Press releases are vital tools in the PR armoury of all book marketers. Here are ten ways that you could end up firing blanks. Uses this list to avoid the common errors that will ensure your release gets shredded.
1. Have no obvious angle or hook. Journalists need to have an angle for every story. If your press release doesn’t have one in the first few words, it will end up in the bin.

2. Deliver an old story. There must be an element of “news”. If the story has been covered before, or happened a long time ago, then there won’t be any journalistic interest

3. Have a confusing headline. Does your headline pass the “poster test”?  Trying to be too clever, with puns or double meanings, can backfire.

4. Send the same release to every journalist. Every journalist is thinking “what will my readers/listeners think of this?” If the answer is “not much”, don’t send it to them in that form.

5. Cram in too much information. If the story is not obvious, the release is not doing its job.

6.  Use jargon and unexplained abbreviations. Your audience probably won’t have the same level of understanding of the subject as you – so don’t assume anything.

7. Don’t bother with quotes. In order to give real interest to a story, quotes are vital.

8. Avoid any controversy. Don’t be boring – say something controversial – would you read a boring article or one that hinted at conflict?

9. Let someone else write the release. Who is the expert on your subject?

10.  Give only email contact details. Better make sure you take your computer to bed if you do this – journalists will want to be able to get hold of you at short notice and get an immediate response – so include telephone contact details too.