How to Write a Press Release: Step-by-Step Guide, AP Format and Free Template

To write a press release, state one piece of news in a headline, open with an AP-style dateline and a lead paragraph that answers who, what, when, where and why, support it with two or three factual paragraphs and one quote from a named person, then close with a company boilerplate and a media contact. Keep it between roughly 400 and 600 words, in the third person, with every claim checkable.

This guide walks through each step in order, gives you a fill-in template to copy, and shows a fully annotated example so you can see why each line is there.

Already have a draft? Paste it into our free press release checker for an instant score and a list of fixes.

Before You Write: Confirm You Have News

The most common reason a release fails has nothing to do with writing. It fails because nothing happened. A release reports an event a reader could verify: a launch on a date, a funding round with an amount, a hire with a name, a contract with a named counterparty. If you cannot say what changed and when, you are writing marketing copy, and editors can tell within a sentence.

Quick test before you open a blank document:

• Can you describe the news in one sentence of fewer than 25 words?
• Does that sentence use a concrete verb such as opened, raised, hired or will launch on?
• Is there at least one number, name or date an editor could check?
• Would someone outside your company care, such as customers, a local community, an industry or investors?

If the format itself is new to you, our explainer on what a press release is and when to use one covers the background; this page is about the writing.

The Press Release Format at a Glance

US press releases follow a structure newsrooms have used for decades. The order matters because editors skim from the top and stop when they have what they need.

Part	What it does	Typical length	Style note
Release line	Tells the editor when they may publish	3 to 6 words	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE or EMBARGOED UNTIL + date, time, time zone
Headline	States the news	Under about 12 words	Company name, active verb, the specific fact
Subhead (optional)	Adds the second most important fact	One sentence	Never repeats the headline
Dateline	Says where and when the news originates	City, state, date	City in capitals, AP state and month abbreviations
Lead	Answers who, what, when, where, why	1 to 3 sentences	Must stand alone as the complete story
Body	Detail in descending importance	2 to 4 short paragraphs	Numbers, context, availability
Quote	Adds a human reason or judgment	2 to 3 sentences	Full name and title, attributed with “said”
Boilerplate	Describes the company	50 to 100 words	Same text on every release
Media contact	Lets a journalist reach a person	4 to 5 lines	Named person, monitored email, phone
End mark	Signals the release is over	###	Optional but conventional

How to Write a Press Release in 10 Steps

Step 1: Reduce the Announcement to One Sentence

Write the news as one plain sentence before anything else: “Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic will offer overnight emergency care in Columbus starting Nov. 3.” That sentence becomes the spine of your headline and lead. If you find yourself joining two ideas with “and,” you probably have two announcements. Pick the stronger one and move the other lower, or save it for another day.

Decide who the release is for at the same time. A local service launch is written for city reporters and neighborhood outlets; a software integration is written for the trade press in that niche. The audience decides which details go high and which go low.

Step 2: Gather the Facts and Approvals First

Collect every number and name before drafting so placeholder claims do not survive into the final version: the exact date, location, amounts in US dollars, headcount or customer figures, the full names and titles of anyone quoted, and the source of any market statistic. Get written sign-off from every person and partner you name. If your company is publicly traded, involve legal counsel now, not after the draft is done (more on that below).

Step 3: Write the Headline and Subhead

The headline states what happened, using the company name and an active verb. It is not a slogan or a question. Most effective release headlines run under about 12 words and put the most concrete element, such as a number, a place or a named partner, where the eye lands.

• Weak: “Local Vet Clinic Takes Pet Care to the Next Level”
• Working: “Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic Adds Overnight Emergency Care in Columbus”

Use the optional subhead for the next most important fact, such as hours or jobs created. Capitalization varies by outlet: title case is common on wire releases, while many newsrooms use sentence case. Pick one and stay consistent. Formulas, word choice and length are covered in our guide to writing a press release headline that gets read.

Step 4: Add the Release Line and the Dateline

The release line sits above the headline. “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” means the recipient may publish on receipt. To hold coverage until a set moment, write “EMBARGOED UNTIL 9 a.m. EDT, Oct. 6, 2026” instead, always with the time zone. Embargo etiquette and the best days and hours to send are covered in when to send a press release.

The dateline opens the first paragraph. In AP style the city is in all capital letters, followed by the state in AP’s abbreviated form, then the date and a dash:

• SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 15, 2026 — most states take an AP abbreviation (Calif., Fla., N.Y.), not a postal code.
• COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 20, 2026 — Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah are never abbreviated.
• CHICAGO, Nov. 3, 2026 — about 30 major cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Boston, stand alone without a state.

With a specific date, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.; spell out March, April, May, June and July; and skip “st,” “nd” and “th.” Purdue University’s summary of AP style rules is a reliable free reference if you do not own the Stylebook.

Step 5: Write the Lead Paragraph

The lead is the most important part of the release. It answers who, what, when, where and why in one to three sentences, so a reporter who reads nothing else could still write a brief. A dependable pattern is: [Company], [short descriptor], today [verb] [the news], [the consequence or reason].

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 20, 2026 — Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic, a family-owned animal hospital serving Columbus’s north side, today announced it will offer overnight emergency care seven nights a week starting Nov. 3, making it the first clinic in its area to stay open after 10 p.m.

The lead leaves out the founder’s story, the clinic’s mission statement and the brand of its equipment. Those belong lower, or nowhere. Openings like “In an era of” or “We are excited to announce” push the real news into the second sentence, where many readers never arrive.

Step 6: Build the Body in Descending Order of Importance

Journalists call this the inverted pyramid: most newsworthy material first, supporting detail next, background last. Each paragraph should add at least one fact the reader did not have. A typical body has a detail paragraph (size, cost, staffing, partners, how it works), a context paragraph (why now, what problem it solves, with sources for outside figures) and an availability paragraph (dates, prices in USD, how to sign up or buy).

Stay in the third person outside quotes (“the clinic said,” not “we said”), and keep paragraphs to three or four sentences so the release reads cleanly on a phone or when pasted into a newsroom’s system.

Step 7: Write One Quote Worth Quoting

Reporters often lift the quote directly, so it deserves more care than any other paragraph. A good quote explains a decision, admits a constraint or offers an opinion a factual sentence could not. A bad quote repeats the headline with enthusiasm.

• Weak: “We are thrilled to announce this exciting milestone for our clinic family.”
• Working: “Last year we referred more than 200 after-hours calls to a hospital 40 minutes away. Owners should not have to make that drive with a sick animal in the back seat.”

Attribute with the full name and title on first reference, using “said,” AP’s default verb. Add a second quote only when it comes from a different organization. Our guide on how to write a press release quote has more before-and-after rewrites and an approval workflow.

Step 8: Add the Boilerplate

The boilerplate is the short “About [Company]” paragraph at the end: what the company does, where it is based, when it was founded and one or two scale markers such as customers, locations or staff. It saves a reporter from looking up basics and gives search engines a consistent description of your business. Write it once, get it approved and reuse it, updating the numbers each quarter. See our walkthrough on writing a press release boilerplate for formulas by company stage.

Step 9: Add the Media Contact and End Mark

List one named person who can answer questions on release day, with title, a monitored email address and a direct phone number, then the company website. A generic “info@” inbox signals nobody is standing by, and a reporter on deadline will move on to a source who picks up. Close with ### centered on its own line, a print-era convention that tells the reader nothing follows.

Step 10: Edit to Length

Most announcements fit in 400 to 600 words. Well under 300 usually means a price or date is missing; well over 800 usually means padding. Cut adjectives you could not defend with evidence, sentences that restate the headline, and anything the boilerplate already says. Word counts by announcement type are covered in how long a press release should be.

AP Style Rules Press Releases Most Often Break

A release that already follows Associated Press style needs less editing, which makes it more likely to be used close to as written. These are the rules business writers miss most.

Topic	AP style	Common mistake
Numbers	Spell out one through nine; figures for 10 and above	“5 new locations”
Percentages	Figure plus % sign, no space: 34%	“thirty-four percent”
Dates	Sept. 15, 2026; March 3; October 2026	“September 15th, 2026”
Times	9 a.m. EDT; noon	“9:00 AM Eastern”
Titles	Capitalize before a name; lowercase after: Jane Ruiz, chief executive officer	“Jane Ruiz, Chief Executive Officer”
Money	$4 million; $12.5 million; $500	“$4,000,000.00” or “USD 4M”
Attribution	“said”	“exclaimed,” “shared,” “stated excitedly”
States	Abbreviated in datelines (Calif., N.Y.); spelled out in body text	Postal codes like CA or NY

The Stylebook does change. AP only began allowing the % sign with numerals in 2019, as Poynter reported at the time, so check an older house style guide against a current edition.

Fill-In Press Release Template

Copy the template and replace every bracketed field. Delete any optional line you do not use rather than leaving it half-filled.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[or: EMBARGOED UNTIL (time) (time zone), (Mon. day), (year)]

[HEADLINE: Company Name + Active Verb + Specific News, under about 12 words]

[Optional subhead: the second most important fact in one sentence]

[CITY], [State, AP style], [Mon. day, year] — [Company Name], [short descriptor of what the company does], today [announced/launched/opened/raised/appointed] [the news]. [One sentence on the result: what changes, for whom, by how much.]

[Detail paragraph: size, cost, staffing, partners, how it works. At least two specific facts.]

[Context paragraph: why now, what led here, the problem addressed. Name the source of any outside statistic.]

“[Quote explaining a decision, reason or constraint in plain speech],” said [Full Name], [title] of [Company Name]. “[Optional second sentence on what happens next.]”

[Optional quote from a partner or customer, attributed the same way.]

[Availability paragraph: dates, prices in USD, how to buy, book or sign up.]

About [Company Name]

[Company Name] is a [what it does] based in [city, state]. Founded in [year], it [serves X customers / operates X locations / employs X people]. [One distinguishing fact.] Learn more at [website].

Media Contact

[Full Name]

[Title]

[Company or Agency]

[monitored email address]

[direct phone number]

###

Annotated Press Release Example

Here is the template filled in for a fictional business. Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic, its staff and every figure are invented for illustration.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic Adds Overnight Emergency Care in Columbus

North side clinic hires six staff to stay open until 7 a.m. every night

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 20, 2026 — Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic, a family-owned animal hospital serving Columbus’s north side, today announced it will offer overnight emergency care seven nights a week starting Nov. 3, making it the first clinic in its area to stay open after 10 p.m.

The overnight service will run from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and will be staffed by two veterinarians and four veterinary technicians hired for the shift. The clinic spent $420,000 converting two exam rooms into a critical care ward with oxygen support and in-house lab equipment.

Until now, owners in the area needing care after 10 p.m. were referred to hospitals on the other side of the city. Maple Hollow logged more than 200 such referrals in 2025, the clinic said.

“Last year we referred more than 200 after-hours calls to a hospital 40 minutes away,” said Dr. Alicia Moreno, owner and medical director of Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic. “Owners should not have to make that drive with a sick animal in the back seat.”

Overnight visits start at a $150 emergency exam fee. Pet owners can call ahead on the clinic’s main line, which will be answered by staff around the clock from Nov. 3.

About Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic

Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic is a family-owned animal hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 2009, it cares for about 9,000 registered dogs and cats and employs 31 people. It is one of the few independent clinics in central Ohio with an in-house surgical suite. Learn more at example.com.

Media Contact

Grace Olsen

Practice Manager

Maple Hollow Veterinary Clinic

press@example.com

(555) 010-0187

###

What each part is doing:

• Headline: company name, active verb (“Adds”), the service and the city. No adjectives.
• Subhead: two new facts, jobs and hours, rather than a restatement.
• Dateline: COLUMBUS in capitals, “Ohio” spelled out because AP never abbreviates it, “Oct. 20” abbreviated.
• Lead: who, what, when (Nov. 3), where (north side) and why it matters (first in the area). A local reporter could file a brief from this alone.
• Detail paragraph: hours, staffing and investment, in AP number style (“two veterinarians,” “$420,000”).
• Context paragraph: explains the need with the clinic’s own figure and attributes it, rather than citing vague market claims.
• Quote: adds feeling and a reason a fact sentence cannot, with a lowercase title after the name.
• Availability: price and how to use the service, without “call now” language.
• Boilerplate and contact: founding year, scale and one distinguishing fact; a named person with a press inbox.

The release runs about 300 words, fine for a single local service. A funding round with investor quotes would run longer. For filled-in releases covering hires, partnerships, awards and more, see our press release examples by announcement type.

If Your Company Is Publicly Traded

Under the SEC’s Regulation FD, a public company that shares material nonpublic information with market professionals or shareholders must make it public at the same time, or promptly if the disclosure was unintentional. When the SEC adopted the rule in 2000, it listed press releases distributed through a widely circulated news or wire service as one acceptable method, alongside a Form 8-K filing. That is why earnings and deal releases go through legal review and a counsel-approved wire on a fixed schedule. Private companies are not bound by the rule, but the habit of verifying every number before release is worth copying.

Mistakes That Get Press Releases Ignored

In Muck Rack’s State of Journalism 2025 survey of more than 1,500 journalists, 86% said irrelevance would lead them to reject a pitch and 71% cited an overly promotional tone, according to PRNEWS’s summary of the report. Those figures are about pitches, but a release attached to a pitch is judged by the same instincts. Watch for:

• Unsupported superlatives such as “leading,” “world-class” and “revolutionary.”
• Buried news. If the announcement first appears in paragraph three, rewrite the lead.
• First-person narration outside quotes.
• Quotes that restate the headline with no reason or opinion.
• Unsourced market statistics. Name the research firm and year, or drop the figure.
• Two announcements in one release, which halves the attention each receives.
• Link and keyword stuffing. One or two relevant links is normal; more reads as an SEO exercise.

Pre-Send Checklist

1. Read the headline alone. Does a stranger know what happened?
2. Read the lead alone. Could a reporter write a two-sentence brief from it?
3. Is the dateline in AP form, with the right state and month abbreviations?
4. Does every number have a source or come from your own verifiable data?
5. Has every named person and partner approved the release?
6. Does the quote contain a reason, opinion or constraint?
7. Is the boilerplate current and the media contact reachable on release day?
8. Is it under about 600 words, and is the release line (immediate or embargoed) correct?

After the Release Is Written

The release now needs a permanent public home and a route to the journalists who cover your subject. Publishing on a news site gives you an indexed, linkable record; a short personal email to a handful of relevant reporters, linking to it, gives you the chance of coverage. Our guide on how to pitch a story to a journalist covers that note and a polite follow-up.

If you would like an editor to review it first, Concierge Wire checks each submission against the structure above and publishes it on a permanent URL. You can submit a press release for review once it passes the checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the correct format for a press release?

Release line (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE or an embargo), headline, optional subhead, dateline, lead, two to four body paragraphs, one or two quotes, an “About” boilerplate, a media contact and the ### end mark, written in the third person and edited to AP style.

How do you write a press release dateline in AP style?

City in capital letters, the state in AP’s abbreviated form, the date, then a dash: “SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 15, 2026 —”. Major cities such as NEW YORK stand alone, and eight states, including Ohio and Texas, are never abbreviated.

How long should a press release be?

Most run 400 to 600 words. A simple hire announcement can be shorter; a funding round with several quotes can be a little longer. If a paragraph adds no fact, cut it.

Can I write a press release in the first person?

No. The body is third person (“the company said”). First person belongs only inside quotes attributed to a named person.

How many quotes should a press release include?

One is enough for most releases. Add a second only from a different organization, such as a partner or customer, when it adds a view the first does not.

Can I use the same template for every press release?

Yes. The structure stays the same for launches, hires, funding and partnerships; only the facts, quote and emphasis change. Keep a master copy with your approved boilerplate and contact block.

Your Next Release, Start to Finish

Write the one-sentence version of your news, gather and approve the facts, then fill in the template from the top down: headline, dateline, lead, body, quote, boilerplate, contact. Run the checklist, trim to length, and you will have a release a reporter can use with almost no editing, which is the whole point of the format.