4 - Forth Interest Group

its being "released" (in a form that can be distributed and still
be a service to readers).
Review:
InsWs Gut& to Getting Your
Press Releases Publfshed
This slim guide about press releases has been prepared
by Win-Win Marketing, whose mission is to provide market-
ing advice to small businesses. (Although they are intended
to illustrate various types of press releases, the sample press
releases in this guide provide us with a glimpse of the broad
campaign that Win-Win Marketing has undertaken to estab-
lish its credibility.)
Topics covered in the guide's introduction include when
to write press releases, how to target the "presses" to which
you send informational releases, and some journalistic
guidelines that help you write a press release. The book by
Strunk and White, 7beElementsofSlyleis referenced. Besides
re-emphasizing various journalistic guidelines, guidelines
are also offered that apply to press releases exclusively.
In any case, you can't afford to ignore basic advice that
you've already heard over and over, such as: Use short
sentences andshort paragraphs ofno more than 50 or60 words.
(As an aside, here's how the press releases I read for
Product Watch fared: Five out of six violated the 60 word
maximum paragraph length in their lead paragraph. One
started with a paragraph of 134 words. One had a short letter
that referenced new products described in a catalog. Tthq
don't bother to give their newproducts a journalistic treat-
ment, whyshouldl! For its professionalism and conformance
to guidelines, the news release I liked best was from a small
company announcing a holder for H-P DeskJeNriter Ink-
Jet cartridges so that they are less likely to dry up. It consisted
of about four or five short and simple paragraphs that easily
fit onto one sheet of paper.)
Win-Win Marketing suggests that you write a press
release to target just one type of medium or a specific
publication that you are interested in. The guide talks about
when to use photos as well as how they should be prepared
for the demands of the print medium.
Besides photographic advice, YOU are offered advice
about distributing the press release, about how to find the
names of editors, and about using reprints of articles for your
own self-promotion.
That covers the first ten pages of this short guide of about
30 Pages. You get the idea that a lot of ground is covered
quickly.
The offerings of advice continue with tips from editors of
publications. They offer an assortment of insights: Do You
want your envelope to be opened? If so, hand-write it. DO
you want timely coverage? If SO, understand the lead times
for each publication you target.
The many guidelines and tips offered in the beginning
sections eventually make way to reference information in the
second half of the guide. In between, there is an informative
section about the various types of press releases you might
prepare.
The last five sections of this guide (about a dozen pages)
narrative. These sections include a sequence of example
press releases, a list of suggestions about how article reprints
might be used promotionally, a one-page press-release
checklist, a list of library resources (such as directories) which
can help you survey the publications that are available, and
a short bibliography.
Overall, this guide offers a quick schooling in the subject
of press releases. It introduces you to all the essential writing
elements for various types of press releases as well as all the
essential format elements of all press releases, such as the
date of release, the requested release date, the headline, the
continuation header, the continuation footer, the story-end
indication, and a possible dateline (which is the city and state
where the story originates when it is being released to a broad
geographic area).
On the down side, I had a jarring experience when I tried
to jump from the table-of-contents to the examples section.
I became confused because I never saw the "Examples"
chapter headline that I expected to see.
In most respects, the publication has a professional
appearance, with the possible exceptions of its binding and
its use of one-sided printing. Even though the body text is in
large-size fonts, the pages still have room for an inside margin
containing occasional quotations. The guide is printed on
standard (U. S.) letter-size stock that is three-hole punched
to fit into a report folder. Although it doesn't lie flat, your arms
should not tire even if you read it without a break.
The number to call for further information about either the
guide or a subscription to the Win-Win Marketing Newsletter
is 408-247-0122 or 1-800-292-8625; or write to Win-Win
Marketing, 662 Crestview Drive, San Jose, California 951 17.
P~~da~ff Wkaffeh
SEPTEMBER 1993
FORTH, Inc. announced a new release of its EXPRESS
Event Management and Control System for process control
and factov automation applications, ~t features highspeed
I/O scan rates and improved connectivity. A new
~ ~ plus hiver d helps b achieve ~ scan ~ times under 10 ms.
The graphical user interface in EXPRESS makes it a
comprehensive development system without add-on products.
Its appearance is similar to that of the OSF/Motif
standards. Like other parts of the development system, the
GUI is event-&iven. "Rulesn allow events to be generated
and handled. Rules are similar to C switch statements.
constructs of this kind let you implement the state
machines that serve most embedded applications.
Companies Mentioned
are in reference format, with an occasional sprinkling of
FORTH, Inc.
N. Sepulveda Blvd,
Manhattan Beach, California 90266-6847
Fax: 213-372-8493
Phone: 800-55-FORTH
Forth Dimensions
43 November 1993 December