Press Releases and Pitching: Getting Started

The most common reason good shows go uncovered is not that the work isn’t interesting. It’s that the only description of it was a paragraph on Instagram, and no writer can file from that.

1. What a press release is for

Not persuasion. A press release is a labour-saving device for someone else.

An arts editor gets dozens of these a week and covers a handful. The ones that get covered are disproportionately the ones where everything needed — the hook, the dates, the correct spelling of everyone’s name, a usable image — was already sitting in one place. You are not competing on how exciting your show is. You are competing on how little work it takes to write about.

That reframing fixes most bad press releases, which fail because they’re trying to be beautiful instead of useful.

2. The structure

Five paragraphs. 400–1,000 words, and shorter is generally better.

Paragraph 1 — the facts. Who, what, where, when, and why anyone should care. Name the artist, the title of the show, the venue, the city, the dates, the opening. If a writer reads only this paragraph they should be able to list your show correctly.

Paragraphs 2 and 3 — the show. What the work is, made of what, doing what. Concrete details of specific pieces. This is where you name the technology if technology is the point: not “immersive digital experience” but “six projectors, a depth camera, and a custom TouchDesigner patch that responds to where people stand.”

Paragraph 4 — the bio. Short. Where you’re based, what you’re known for, two or three genuine credits. Prior exhibitions, collections, awards. Not your whole CV.

Paragraph 5 — the practical. Gallery hours, admission price or free, address, accessibility, website, press contact with an actual email and phone number.

Then a clearly marked images section: what’s available, and a link.

3. Third person, and how not to sound ridiculous

Write in third person throughout, even about yourself. “Provencher’s new work…” not “My new work…” This feels absurd for about an hour and then stops mattering. It’s the convention because it lets an editor lift a sentence straight into their piece without rewriting your pronouns.

The trap is that third person tempts people into inflation — “acclaimed,” “groundbreaking,” “visionary.” Delete all of it. Adjectives of praise in your own press release read as exactly what they are, and they’re the fastest way to be ignored. Replace every evaluative adjective with a fact. Not “acclaimed sound artist” but “whose work has shown at Ars Electronica and CTM.” The fact does the same job and is checkable.

4. The images matter more than the text

A significant amount of coverage is decided on whether there’s a usable photograph. Have ready:

3–6 images, high resolution, at least 2,000px on the long edge
A mix: at least one wide shot of the space, one detail, one of you if you’ll do press
Correct captions for each: artist, title, year, medium, dimensions, photo credit
A single link — a Dropbox or Drive folder, or a page on your site. Not 40MB of attachments.

Uncaptioned images are a request that the editor go find the information. Sometimes they will. Often they’ll use the show that captioned theirs.

5. Building a press list that’s actually real

Fifteen correct addresses beat four hundred scraped ones.

Local first. City arts writers, the alt-weekly, the city magazine, the local public radio arts desk. Local outlets have space and an appetite for what’s happening nearby; national ones don’t.
The two or three publications that cover your specific field. For art and technology, that’s a short and knowable list. Read them enough to know who writes what.
Named humans, not info@. Find the person whose byline is on pieces like yours. Their address is usually findable, and if not, info@ with “for the attention of [name]” is much better than nothing.
Listings are separate and worth doing. Event calendars, artist-opportunity newsletters, and neighbourhood guides publish almost everything submitted correctly and on time. Low glamour, real footfall.

Keep it in a spreadsheet with a column for when you last contacted each person. Press lists compound over years.

6. Timing

Long-lead (monthly magazines, print): 6–8 weeks before opening.
Short-lead (weeklies, online, radio): 2–3 weeks before.
Listings: check each one’s deadline; often 2–4 weeks.

The single most common mistake is sending three days before the opening. By then everyone’s week is written.

7. The email itself

The press release is an attachment or a link. The email is a short pitch, and it’s the thing that gets read.

Subject line: what and when. “Press: [Artist] — [Title], opens Oct 14, [Venue], [City]”. Not “Exciting news!”
Three or four sentences. What it is, why it might suit this publication specifically, one detail that’s genuinely unusual.
Then: dates, link to images, link to the full release.

One sentence showing you’ve read their publication does more than three paragraphs about your practice.

8. Following up

Once. About a week later, replying to your original email so the thread is intact, two sentences: still happy to arrange a visit or answer questions, here are the dates again.

No second follow-up. Silence is an answer, and the person who chases three times is a person nobody opens next season.

9. A short checklist

Five paragraphs, under 1,000 words, third person
Every evaluative adjective replaced with a fact
Dates, address, hours, price, press contact — all present and correct
3–6 captioned high-res images behind one link
Named recipients, sent at the right lead time
Short pitch in the email body, release attached or linked
One follow-up, then stop