Help Me With My Press Release :)

Just an idea, mention your art has been bought by celebrities.

International buyers!

I don't know what you mean by international buyers for my local press release Barbara, Good thought Suzanne, but would it be too much for a press release? not sure myself.

Can you include quotes from satisfied clients? I could send you a line about my painting....I don't know if that's common in press releases.

a picture is worth a thousand words

I don't think it would make a difference if the press release was local or national it would basically be the same. For local you would highlight some local facts.

"Leah Saulnier's work has sold internationally as far away as Japan and Timbuktu. One of her works was recently bought by a well known rock and roll artist in the music industry. Some of her latest work which includes 'Air Space' has recently sold out at the Main St Gallery."

You want to give the highlights of what has happened to you and your work and not hold back. Work bought by buyers that have celebrity and money is a big deal and communicates to others your work is of some note. People with money have lots of choices and could buy more expensive artwork but they chose yours which indicates your work has that "extra something" that can push you forward.

I agree with Suzanne.

I don't really think there would be much difference with any press release. Any local one could be available on-line and picked up by someone further afield.

Your work is truly wonderful and you should not hide your light under a bushel. Tell the world how good you are.

Good luck!

Abbie has a thread on writing a proper press release...in the help section, I believe.
The best thing to do is start writing...everything you might want in it and then take a second look to organize the sentences so they flow and remove what isn't "newsworthy." He someone good at writing proof it, for grammatical and spelling errors.
Many free press release sites like PR log, will give you parameters for what they expect to find in a press release in order to approve it....including length.

Here's the thread Marlene mentioned. I don't know if I've seen it before. Still reading it myself.

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=351404

Leah;

I don't know if my ten years in the media getting press releases means anything or not, but that thread started by Abbie has a lot of good information in it. You can also check out my "pressers" including this one --

http://fineartamerica.com/pressreleases/joe-the-photog-dot-com-goes-live.html

With my releases, I try to keep my personality in there. I don't want them to come off as too dry. Most of the people who get them (i.e. assignment editors, copy desk people at newspapers, etc.) are young. You need to grab their attention early on. I do two types of pressers. The first kind is the ones I plan to only put up on FAA and maybe share on my social media sites. The next kind are the ones I intend to send out . The above release was shared here and on FB while this next one went out to the actual media --

http://fineartamerica.com/pressreleases/photographer-joe-hinson-meet-and-greet-in-lancaster.html

In hindsight, I wish I had chosen a better title for the "Meet And Greet" one, but it did get mentioned in the local newspaper and TV station that I know of. Be sure to send e-mails and are paper copies to any media you can think of in the area -- big newspapers, free weeklies, local radio, TV stations, web only news sources... any you can think of.

Just to add... if you do not own a copy of 'The Copywriters Handbook' get one, it gives you all the info you need to write great releases, add, mailers etc..

Thanks John good thought. My husband found some examples of press releases and has been going off that but I think Marlenes suggestion or statement about a picture is worth a thousand words is soo true and having images to go with the press realease will go along way :) ,Good thought Mary but I would say not for a press release but for something else down the line like references etc

...

Well, if you ever need a reference down the line, Leah, I'm happy to oblige. Being an oil painter myself, I can vouch for the quality of the work, not just the fun and unique aspect of the image.

Give details of the show - day, date, time, place, gallery or show place building, any special circumstances about why the show is happening, the newspaper publishing the release - and maybe I will do you a sample press release to consider using - for FREE, just for the exercise, and then you could trash it or tweak it to your taste, or everybody here could use it as a foundation to work on collaboratively, ... again just for the exercise.

Thanks Mary ,you're so sweet :) ,Thanks Robert for the offer ,my husband got it going pretty good and we included 6 images going in the show out of the 30 ,Thanks again

I would go with the one image of the six images that is the standout for YOU. Otherwise, the newspaper or whatever will do the choosing. Why not make it simple and give them EXACTLY the visual that you would like to see. My experience is that a published press release does not get six images.

Give 'em one smashing image and one smashing bit of writing.

And then hope that it gets published with any of its original integrity once the editors get hold of it, and then hope that somebody actually reads it and responds BECAUSE of reading it.

They have done press releases for me before and love my work. I was hoping to Woo them into doing an article on me and my work if they saw a bunch like wow interesting and intriguing! you get it. I don't mind them picking the image out of the six because all would be strong and I like them all ,Thanks Robert for your advice though :)

Sounds like a plan. I figured if you submitted six pics, then you would not care which one might fly with the release.

What I always dread is spending hours crafting a perfect press release, only to have a mere couple of crisp, factual sentences make it to a formulaic schedule in a life and leisure section.

I have submitted stories as a special to the newspaper that actually got printed with a fair degree of their original integrity (i. e., the way I wrote it). If you have a previous association with the would be publisher, then all the better. Good luck, and have a good show.