I have to write a press release for our launch, and I've never written one.

Example: a release for a book launch event

Built by hand from the facts in the example request, 236 words.

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Asheville Author Ruth Kline Launches Debut Novel at Hollow Oak Books

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 29, 2026) Hollow Oak Books will host Asheville author Ruth Kline on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. to launch her first novel, “The Salt Year,” published by Graywing Press on Nov. 3.

Kline will read from the novel, take questions and sign copies. Entry costs nothing, and the shop has 60 seats; readers can reserve one at hollowoakbooks.example/events.

“The Salt Year” follows [one-sentence summary of the book, approved by the author or publisher].

“Ruth wrote most of this book at the table by our window, so it feels right to launch it here,” said Dana Pruitt, owner of Hollow Oak Books.

Kline [one sentence of author background, from her publisher bio].

Copies will be on sale at the event and can be ordered from the shop in advance.

About Hollow Oak Books Hollow Oak Books is an independent bookshop on Main Street in Asheville, open since 2009. It hosts about 40 author events a year.

Media contact Dana Pruitt, owner (555) 018-3321 dana@hollowoakbooks.example

###”

The two brackets are deliberate: nobody gave a plot summary or the author's background, so the draft leaves a hole instead of inventing one. A release for a product launch has the same skeleton. The lead says what the product does and when it is available, the second paragraph gives price and where to buy, and the quote comes from the founder.

The parts, top to bottom, and how long each one runs

These are the usual conventions in US newsrooms, not rules from any one outlet. If a paper or trade site publishes its own submission guidelines, follow those.

- Release line. “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE”, or “EMBARGOED UNTIL” with a date and time if reporters must not publish before then. - Headline. One line, roughly 6 to 12 words, the news in plain words. No question marks, no puns that need the story to make sense. - Dateline. The city, the state if your stylebook uses it, and the date the release goes out. The example uses AP style abbreviations (N.C., Oct.); check them against the AP Stylebook if the outlet follows it. - Lead. One sentence of about 25 to 40 words with who, what, when and where. A reporter should be able to stop here and still have the story. - Body. Two to four short paragraphs, most important first: what people can do, the price or the link, then background. - Quote. One, from a named person with a title, saying something only that person could say. - Boilerplate. An “About” paragraph of 40 to 80 words, the same in every release you send. - Media contact and the end mark, ### or -30-.

The whole thing usually fits on one page: 300 to 500 words. Longer releases tend to be cut from the bottom, which is why the details that matter go up top.

What reporters skip, and what to cut before sending

Local editors and trade reporters get far more releases than they can use. The ones that get picked up are the ones they can turn into a short item without calling you, so every fact they need sits in the release and nothing they have to translate.

Cut adjectives that claim rather than show: “groundbreaking”, “innovative”, “world-class”, “exciting”. Cut quotes that only say you are pleased. Before: “We are thrilled and excited to announce this innovative partnership,” said the CEO. After: “Half our customers already ask us for same-day delivery, and now we can say yes,” said Maria Chen, CEO of Loop Grocery.

Other habits that cost a release its chance: the date and time buried in paragraph four, a PDF attachment instead of text in the email, a headline that names your company but not the news, and sending to a general inbox when a reporter covers your beat by name.

Timing, as a rule of thumb: about two weeks before an event, earlier for weekly papers and community calendars that close their listings in advance. For a launch with a fixed date, an embargo lets reporters prepare without publishing early.

Setting it up in HidenGPT

There is no press-release type, so this page opens Anything with a word count of 400 and Tone on Professional. Anything works out the text type from your request, which is why the request names the parts you want: release line, headline, dateline, quote, boilerplate, media contact. Ask for AP style abbreviations if you need them, then check them yourself.

Anything has no built-in placeholder rule, so the phrase “use only these facts and put [brackets] where something is missing” belongs in every request. A quote in the draft is only a draft: the person named must read and approve it before it goes out under their name. A light red pen pass trims lines like “We are thrilled to announce” and shows a naturalness score before and after, which is an editing aid and says nothing about AI detectors. On a plan, a voice built from earlier releases or newsletters you wrote keeps the house tone.

HidenGPT writes the text only. It doesn't distribute releases, find reporters or send email.