25 Oct 09 Rules of Press Release Writing

Writing a press release is as much a science as it is an art. You cannot afford to go wrong on the science part of the press release writing, if you want to strike chord with the journalists. Your press release will not get picked, if you have not adhered to the set standard for writing press releases, no matter how eloquent your language skills are. Follow the rules written below, and you will see a significant improvement in your press release writing skills. Before you go further, you can click on the following link, if you want to know about structure of a press release.

Rule 1: Length of a press release

A press release should not be longer than one A4 (8.5”X11”) size paper. Divide your press release into 4 to 5 small paragraphs.

Rule 2: Rules related to Quotations

Do not use more than two quotations in the press release. And do not start a press release with a quotation. Quotations should come not earlier than the third paragraph. Only use quotations that come from the person behind the news or from CEO of the company.

Rule 3: Company information

You must include “About the company” at the bottom of the press release.

Rule 4: Contact person

The contact details written at the bottom of the press release should be working. Do not put any phone number of e-mail id for the heck of it. Provide contact details of a person who is in charge of the media releases. This is important because you never know which journalist needs more info and hence end up contacting.

Rule 5: Proper place and date

Start a press release with giving a proper place and complete date.

Rule 6: Include ### sign

### marks the end of the press release, so you should not forget to add this.

I have provided a proper format of a press release in the previous article titled, structure of a press release. Do read it.

Tags: Ceo, Click On The Following Link, Company Information, Contact Details, Contact Person, E Mail, Heck, Journalist, Journalists, Language Skills, Mail Id, Paragraph, Paragraphs, Press Release Writing, Quotation, Quotations, Rule 1, Significant Improvement, Writing A Press Release, Writing Skills

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27 Aug 09 Freelance Writing Checklist Part -1

If you are starting out as a freelance writer then there must be many things bugging you, or is there anything about freelance writing that can possibly bug you?

These questions are the two aspects of the same story, but with different protagonists: do you know what it takes to be successful as a freelance writer? This blog-post and the coming ones will provide you with a list of things that you must accomplish before venturing out for freelance writing.

I have organized this list of items to verify before jumping on the freelancing bandwagon based on the closeness of the topic to a freelance writing fresher. We (You and I) will begin this journey with you and your attitude towards writing, then will move ahead to see how the market is and what all you need to know before you commit. So, let’s get going.

Have you rounded of your writing skills?

Writing for someone else for money or without money is entirely different from writing for yourself or your term papers. The former requires precision in writing techniques, which may or may not require in getting the latter job done. I do not doubt your writing skill. I just want to say is go and brush up your grammar and writing skills to prepare yourself for better gigs.

What type of writer you are?

This is the second basic question you need to ask yourself. Are you a fiction writer or a non-fiction writer? If fiction is your genre, do you write stories, or poems? If you are a story writer, do you write short story, very short story, novella, or novel? What kind of story on that: crime, detective, erotic, historical, psychological, etc.? If you are a non-fiction writer, what kind of non-fiction you write? Do you write articles, press releases, sales letters, blogs, website content, political essays, term papers, magazine articles, news stories, or what?

As you can see this is a huge question, and you must have guessed, you will require a soul searching to know which genre fits your type. Not everyone is a “writing Leonardo “who can write on anything and everything with equal gusto, and produce equally mesmerizing output. Some people can do that, and rest of us can just hope to.

Where is your portfolio?

If you thought only a designer (graphic, fashion, web, hair, or any kind), a model, or a photographer, etc., needs a portfolio then it’s time for me to break the news: “A freelance writer also needs a portfolio!”

Build a portfolio that consists of writing samples from all the genres you want to get work in. yes, you can write in more than one genre!

Give me your URL?

C’mon, don’t say, you don’t know what a URL is!

Just joking.

When you are starting out, you many not feel the need to have a website, but once you move up the ladder, you will feel the need for one, and then you might think, “Why I didn’t have it yet?”

You are going to need it eventually, then why not now?

Tags: Bandwagon, Closeness, Detective, Fiction Writer, Freelance Writer, Freelance Writing, Grammar, Latter Job, Leonardo, Magazine Articles, Many Things, Non Fiction, Novella, Political Essays, Protagonists, Sales Letters, Short Story, Story Writer, Term papers, Writing Skill, Writing Skills, Writing Techniques

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17 Jun 09 Twitter for Writers

Everyone is talking about 140-character revolution, and everyone is learning to convey the message in 140 characters. Thanks to twitter and other micro blogging services (like plurk), people at large are learning to say everything in 140 characters; to be more precise, everyone is learning to power-pack the 140 characters available to us.

For a writer, twitter can be useful in more ways than you think, and how you will use twitter depends upon the kind of writer you are. If you are a freelance writer who is just looking for some freelance writing assignments then twitter can not only help you promote your writing services. You can use twitter to remain constantly in touch with your existing clients or your ex-clients as well. It can also help you in getting new clients. Twitter can also be helpful for a writer who wants to get published. You can get the up-to-date information on the different publishing houses and what kind of novels they are planning to publish in the coming years. It will give you a fair idea about what clicks with a certain publishing house, and what gets thrown into trash bin. If you are a newbie then you can use the links shared on twitter to develop or polish your writing skills.

For a freelance writer or blogger who is finding it hard to get ideas for writing on a daily basis, twitter can work as a source for cracking ideas to write on. You can use twitter to see what people are talking about, and what is gaining popularity in your niche. If you are interested in using twitter as a writing idea generator then follow the following steps:

Follow people working in your or any related niche.
Find the articles from the links shared by people whom you follow.
Scan the articles to estimate its worth.
Shortlist the article or articles you want to read.
Read the article shared
Do a preliminary research on the topic discussed in the article to get a deeper understanding of the subject.
Write down the main points you want to elaborate in your article or articles.
Arrange the bullet points in the order in which they should appear in the final article or articles.
Write the article.
Proofread it.
Publish it.
Make a bit.ly link (like http://bit.ly/kdHRb)
Tweet it.

Tags: Arti, Blogger, Cracking, Daily Basis, Deeper Understanding, Freelance Writer, Freelance Writing, Newbie, Niche, Novels, Popularity, Preliminary Research, Publishing House, Publishing Houses, Trash Bin, Twitter, Writing Assignments, Writing Services, Writing Skills