If you are interested in having your organization’s news or event noticed at the New York Almanack, send a press release and photo following these simple steps:
1. Focus on a Single Subject. Keep press releases to one subject – a lecture series, a single event, initiative, exhibit, conference, etc.
2. Be Complete. In at least three paragraphs describe the what, when, where, and why of your event. Always include a paragraph describing your organization that includes a URL to your website, the location, hours, and admission fees. Spell out acronyms.
3. Provide Ready-Made Content. Provide an easy-to-use, ready-made story by making your press releases stories ready for publication. Write in the third person to maintain neutrality, avoiding “I,” “we,” or “you.” Avoid unnecessary hyperbole and never use all caps, italics, bold, or other strange formatting except where grammatically correct. Avoid exclamation points and rhetorical questions.
4. Include A Photo. If you don’t have at least one photo, find a relevant public domain image, or send along your logo. ALWAYS include a caption with the source for your image. Send images as a jpg or png. Send up to three.
5. Provide Enough Time. Send your event notices two weeks in advance. If you are sending a late announcement be sure to indicate the event date in the subject of your e-mail.
6. Read the “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences.” Or, as Mark Twain would say: “Sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.”
7. Don’t forget to tip! Your gifts to the New York Almanack keep us publishing. Consider making one now.
Questions? Comments?
Drop the editor an e-mail, along with your notice, at nyalmanack@gmail.com.