I just finished up an assignment for one of my favorite clients and we talked about the similarities and differences between newspaper and magazine press releases.
Let’s take a look at the similarities first:
- Both are always looking for stories and will love you if you can provide them with something their readers will be interested in. Keep it relevant to the editor’s audience.
- Both want to get information in a clear and concise way. That means giving the salient points about what makes your feature interesting or important
- Both appreciate you doing your homework, knowing which editor to contact and being familiar with articles or features they have written about in the past
And the differences:
- Newspapers are on a much faster cycle. They publish every day. Magazines are typically published monthly or even less frequently throughout the year. This means for a newspaper you want to send your press release no more than a week ahead of your event. To be timely, for instance if you have a seasonal feature, you need to send it at least three months in advance for a magazine. Not all magazines keep the same schedule so you need to research to find out the timeline for the publication you’re interested in pitching.
- The newspaper audience is the general public. A magazine’s audience is specific to its particular focus. Newspaper articles, even features, hone in on the specifics. Think: Newsflash! Magazines on the other hand have more space to delve more intimately into the subject matter. You can pitch the same idea to both but the results will be very different in print.
Because you’re an artist, always attach relevant jpegs of your work.
Would love to hear your stories about pitching newspapers or magazines. Want to pitch but don’t have the time to write your release? Contact me! (973) 960-6464
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