How to write a press release: the structure, the steps and three examples

The short answer: how to write a press release

Put the news in a plain headline. Open with the city and date, then answer who, what, when, where and why in one sentence of about 25 to 40 words. Add a quote from a named person that gives a view rather than repeating facts, then the details, the price or date, links to images, a short paragraph about the company and a media contact who will answer the phone. Keep the whole thing to one page. Purdue's Online Writing Lab says to get your point across in under a page, and reminds writers that press releases are not advertisements.

Our free press release template lays out every part with a note on what to write and a filled-in example. This guide explains each part, walks through the writing step by step, shows worked examples and sets out what journalists say they want, from a 2026 survey of 897 of them.

One thing to know before you start: a release asks a journalist to write about you. It does not publish anything by itself. If what you need is a published story about your company on a date you choose, business publicity is the other route, and we compare the options near the end.

Before you write: is it news?

Purdue's guide puts it simply: new and useful information is what makes a release work. Before writing a word, test the announcement against what reporters say they need. In Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026, 70% of journalists said a pitch should show clear relevance to their beat, 58% wanted interview access to relevant sources, 40% valued original data or research and 37% wanted high-resolution images. 78% said a pitch is genuinely relevant when it directly affects the community their audience belongs to.

Announcements that usually are news:

• A launch of a product, service or market that changes something for a defined group of people.
• Funding or an acquisition, with the amount, the investors or buyer and what the money is for.
• A senior appointment, and what it signals about where the company is going.
• Original data: a survey, a study or a number from your own records that nobody else has.
• A milestone you can back up: customers served, locations opened, a figure you are willing to publish.
• An event open to the public or the trade, with a date and a place.

Announcements that usually are not: a redesigned website, a rebrand that does not change what you sell, an award you paid to enter, or "we are excited to announce" with nothing behind it. Ask what a reader of the outlet would learn. If the honest answer is "that our company exists", you have a profile, not news, and a release is the wrong format.

The parts of a press release, in order

Wikipedia's article on press releases lists the traditional elements as a headline, a dateline, an introduction, a body, a boilerplate, a close and the media contact. Our template splits the body into its working parts. In order:

Write in the third person, except inside quotes. Order matters because editors read from the top and cut from the bottom. Wikipedia describes this as the inverted pyramid): readers can leave the story at any point and still understand it. Put nothing essential in the last paragraph.

The dateline is more than decoration. Wikipedia notes that a dateline later than the date you send the release signals that you are asking for an embargo, so check it matches what you intend.

How to write a press release, step by step

1. Write the one-sentence version first. Who did what, and why should a reader care? If you cannot say it in one sentence, the release is not ready.
2. Draft the lead. Start with the city and date, then the news. Purdue's guide to leads says leads are generally 25 to 30 words and should rarely be more than 40, usually one sentence, built around whichever of the five Ws and H matters most.
3. Write the headline from the lead. Use the same facts in fewer words, with an active verb. Leave out "announces", "proud" and "leading".
4. Add the detail in order of importance. Context, how it works, who it is for, and numbers with a source. Cut every adjective a reporter would delete anyway.
5. Get a real quote. Ask the spokesperson why it matters or what changes now. "We are thrilled" gives a journalist nothing to use; a reason, a decision or an opinion does.
6. Add availability and links. Price, date, where to buy or sign up, then links to images and a media kit. Do not attach large files.
7. Finish with ###, the boilerplate and a contact. Purdue says to include a media contact address, phone and email. Name a person, not a general inbox.
8. Check it like an editor. Every claim true and sourced, every name spelled correctly, every link working in a logged-out browser, and the whole release on one page.

Write the headline and the lead last if it helps. They carry the release: an editor who reads nothing else should still have the story.

Press release examples

All three examples are for fictional companies and show structure, not real news. For a complete release you can edit, download the press release template and its filled-in example.

Example 1: a product launch

Headline: Kestrelway Tools launches a cordless pipe cutter that cuts copper in four seconds

Lead: DENVER, Oct. 14, 2026: Kestrelway Tools, a Colorado maker of trade tools, today launched the KC-1, a cordless cutter that cuts half-inch copper pipe in four seconds, on sale now from 300 US plumbing suppliers at $189.

Quote: "Plumbers told us they lose ten minutes a job switching between hand cutters," said [Name], founder of Kestrelway Tools. "We built the KC-1 so the cut is the quickest part of the job, not the slowest."

Why it works: the lead holds the whole story in 33 words after the dateline. Who, what, how fast, where to buy it and how much. A reporter who stops after one sentence can still write a news brief, and the quote adds the one thing the facts cannot: why it exists.

Example 2: a funding announcement, weak and strong

Weak lead: "Brightfold, a leading innovator in the logistics space, is thrilled to announce an exciting new chapter in its growth journey."

Stronger lead: "AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 14, 2026: Brightfold, which schedules deliveries for 1,200 independent grocers, has raised $6 million to expand into Canada, in a round led by [Investor] with its existing backers."

The first version has no news in it: no number, no place, no reason to care, and two of the words journalists delete first. The second gives the who, the what, the how much and the why in one sentence. The quote can then add what the facts cannot, such as why the founders chose Canada before other US states.

Example 3: a boilerplate

"Brightfold builds delivery scheduling software for independent grocers. Founded in Austin in 2021, it works with 1,200 stores in 14 US states and two Canadian provinces. Learn more at [website]."

Keep the boilerplate the same on every release, update the numbers when they change, and keep it under 100 words. It is background, so it goes after the ### mark.

How to send a press release

Muck Rack's report, drawing on eight years of its journalist surveys, sums up the preferred pitch: 62% of journalists want to be pitched by one-to-one email, 69% prefer pitches under 200 words, 78% want them before noon, and 50% say one follow-up is ideal, with 51% saying it should come 3 to 7 days later.

So the release supports the conversation; it is not the conversation. Write two or three lines to each journalist saying why the news fits what they cover, paste the release below, and link to your images and media kit. Send it to the handful of reporters who cover your subject. In the same survey, 88% of journalists said they delete pitches that miss their beat and 50% are put off by anything that looks like a mass email.

Embargoes and exclusives

An embargo asks outlets not to publish before a set time. Wikipedia notes that journalists who have not signed an agreement have no legal duty to honour one, and Purdue's guide advises against embargoed releases unless there is a clear need. Yet 33% of journalists in the Muck Rack survey said they value exclusive or embargoed content. Use an embargo when a reporter needs time to prepare a fuller story, agree it with them first, and treat it as a courtesy rather than a contract.

Should you pay to distribute it?

A paid distribution service sends your release to partner sites, feeds and journalist lists for a fee, from free to a few hundred dollars for most single releases. That suits public company disclosures and news reporters already expect, and helps much less with small announcements. Our guide to press release distribution costs sets out the prices and what you actually get.

The mistakes that get a press release deleted

The reasons journalists gave Muck Rack for deleting a pitch on sight make a useful final checklist:

• It is irrelevant to their coverage (88%). Read what the reporter wrote last month before you send anything.
• It is overly promotional or advertorial (71%). Superlatives such as "world-class" and "game-changing" read as an advert, and Purdue's reminder applies: press releases are not advertisements.
• It looks like a mass email (50%). No greeting, no reason for this reporter, a long list in the To field.
• It has been sent repeatedly without a response (46%). One follow-up is enough.
• It is too long or unclear (40%). If the news is not in the first sentence, most readers will not find it.
• It is addressed to the wrong name or outlet (35%). Check every name before you press send.
• It offers no access to a source (26%). Say who is available for interview, and when.

One more mistake is technical. Stuffing a release with keyword-rich links does not help your search rankings. Google's spam policies list links with optimised anchor text in press releases distributed on other sites as link spam. Link your company name and the relevant page plainly, and stop there.

A press release compared with the other ways to tell the story

How the options compare:

The hourly rate is from Clutch (updated September 2026) and distribution prices from Fit Small Business's May 2026 comparison. Blue Leopard features are sponsored content and labelled as such; a feature is not earned coverage and should not be described as one.

When a feature is the better tool

A press release is the right format when you have news and want journalists to report it. Many companies writing their first release do not quite have that problem. They have a launch, a raise or a milestone, and they want something credible to exist when customers, partners and investors look them up.

That is what business publicity does. Our editorial team writes a company feature from a ten-minute brief, quoting you or your founders. You approve every word, and it is published on one of the publications we work with, live within 24 hours of your approval, or your money back under our refund policy. Your company name goes in the headline, URL and first paragraph, and the page is submitted to Google the same day. It is labelled as sponsored, as the FTC's native advertising guide expects of paid content, and as our disclaimer states.

You can do both. Send the release to the reporters who cover your field, and publish a feature that tells the fuller story on the same day. One feature costs $249, or $499 for three when an announcement deserves more than one piece. If you want one, tell us the date of your announcement and we will plan the approval around it.