Professionally written press releases are formatted with following design elements, within an overall layout.

These formatting elements should be incorporated into all of your future press releases in order to greatly increase your chances of having someone not only read your press release or by having a news editor read and eventually accept your press release for future publication.

Please try to follow these "7 must haves" when formatting your next art press release:

1.   The Title or the Headline: The title of the press release should be a short statement of the contents of your news and contain the following information, if possible;

 a. Your name.

 b. The key subject or theme.

 c. Your “News Hook”.

If possible include in the title any Keywords related to the art world. Why is this? This is done in order for search engines to be able to find your post and also when viewers search for these keyword topics on the internet, they will then be able to locate your post.

Whatever you do, do not make the title or headline too long. 7 to 10 words is a good rule to follow and it will require you to be very concise in what you want to get across in your press release. Why is the title so short? This is because readers will not read a long headline and the formatting of most press release outlets will not give you more space or characters. A short, concise and well-written headline will attract the reader’s attention enough to want to read the press release and isn’t that what we really want?

2.  The Dateline: The dateline will contain the following information; the city where the press release originated or where the event will take place, the date of the press release, the state and if necessary (for worldwide press release distribution) the country. The dateline always is located before your press release body copy.

3.  Introduction: This is usually one paragraph and is probably (at least to me) the most important section of the press release. This section explains “the who, what, where and when of the story" and also it should explain why the reader should be interested in this news. This is where your “News Hook” should be located as well. Keep this section very concise. Read and rewrite this section over and over again, until it is perfect.

4.  The Body of the Press Release: This should be 1 to 5 paragraphs where you elaborate or detail the information contained in your Introduction paragraph. It is not a rewrite of the introduction, but rather “explanatory” information of the news or of the event.

5.  The Summary Section of the Press Release: The summary should be a wrap-up of the press release and provide the reader with a "call to action" such as a time, place or further information about this art event.

6.  The About Section of the Press Release: This is background information about the artist and their career. Keep this to one paragraph very concise and short. Also, think of this section in terms that you are allowing the reader to quickly know who you are. Include website, physical address, telephone numbers and email addresses. If you will be writing a lot of press releases keep this section handy and use as copy and paste.

7.  Issuer Contact Information: If anyone reading the press release requires getting in touch with the issuer, such as the press, media or other interested parties prior to publishing the press release, they will need this contact information. This section should contain your name, business name, physical address, telephone number, website URL and email address.

To view, actual samples of Light Space & Time’s press releases go here to their Press Release section of the website; /artist-news.