How to Write a Press Release: Steps, Parts, Template, Cost

Start with one real piece of news. Put who, what, when, where and why it matters in the first paragraph, add a quote the named person has approved, finish with a short company description and a working media contact. That is the whole format. What decides whether a release is any good is whether the news is real and verifiable, and no release, however well written, guarantees coverage.

What are the seven main parts of a press release?

Guides differ on the exact count. The elnacain.com guide lists headline, summary, date and location, body, boilerplate and a closing mark. A LinkedIn guide adds a separate lead paragraph, a quote and contact details. Here is the version we work from:

How do I write a press release, step by step?

1. Name one announcement. Write one sentence with the change and its date, for example ‘Our company is opening a second location on November 14.' If all you have is a discount or a claim to be ‘the best', a press release is the wrong format. Our guide on whether a press release fits your announcement covers that decision.
2. Pick one reader and one destination. Decide whether you are talking to local customers, trade buyers, partners or investors, and choose one page on your own site where they can verify the news or act on it.
3. Build a fact sheet first. Record the who, what, when, where, why it matters, the source for every important claim, the approved spokesperson and quote, the company description, the contact person and the URL. Leave out anything you cannot prove. This checklist of information to gather works whether or not you use a distribution service.
4. Write the headline and lead. Put the event in the headline and answer the five W's in the opening.
5. Add two or three short body paragraphs. Give context and numbers you can back up. Write in full sentences and keep paragraphs to two to four sentences.
6. Add one quote. It should say something a person would actually say, not repeat the headline. Get the quoted person's approval; see who should approve a quote.
7. Finish with the boilerplate, ‘###' and contact details.
8. Strip out the sales language and get final approval. Cross out superlatives, invented customer reactions and outcome promises. Then have the owner of the facts approve the exact final version and save it.

On length, the sources disagree. elnacain.com says about 300 to 400 words, while the LinkedIn guide gives 400 to 600 and calls one page ideal. Our own release production runs 500 to 700 words. In practice, keep it as short as the news allows.

What are the 5 W's in a press release?

They are who, what, when, where and why it matters. The LinkedIn guide says the lead paragraph needs to answer these, and that it should read like a news article, not a brochure. ‘Why it matters' is the one people skip. It means why this news affects the reader you chose in step two, and it needs a specific reason, not an adjective.

What does '30' (or ###) mean at the end of a press release?

It is an end-of-text marker. The elnacain.com guide says ‘###' distinguishes the publishable text from other text on the page, and the LinkedIn guide says three hash marks on their own line signal the end. Use one marker consistently, and put the contact details underneath it.

Is there a press release template or sample I can copy?

Here is a fill-in outline:

• Headline: [Specific, verifiable change] in [place or market]
• Opening: On [date], [company] [did or will do what]. [Who it affects and why it matters].
• Details: [Evidence, scope, timing, and a page where readers can verify more].
• Quote: ‘[What the named spokesperson can genuinely add],' said [name and title].
• About: [One factual sentence about the business].
• Media contact: [Name, business email, phone].
• ###

And a short invented sample, for a fictional bakery, so you can see the shape:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Duluth Bakery Opens Second Location on November 14
DULUTH, Minn., October 2, 2026 – Harbor Street Bakery will open its second shop at 12 Example Avenue on November 14, adding 15 jobs and morning hours starting at 6 a.m. The new shop serves the east side of the city, which the owners say has had no bakery within walking distance.
The shop will sell the same menu as the original location, plus a pre-order counter for office catering. ‘Customers kept asking for something closer to home,' said Jane Doe, owner. Details and the opening schedule are at the bakery's website.
About Harbor Street Bakery: Harbor Street Bakery is a family-owned bakery that opened in 2019.
Media contact: Jane Doe, press@example.com
###

Names and details here are made up. For real-world formats, templates and what to avoid, see our press release example guide. For how organizations actually phrase announcements, browse the Federal Trade Commission's 2026 press release list. Its headlines state the event and the action plainly, and its event announcements use a short ‘WHAT:' line.

What are common press release mistakes and what should you not do?

• Writing a sales page. Publisher rules for standard news releases generally ask for an objective tone. The ACCESS Newswire rules our service works under say to avoid first-person or direct-address sales language outside an approved quote, inflated claims, exclamation marks and all-caps emphasis.
• Burying the news. If the main point is not in the first paragraph, many readers miss it.
• Buzzwords. ‘Innovative', ‘world-class' and ‘next-generation' tell a reader nothing. Replace them with a fact.
• Announcing three things at once. One release, one announcement.
• Unapproved quotes and unsupported claims. Every number, quote and claim needs a source and a person who signed off. Use our guide to reviewing a draft for unsupported claims before anything goes out.
• Stuffing keywords. Search planning can shape the angle, but it does not justify claims written only to attract traffic.
• No usable contact. The LinkedIn guide makes the point well: if a reporter wants to follow up and cannot reach you, the story stops there.
• Unprepared spokespeople. The CDC's media planning guidance is written for health departments, but its advice carries over. Check that your spokesperson is ready for tough questions, and make sure everyone speaking for you has the same talking points.
• Repeating the same story on more wires. Choose your next real announcement instead.

Can ChatGPT write a press release?

An AI writing tool can produce a draft in the right format if you give it verified facts. It cannot know whether your milestone, statistic or partnership is true, and it cannot get your quoted person's approval. You carry that responsibility whoever or whatever typed the words. If you use one, feed it your fact sheet, then check every name, date, number and quote against the source before approving. Publisher rules still apply, and the publisher makes the final call on acceptance.

How much does it cost to have a press release written?

Writing one yourself costs your time. If you want us to do it, these are our prices as of October 2, 2026; check the checkout for today's prices. Release production is sold together with a managed distribution package, and an eligibility check comes first, free, before you pay.

The $395 general-business production add-on covers a 500 to 700 word release, a headline, subhead, company boilerplate, one authorized quote, a search-intent brief and reasonable same-scope revisions during a 30-day window. If we produced the release and the publisher ultimately will not accept it on the purchased route, our terms refund the full production-and-distribution amount. For customer-supplied copy, you can revise and resubmit or get the distribution charge back. We charge nothing for distribution if nothing is published. Once a release is accepted and published, the distribution charge is not refundable.

For comparison, our pricing page notes that EIN Presswire's $149 Basic plan can be a sensible self-service choice if you have real news and a publisher-ready release (we checked that price on September 25, 2026; confirm current terms). Supplements and other claim-sensitive categories are priced separately.

What can sending a press release do, and what can't it do?

A release gives you a public, dated, citable announcement and a page you can link to. A newswire and a journalist pitch are different jobs. A wire submission is not a personal pitch to a reporter, so a release alone does not mean anyone writes about you. Our comparison of distribution versus journalist pitching explains how to choose. For a local announcement, the CDC's guidance makes a point worth borrowing: a local event is first a local story, so do not ignore local media in favor of national names.

Nobody controls downstream pickup, indexing, search position, traffic, leads or sales. Those depend on publishers, search engines and the strength of your news. Google says it recommends helpful, reliable, people-first content, and its spam policies say that paid or advertorial links passing ranking credit can violate them. So do not buy a release expecting backlink value.

Results vary widely. One GlobeNewswire campaign report for a past campaign showed 7,956 views, 1,142 unique readers and 203 clicks in five days. That is one campaign. It is not an average, a minimum or a forecast.

Measure what you can: record the live publisher URL, the time and any distribution report. Then check referral visits and qualified inquiries to your own site against the goal you set. Our guide to what a distribution report proves and the one on setting a realistic campaign goal help here.

Want help with the writing or the submission?

If you would rather spend your time on the business, our team handles the search plan, release production, publisher preparation and managed submission through our press release writing and distribution service. You supply real news and facts, and you approve the exact copy before anything is submitted.

Before you send or order

• Can a stranger verify the news you are announcing?
• Has every quoted person approved the exact final text?
• Does the release read as a factual announcement, not an advertisement?
• Have you read the current rules of the publisher you plan to use? They can change.
• Do you have a goal you can measure, apart from ‘get coverage'?

By the Marketing By Kevin Team