Press Release Template

A press release is written for one busy person who will read two paragraphs.

That’s the whole constraint. Everything that matters goes in the headline and the opening paragraph; the rest exists so a journalist who’s already interested can finish the story without calling you. This template follows standard press release format, with a book launch version for authors announcing a title.

What’s in the press release template

Eleven elements in standard order, plus three variants.

• Release Line: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, or an embargo date if you’re holding it.

• Headline: The story in under twelve words, written as a journalist would write it, not as marketing.

• Subhead: One line adding the detail the headline had to leave out.

• Dateline: City and date, the way the wire expects.

• Lede: Who, what, when, where and why in a single paragraph. If it’s not in here, it isn’t in the story.

• Body: Supporting detail in descending order of importance, so it can be cut from the bottom.

• Quote: One or two, from someone with the standing to say it - and saying something a person would actually say.

• Proof: Numbers, dates, availability, price - the checkable facts.

• Boilerplate: The standing paragraph about you or the company. Written once, reused forever.

• Media Contact: Name, email, phone. A release without a reachable human is a wasted send.

• End Marker: The three hashes that tell an editor the copy has ended.

• Variants: Book launch and author announcement, product launch, event, funding or milestone.

Why write your press release in Skrib?

• Boilerplate Written Once: Keep it in your Library and drop it into every release from now on.

• A Version Per Outlet: Trade press, local press and the general version differ by a paragraph. Keep all three, know which went where.

• Media List and Coverage Together: Contacts, pitches and the clippings that resulted stay in one project.

• Every Draft Kept: Including the one before someone made the quote sound like a press release.

• Export Clean: .docx or .pdf, formatted the way an editor expects to receive it.

Who is this press release template for?

• Authors and Self-Publishers announcing a book, a launch or an award.

• Founders and Startups announcing funding, launches and partnerships.

• Small Businesses getting into local and trade press without an agency.

• PR Freelancers running releases for several clients from one place.

• Nonprofits and Community Organisations announcing campaigns and events.

• Students on journalism, PR and communications courses.

Give them the story, not the adjectives

Drop the template on your Board, write the headline a journalist would write, and let the rest follow it.