [category] company that [what it does] for [who].

Founded in [year] and headquartered in [city], the company serves

[number] customers across [industries/geographies]. For more

information, visit www.companyx.com.

Keep to 3-4 sentences. Consistent across all press releases.

Media Contact

Media Contact:

Jane Doe

PR Manager, Company X

jane@companyx.com

(555) 123-4567

The Inverted Pyramid

Most important information first. Each paragraph is less critical than the one before. Editors cut from the bottom.

┌─────────────────────────┐

│    MOST IMPORTANT       │  Lead: core announcement

│    (Who, What, When,    │

│     Where, Why)         │

├─────────────────────────┤

│  IMPORTANT DETAILS      │  Supporting facts, context

│  (How, stats, quotes)   │

├─────────────────────────┤

│  BACKGROUND             │  Industry context, history

│  (Context, trends)      │

├─────────────────────────┤

│  ADDITIONAL INFO        │  Availability, pricing

│  (Nice to have)         │

├─────────────────────────┤

│  BOILERPLATE            │  About section, contact

└─────────────────────────┘

Research & Fact-Checking

Verify Claims

# Check market size claims

belt app run tavily/search-assistant --input '{

  "query": "enterprise analytics market size 2024 2025 forecast"

}'

# Verify competitor claims

belt app run exa/search --input '{

  "query": "Company X competitors enterprise analytics market share"

}'

# Get industry statistics

belt app run exa/answer --input '{

  "question": "How much time do engineering teams spend on reporting weekly?"

}'

Add Context

# Industry trends for the "why now" angle

belt app run tavily/search-assistant --input '{

  "query": "AI automation enterprise reporting trends 2024"

}'

Press Release Types

Product Launch

Focus: What it does, who it's for, why it matters, availability

Quote: CEO or product lead on the vision

Funding Announcement

Focus: Amount, round, lead investor, what funds will be used for

Quote: CEO on growth plans + lead investor on why they invested

Partnership

Focus: What the partnership enables, benefits to customers

Quote: One from each company

Milestone / Achievement

Focus: The metric, growth trajectory, what it means

Quote: CEO on the journey and what's next

Executive Hire

Focus: Who, their background, what they'll lead

Quote: CEO on why this hire + new exec on why they joined

Length Guidelines

Element

Length

Headline

10-15 words

Subheadline (optional)

15-25 words

Total body

400-600 words

Quotes

2-3 sentences each, max 2 quotes

Boilerplate

3-4 sentences

Total

500-800 words

Over 800 words and editors won't read it. Under 400 and it lacks substance.

AP Style Quick Reference

Rule

Example

Numbers 1-9 spelled out, 10+ as digits

"nine employees" / "10 employees"

Percent as one word

"15 percent" (not 15% in body text)

Titles before names capitalized

"CEO Sarah Chen"

Titles after names lowercase

"Sarah Chen, chief executive officer"

Company names: no Inc./Corp. in body

"Company X" not "Company X, Inc."

Dates: month day, year

"Jan. 15, 2026"

States abbreviated in dateline

"SAN FRANCISCO, Calif."

Serial comma: AP does NOT use it

"fast, simple and effective"

Common Mistakes

Mistake

Problem

Fix

Superlatives

"Revolutionary" = ignored by editors

State facts, let readers judge

Exclamation points

Unprofessional

Never use in press releases

Starting quotes with "I"

Informal, weak opening

Start with a fact or insight

Burying the lead

Key news in paragraph 3

Most important info first

Too long

Won't be read

500-800 words max

Jargon

Alienates non-expert readers

Write for a general audience

No fact-checking

Credibility risk

Verify all claims and statistics

Missing contact info

Journalists can't follow up

Always include media contact

Checklist

• Headline: present tense, active voice, no period, no superlatives

• Dateline: correct AP format (CITY, STATE, date)

• Lead: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY in first 25 words

• Inverted pyramid: most important first

• Quotes: attributed, don't start with "I", add perspective

• All claims and statistics fact-checked

• Boilerplate: consistent with other releases

• Media contact: name, email, phone

• 500-800 words total

• Read aloud for flow

Related Skills

npx skills add inference-sh/skills@web-search

npx skills add inference-sh/skills@prompt-engineering

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