If you're interested in being covered in any of the ZATZ magazines, a great way is to get news coverage. When we run a news piece, it runs both on the daily news page of the magazine you're submitting to, as well as in the Weekly Update edition.
That way, the folks who groove on news daily get their fix, and those who like to see a detailed summary of the week's news can also get their information.
Just a note: we're writing this piece to marketing folks, so this story isn't going to be as gentle as our normal guidelines. As former marketing folks ourselves, we know that sometimes "you gotta swat the marketing guy upside the head" to get him to listen. Yep, you know who you are.
How to format your news submission
You should know that our news items fit a very specific format that we don't deviate from, no matter how much our favorite PR person may whine. If you want coverage, the very best way is to meet this format.
Each news item consists of:
- a headline,
- a paragraph summary of the news,
- and a link to more information.
Here's an example:
Microsoft Office System sent to manufacturing
Microsoft announced the completion of the core products in the new Microsoft Office System and has released all products to manufacturing. The Microsoft Office System is composed of productivity programs, servers and services, and includes programs such as the Microsoft Office 2003 editions, and the 2003 versions of Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Visio, FrontPage and Publisher.
As you can see, the headline is moderately short. It needs to fit, in summary form, on the home page of the magazine. A good headline is 5-8 words.
The body of the news piece is about one paragraph long. If you think that writing 20 paragraphs, without line breaks, will constitute "about a paragraph," remember that your goal is NOT to get the news published, your goal is to get your news read. Clarity and limited hype make news much more readable by readers.
Finally, there's the link. This is the "money shot" of the news piece because it's what sends readers into your Web site. Make sure to send us a link that doesn't change, isn't too long or funky, and takes readers to someplace specific to the news item.
Also, please do us a favor and do not pre-format the HTML of the link. ZENPRESS, our journal production system, does that for us automagically, and if you send us pre-formatted HTML, we're simply going to have to remove it (and on busy news days, possibly ignore your release).
"Do not send us your news release as an attachment or a Word document."
One last, and VERY IMPORTANT POINT: do not send us your news release as an attachment or a Word document. We're going to ignore you and delete it. Viruses travel in Word documents, and we do not open unsolicited attachments (and neither should you). In fact, don't send Word documents for your press release to anyone.
How to submit your news item
It's very easy to get your story covered, assuming it's relevant to our publications. All you need to do is follow these simple directions:
- If it is mobile computing related, send it to news@computingunplugged.com.
- If it is photography or imaging related, send it to news@connectedphotographer.com.
- If it is Outlook, Exchange, email, Microsoft, or messaging related, send it to news@outlookpower.com.
- If it is Lotus-related, send it to news@dominopower.com.
- If it is IBM, WebSphere, Java, or Eclipse related, send it to news@webspherepower.com.
That's it. Please don't send your press releases willy-nilly to all our editors (or all our employees--once again, you know who you are). The "news@" accounts listed above drop directly onto our news desk and that's how your story will get picked up.
About news items "under embargo"
This one really annoys us. We get an email, a Word attachment, of course, from a teensy little company telling us about their new, incomprehensible and yet world-changing product.
In the email is the phrase "This is under embargo until xx/xx," meaning, not only do they want coverage, but they demand we don't write about their "super-secret, no-one-really-cares" product until just the right time.
Do. Not. Waste. Our. Time.
If you want press, send the release. Unless you are IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Palm, or Playboy (we're still sucking up, trying to wangle that visit to The Mansion), we will not accept a release under embargo. Period. You're just not important enough to us for the hassle.
We'll just laugh, make fun of you (possibly in public, and possibly somewhere where your mom might read about you), and delete your release.
Hints about how to make your story successful
Please be aware that we will cover your story if it is relevant to our readers. If it's not relevant, we won't (and can't cover it). If you can make it relevant (like finding a mobile computing angle to a story on sports agents), then we're likely to cover it.
You will not increase your coverage by sending press release copies to everyone here at ZATZ. We have a news desk specifically for the purpose of getting your word out to our readers. Please take advantage of the tools we've given you.
If you'd like more coverage than is available for a simple news piece, please read How to write an article about your own product or service. If you want to get your product reviewed, please read How to get your product reviewed.
Have fun, and make some news!
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