Press releases
So far in this guide, we’ve mostly focused on promoting your research to fellow academics. In some cases though, you might want to promote it to the general public too. While it’s possible to reach some sections of the general public through social media, the most efficient and effective way to get to them is through the press. And the best way to get your research into the press is with a press release.
That being said, press releases take a lot of work and require extensive journalist contacts (usually through a university, society or publisher’s press officer) to be successful. For the majority of articles and books, a press release won’t be an appropriate promotion tool, but we want to touch on them here for those occasions where they are appropriate. The press release itself will almost always be written by a press officer, so we’ll focus on what types of publications make the best press releases and how to pitch your article to a press officer.
If you’re planning to write your own press release (which we generally would not recommend), you can find some useful guidance from The Guardian here.
Jump straight to:
Is a press release the right choice for your research?
The first step of this process is to figure out whether a press release is a good option for your article or book. After spending time on research, writing and revisions, it can be hard to decide if journalists and the general public will think your findings are as interesting as you do. Here are a few elements to look for if you think you might have a press-worthy paper:
Relevance: What impact will your findings have on people outside of academia? Could there be policy implications? Or will it change the way we think about an idea or a popular historical figure? A good litmus test to see how relevant your findings are to the general public is to think about how much background you’d need to give a secondary school student before you could start talking about your specific findings. If you’d expect to have to give them a more than a couple of sentences before getting into a surface level explanation, then your paper might not be a fit for this category.
Controversy: Good debates make for good stories. And research that takes one side (or even that discuss both sides) of a controversy can generate heated debates. When thinking about whether your article or book fits into this category, consider whether there is knowledge of and interest in the controversy beyond your discipline. Debates that haven’t broken out of the academic sphere are less likely to draw attention from journalists (in which case a blog post may be a better option).
Timeliness: Does your book or article focus on something that is a hot topic in the media at the moment? If so, journalists might be interested in writing about your findings as a way to provide further information to the public or to help an argument that they’re trying to make. For history research, timeliness could also mean upcoming anniversaries.
Fun or exciting: Think about those stories that come up at the end of the news or that trend on Twitter for a couple of hours. They might not have much relevance to the news of the day, but they’re quirky and have a hook that makes them stand out. Is there an interesting or unexpected element or angle to your research? Did you come to your conclusions or findings in an unusual way? Would people find your something about your research interesting and engaging, even if they might not understand the full depth of it?
If your work has two or more of these elements, it’s worth having a discussion with your press officer about it. Fitting into these categories doesn’t guarantee that a book or article will be a good candidate for a press release, but it makes it more likely.
Pitching to a press officer
After considering the above elements and deciding that a press release could be an option, the next step is to find a press officer who can work with you to create the press release. Depending on where you’ve published, you may be able to talk to a press officer at your institution, the publisher or perhaps the society that owns the journal or series. Regardless of where the press officer is based though, you’ll need to pitch your research to them. There are a few things to make sure to include in your pitch:
What’s the hook? Most books and articles don’t receive a press release and those that do need something that sets them apart and catches the attention of journalists and readers. For your work, it will probably be very closely related to one of the four elements that we talked about above. This will be the key thing that the press officer is looking for when deciding whether to write a press release on your paper, so make sure you tell them what it is. You should be able to sum the hook up in one sentence or less (if you can get it into a headline, that’s ideal).
What’s the story? Who, what, where, why and when. These are the ‘Five Ws of Journalism’ and they’re the building blocks that the press officer will use to construct the story about your research. You should answer all five questions (at least briefly), so that the press officer is aware of the content that they’ll have to work with.
Is there a benefit to the institution? Think about the image that the institution, society or publisher wants to present. Look at recent press releases as well as what they’ve been posting on their social media accounts. Would a press release on your research fit into or build on other pieces that they’ve been putting out recently? Or could it add an interesting extra dimension to that image? These elements might not be enough on their own to warrant a press release, but they can add that extra spice to your pitch.
From this point (if your press officer decides that a press release is a good idea), it’s best to follow their advice and guidance.
Where to now?
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- Ready to submit your article? Find the full list of Edinburgh University Press journals that you can submit to here
- Ready to submit your manuscript? Discover the step-by-step guide to publishing with Edinburgh University Press
