Last updated · reviewed by the Essentras editorial team
Press release guide
How to send out a press release
To send out a press release, match the route to your goal: email it to journalists who cover your topic, post it in your newsroom, run it through a wire, or buy a page on a named outlet. Pitching is free, published wire prices run from $21 to $1,205 per release, and an AP News release on Essentras costs $317.
Wire prices: rate card of 16 services, checked 14 and 16 Oct 2026
What you will do
- Pick the route that fits your goal: journalists, your newsroom, a wire or a named outlet.
- Price each route with verified 2026 rates and see how long each takes to go live.
- Format the release and write the pitch from 6 copy-ready templates.
- Time it, embargo it when you need to, and send 1 follow-up.
- Measure what actually ran, and ignore "potential reach".
Start here in 1 click
Each option shows its price before you commit.
Price your release on every wire
Free calculator. Set your word count and reach and see what 10 services charge, from verified list prices only.
An AP News press release
$317
- Turnaround
- 3 to 5 business days
- Link
- Nofollow
- Label, as the listing states it
- Published with a sponsored or partner label.
- If it does not publish
- Refunded if not published, or if the turnaround is missed.
A Yahoo Finance press release
$667
- Turnaround
- 3 to 5 business days
- Link
- Nofollow
- Label, as the listing states it
- Published with a sponsored or partner label.
- If it does not publish
- Refunded if not published, or if the turnaround is missed.
A paid placement. It is not earned coverage, and it runs with the label the listing states.
The 4 routes
Where do you send a press release?
You send a press release to 1 or more of 4 places. They differ in who decides whether it runs, what it costs and what the reader sees.
Journalists who cover your topic
A short personal email to the reporter or the news desk. Free, and the only route to earned coverage, where a reporter decides to write about you. Nothing is guaranteed: the reporter decides if and when.
Your own newsroom
A page on your site with the release, images, a fact sheet and a media contact. Free, live when you say, and the link every pitch and follow-up should point to.
A distribution wire
A service that pushes the release to its network of sites, feeds and terminals for a fee, from $21 to $1,205 at published prices. The network decides where it shows up, and the copies usually read as a press release from the wire.
A named outlet
A paid page on a site you choose, at a price you see first: an AP News press release costs $317 and a Yahoo Finance press release $667 on Essentras. It is paid placement, published with the label the listing states, not earned coverage.
Most announcements combine routes: the newsroom page as the source, pitches for earned coverage, and a wire or a named outlet when a page must exist by a date.
Costs by route
How much does it cost to send a press release?
Sending a press release costs $0 if you pitch journalists and post it on your own site. Wires charge $21 to $1,205 per release at published prices, while PR Newswire, GlobeNewswire and Cision quote. On Essentras, an AP News press release costs $317 and a Yahoo Finance press release $667.
| Route | What it costs | Time to go live | What the reader sees | Who decides where it runs | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email journalists | $0 plus your time | No date: the reporter decides if and when | A news story, only if a reporter writes it | The reporter | The outlet's choice |
| Your newsroom | $0 on your own site | When you publish it | Your page | You | Yours |
| Free release portals | $0 on the free plans of IssueWire, OpenPR, PRLog and PR.com, with limited distribution | Not stated on their price pages | A listing on the portal | The portal | Set by the portal |
| Wire with published prices | $21 to $1,205. EIN Presswire $149, Newswire.com $399 to $965 | Same day at EIN Presswire for verified accounts in business hours, by its own account | A release credited to the wire. On Yahoo Finance we saw "This is a paid press release" | The wire's network | Nofollow at EIN Presswire, by its own FAQ |
| Disclosure wire | PR Newswire and GlobeNewswire by quote; Business Wire from $475 for 400 local words | Set with the wire | A release credited to the wire | The wire's circuit | Nofollow at Business Wire, by its own blog |
| Named outlet on Essentras | $317 AP News, $667 Yahoo Finance, $833 for 3 outlets, $3,000 Reuters | 3 to 5 business days (Reuters 1 to 2 weeks) | As each listing states it. AP News: "Published with a sponsored or partner label." | You pick the outlet; it publishes in its own section | Nofollow on AP News and Yahoo Finance; dofollow on Reuters, per the listings |
- Business Wire's $475 is a starting price quoted by a search engine because businesswire.com blocks our reader (grade B). The other wire prices were read on the vendors' own pages.
- Wire and portal prices are the vendors' own published prices on the dates shown. Confirm at the source before you buy.
- Essentras prices include writing on request, a draft you approve, a dated screenshot and the live URL, with a full refund if it does not publish (listing terms, 18 Oct 2026).
Your word count and reach change the wire price. Run them through the free wire calculator.
Free tool
Which route fits your release?
2 questions. The answer names a route with its price and what it will not do for you.
Answer the questions to see your route.
Every answer, in a table
| If | Route | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| You need investor disclosure for a listed company | A disclosure wire | PR Newswire and GlobeNewswire by quote; Business Wire from $475 (grade B) | Set with the wire |
| You want a journalist to write about it | Pitch reporters, with your newsroom as the source | $0 plus your time | No date can be promised |
| You want local news coverage | Local reporters first, then a state package | $0 to pitch; state packages $599 at Newswire.com and ACCESS Newswire, from $99 at Send2Press | No date for pitches; set with the wire for a package |
| You want to spend nothing, or your budget is $0 | Your newsroom plus pitches, and a free portal for 1 more copy | $0 | When you publish; no date for coverage |
| You need a page on a known site and can spend under $150 | A page on Medium | $97 | 1 business day |
| You need a page on a known outlet and can spend $150 or more | Buy the outlet by name | AP News $317, Yahoo Finance $667, all 3 of Business Insider, Yahoo and AP News $833 | 3 to 5 business days |
| You want copies on many sites for under $150 | A budget wire | From $21 (IssueWire Tier 1); EIN Presswire $149 for up to 700 words | Same day at EIN Presswire for verified accounts, by its own account |
| You want copies on many sites and can spend $150 or more | A national wire tier with named outlets | Newswire.com $399 to $965; ACCESS Newswire $475 to $1,205 | Set with the wire |
Step by step
How do you send a press release to journalists? 8 steps
This is the earned route: it costs nothing and only a reporter can decide to cover you. Run it in parallel with any paid route.
1. Say what is new in 1 sentence
What changed, for whom and why now. If you cannot say it in 1 sentence, a reporter cannot either, and no route will fix that.
2. Write the release in the standard format
Release line, headline, dateline, the facts in the first paragraph, 1 quote, boilerplate and a media contact. Use the skeleton in the templates below.
3. Post it in your newsroom, unpublished or embargoed
Put the release, images and a fact sheet on 1 page of your site. Every pitch links to it, so a reporter never has to open an attachment.
4. List the reporters who covered your topic recently
Search the outlet and Google News for your topic, open the bylines and note what each reporter wrote. Relevance is the gap: in Cision's 2026 survey, 72% of journalists said fewer than a quarter of the pitches they get are relevant.
5. Find the right address for each
The reporter's own email, or the outlet's news desk or submission form. Some newspapers publish a tips address and ask for a set format: follow it.
6. Write a short pitch with the release below it
Headline as the subject line, 2 or 3 sentences on why it matters to that reporter's readers, then the release pasted in the body. Link images; do not attach files.
7. Send 1 email per reporter
No group emails, no visible recipient lists. Send before noon in the reporter's time zone, which is when journalists in Muck Rack's 2026 survey said they prefer pitches (as summarized by The PR Net).
8. Send 1 follow-up that adds something
A few days later, offer a data point, an interview slot or an image the reporter did not have. Then stop. Do not ask whether they got the release.
Format
How should a press release be formatted before you send it?
A release that will be emailed, posted and syndicated needs the same 10 parts in the same order, so an editor can lift any of them.
Release line
"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE", or "EMBARGOED UNTIL" with a date, time and time zone.
Headline
The news in plain words, with the company name. No hype adjectives.
Subhead
Optional: the 1 detail that makes the headline credible, such as a number or a named partner.
Dateline
City, state or country, and the date, before the first sentence.
Lead paragraph
Who, what, when, where and why, in 2 or 3 sentences. It should work on its own if an editor uses nothing else.
Body
Supporting facts, figures with their source, and context. Short paragraphs.
Quote
1 quote from a named person that adds a view, not a restatement of the facts.
Boilerplate
An "About" paragraph: what the company does, where it is based, its website.
Media contact
Name, email and phone of someone who will answer the same day.
End mark
"###" so editors know the release has ended.
Rules that save money and reader attention
- Keep it near 400 words. Business Wire's starting price covers 400 words (grade B), and eReleases' $399 package includes 400 words, then charges $150 per extra 100 (read 14 Oct 2026).
- Do not write "today" or "this week": a syndicated release is read weeks later. Write the date.
- Put figures in numerals and name the source of every statistic.
- Link to your newsroom page, not to a sales page. Google lists links with optimized anchor text in press releases distributed on other sites as link spam.
- Use the ticker in the header if you are a listed company: Yahoo Finance asks for it.
Timing
When should you send it, and how do embargoes work?
Work back from the date your news must be public. The reporter's deadline and your route's turnaround decide the send date, not a "best weekday".
Pitch before noon
Journalists in Muck Rack's 2026 survey said they prefer pitches before noon, as summarized by The PR Net.
Order paid pages early
The AP News and Yahoo Finance listings run 3 to 5 business days, counted in business days and paused while we wait on you. Order at least 5 business days before your date.
Give reporters time
A reporter who wants to interview your spokesperson needs the facts before the news is public. That is what an embargo is for.
Avoid a crowded news cycle
If a major story in your sector breaks on your day, move the send. A pitch competes with everything on the reporter's desk.
How to run an embargo
- An embargo is an agreement: the reporter gets the news early and does not publish before a set date and time.
- Ask first. Send a short note offering the news under embargo, and share the details only after the reporter agrees.
- Write "EMBARGOED UNTIL" with the date, time and time zone at the top of the release.
- Keep your newsroom page private and schedule any wire release for the embargo time. Publishing early breaks your own embargo.
- Do not use a paid named placement for embargoed news: it goes live when the outlet publishes it inside the stated window, not at a set hour.
Free tool: when to start, by route
Pick the date the release must be live. The table shows when each route needs to start, from its stated turnaround.
| Route | Window | If you start today | To be live by your date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your newsroom | You publish it yourself. | ||
| EIN Presswire | Same day for verified accounts in business hours, by its own pricing page. | ||
| Medium on Essentras | 1 business day, per the listing. | ||
| AP News on Essentras | 3 to 5 business days, per the listing. | ||
| Yahoo Finance on Essentras | 3 to 5 business days, per the listing. | ||
| Reuters on Essentras | 1 to 2 weeks, per the listing. | ||
| Pitching journalists | No date: a reporter decides if and when. | No date can be promised | No date can be promised |
Pick a date to see the latest day to start. Business days are Monday to Friday. Public holidays are not counted, so allow for them.
Essentras windows are business days, paused while we wait on you, with a 3 business day grace period before the automatic refund.
Copy-ready
Copy-ready press release templates
6 templates for the whole send. Replace everything in [brackets].
Press release skeleton
Every release, before any route.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [Company] [does the new thing] [for whom] [Subhead: the 1 detail that makes it credible, such as a number or a named partner] [CITY, State or Country], [Month Day, Year] - [Company], [what the company is, in a few words], announced [the news in 1 sentence]. [Why it matters: who is affected and what changes for them. 2 or 3 sentences, with a figure and its source.] [Supporting detail: how it works, availability, price, dates.] "[A quote that adds a view, not a restatement of the facts]," said [Full Name], [Title] at [Company]. [1 more paragraph of context, if needed.] About [Company] [What the company does, where it is based, founding year if useful.] Learn more at [website]. Media contact [Name], [email], [phone] ###
Pitch email
Emailing 1 reporter about a release.
Subject: [Headline of the release] Hi [First name], You wrote about [specific recent article] on [date]. [Company] is announcing [the news] on [date], and it [why it matters to that reporter's readers, in 1 sentence]. [1 proof point: a figure, a customer, a result.] [Spokesperson name, title] is available for an interview [days or times]. Images and a fact sheet: [newsroom link]. The full release is below. [Your name] [Title, company, phone] [Paste the release here]
Follow-up email
A few days after the pitch, only if you have something new.
Subject: Re: [Headline of the release] Hi [First name], 1 addition in case it helps a story: [new data point, customer example, confirmed spokesperson, local angle or image]. [Link to it on the newsroom page.] If this is not a fit for you, no reply needed. [Your name]
Embargo offer
Before you share news that must not be published early.
Subject: Under embargo until [Month Day], [time] [time zone]: [topic, without the news itself] Hi [First name], We are announcing [general topic] on [Month Day] at [time] [time zone]. Would you like the details and an interview under embargo until then? If yes, reply to confirm you will hold publication until that time and I will send the release, the data and [spokesperson]'s availability. [Your name]
Local newspaper submission
A local paper, news desk or community calendar.
Subject: Local news: [Headline with the town or neighborhood] Hello [News desk or editor name], [Company], based in [town], is [the news] on [date] at [place]. It affects [who locally] because [reason]. Contact for questions or photos: [name, phone, email]. The release is below and images are at [link]. If you prefer another format for submissions, I will follow it. [Paste the release here]
Media advisory
Inviting reporters to an event, not announcing news.
MEDIA ADVISORY WHAT: [Event in 1 line] WHO: [Speakers, with titles] WHEN: [Day, Month Day, Year], [start time] to [end time] [time zone] WHERE: [Venue, address, entrance or dial-in] WHY: [Why it is news for their readers, in 1 sentence] VISUALS: [What a photographer or camera can capture] RSVP AND CONTACT: [Name, email, phone] ###
Local and free
How do you send a press release to local media, or for free?
Local media
- Find the local reporter who covers your topic, or the paper's news desk, on the paper's own site.
- Check whether the paper has a submission page, a tips address or a community calendar, and use the format it asks for.
- Lead with the local angle: the town, the people affected and a local contact who can be photographed or interviewed.
- For paid distribution to a single state, Newswire.com State Distribution and ACCESS Newswire State both cost $599, and Send2Press starts at $99 (vendor pages, 14 and 16 Oct 2026).
- For a local news page by name: Patch costs $433 on Essentras, 3 to 5 business days. The listing states: "Published with a sponsored or partner label."
Free routes, and their limits
- Your newsroom page and your pitches cost nothing and reach the people who decide coverage.
- IssueWire, OpenPR, PRLog and PR.com have free plans (read 16 Oct 2026). OpenPR allows 1 free release per 30 days, PRLog's free plan carries ads, and IssueWire's free plan lists no Google News or Yahoo inclusion.
- Free plans publish on the vendor's site and a limited network. They do not buy you a named outlet.
Results
How do you measure pickup?
Count 3 things separately: stories a reporter wrote, copies of your release on partner sites, and the pages you paid for. Only the first is earned coverage.
Ask for the distribution report
EIN Presswire says it emails a distribution report about 2 to 4 hours after distribution (its FAQ, read 15 Oct 2026). A 2018 Newswire.com guide says services often report pickups for up to a month.
Search your exact headline
Search the headline in quotes and set an alert on your company name, so you see copies and rewrites the report misses.
Tag your links
Add UTM parameters to the links in the release, so referral traffic from each copy shows up in your analytics.
Keep proof of paid pages
For a named outlet, keep the live URL and the dated screenshot. Essentras delivers both with every order.
Log replies by angle
Note which reporters replied and to which angle, and reuse what worked in the next pitch.
Ignore potential reach
Audience totals are vendor claims (Newswire.com lists "150 to 200 million monthly readers" for its Feature tier). They are not readers of your release.
Avoid
Mistakes that get a press release ignored
Pitching off-beat reporters
Relevance is the main gap: 72% of journalists in Cision's 2026 survey said fewer than a quarter of pitches are relevant.
Attaching the release
Paste it in the email body and link images. Attachments can be filtered as spam, and many editors do not open them.
Group emails
A visible recipient list tells every reporter they are 1 of many.
Burying the news
If the first paragraph is about your mission, the editor may stop before reaching the news.
Hype instead of facts
Adjectives and superlatives without a figure or a source read as advertising.
Writing "today"
Syndicated copies are read weeks later. Write the date.
Following up 3 times
Send 1 follow-up with something new, then stop.
Breaking your own embargo
Publishing the newsroom page or a wire release before the agreed time costs you the reporters who agreed.
Keyword links in the release
Google lists optimized anchor text in distributed press releases as link spam.
Calling a paid page earned
A paid placement is paid. Say so, and keep its label as the outlet publishes it.
Honest limits
When is a wire the wrong tool?
A wire is the wrong purchase when what you need is a journalist's attention, 1 specific publication or better rankings. For coverage you earn, pitch reporters. For a specific outlet, buy that outlet. For rankings, no paid release is a safe route under Google's policies.
Proof: open placements we have published
We have published client press releases on AP News and on Yahoo Finance through the PR Newswire listing. Each listing page shows live examples you can open on the outlet's own site, with the client names left out.
AP News is also in the row of outlets with delivered client articles on our Get Featured page (checked 18 Oct 2026). See the track record
Optional add-ons, and cheaper starts
Optional. You can publish without any of these.
Often added
Business Insider, Yahoo and AP News in 1 order
$833 instead of $1,404
The 3 outlets bought separately cost $1,404; the bundle saves $571 (41%). Each runs as a separate press release. The listing states: "Published with a discreet disclosure."
See the bundleVolume discount
10% off 3 or more, 15% off 5 or more
Taken off the basket at checkout when you order 3 or more placements (5 or more for 15%).
Browse outletsTrack what AI assistants say afterwards
$49 a month
The AI Visibility Tracker asks your buyer questions to 7 AI models every week and keeps every answer, so you can see whether your coverage shows up.
See the tracker
Not ready yet?
A page on Medium
$97, 1 business day
A feature article on Medium, a publishing platform, not a news outlet. Nofollow. The listing states: "Published as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label."
Publish on MediumPress Monthly
$97 a month
1 press placement every month. We match the outlet to your niche and show it to you before we write. Cancel any time; plan months carry no turnaround guarantee.
See Press MonthlyStart free
$0
Price your release on every wire in the calculator, or read what the free distribution plans really include.
Open the calculator
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I send out a press release?▾
Write it in the standard format, post it in your newsroom, then send it by the route that fits: a short personal email to reporters who cover your topic (free), a wire ($21 to $1,205 at published prices), or a paid page on a named outlet, such as AP News for $317 on Essentras.
Where do I send a press release?▾
To the reporters who cover your topic, to the outlet's news desk or submission page, to your own newsroom page, and, if you pay, to a wire or a named outlet. Local papers often publish a tips address or submission form; use the format they ask for.
Should I attach the press release or paste it into the email?▾
Paste it into the body under a short pitch, and link images and the fact sheet on your newsroom page. Attachments can be filtered as spam or left unopened, and pasted text can be read on a phone in seconds.
How much does it cost to send a press release?▾
$0 by email and your own site. Published wire prices run from $21 to $1,205 per release (vendor pages, 14 and 16 Oct 2026); PR Newswire, GlobeNewswire and Cision quote. On Essentras an AP News press release costs $317 and a Yahoo Finance press release $667.
What is the best day and time to send a press release?▾
There is no universal best day. Pitch before noon in the reporter's time zone, which journalists in Muck Rack's 2026 survey prefer (as summarized by The PR Net), and work back from your news date and your route's turnaround.
How do I send a press release for free?▾
Post it in your own newsroom and email it to reporters who cover your topic. IssueWire, OpenPR, PRLog and PR.com also have free plans, with limited distribution and no named outlet.
How do I send a press release to local media?▾
Pitch the local reporter or news desk, follow the paper's submission format and lead with the local angle. Paid state packages cost $599 at Newswire.com and ACCESS Newswire, from $99 at Send2Press.
What does embargoed mean on a press release?▾
The reporter receives the news early and agrees not to publish before a set date and time. Ask for that agreement before sharing details, and do not publish your own version early.
How many times should I follow up on a press release?▾
Send 1 follow-up a few days later, with something new such as a data point, an interview slot or an image, then stop. Muck Rack's 2026 survey, as summarized by The PR Net, says journalists prefer 1 timely follow-up.
Does sending a press release guarantee coverage?▾
No. Only a reporter decides to write a story. A wire or a paid page guarantees a published copy, not coverage, and a paid placement is paid: it runs with the label the outlet uses.
Next steps
- 01
Pick your route
Use the route finder above, or the cost table, and decide whether you need earned coverage, a named page or both.
- 02
Write the release
Start from the skeleton template and keep it near 400 words.
- 03
Post it in your newsroom
That page is the source every pitch and copy links to.
- 04
Pitch, and book any paid page early
Pitch reporters before noon. If a named outlet must carry it by a date, order at least 5 business days ahead.
- 05
Measure what ran
Keep live URLs and screenshots, log replies, and ignore potential reach.
Need a named page by a date?
AP News $317 or Yahoo Finance $667, 3 to 5 business days, live URL or a full refund.
Publish on AP News Publish on Yahoo FinanceChecked on . Every price, turnaround and label on this page comes from a listing, a rate card or a page named in the sources below, read on the date shown there.
Sources
- Cision, 2026 State of the Media press release (13 May 2026), read 18 Oct 2026
- The PR Net, summary of Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026, read 18 Oct 2026
- Muck Rack, State of Journalism 2026 (did not load for our reader on 18 Oct 2026; verify figures here)
- Google Search spam policies (last updated 28 Aug 2026), read 18 Oct 2026
- Yahoo Help, Get your company's news and info into Yahoo Finance, read 18 Oct 2026
- EIN Presswire pricing, read 18 Oct 2026
- EIN Presswire FAQ (nofollow links, distribution report timing), read 15 Oct 2026
- Newswire.com pricing, read 18 Oct 2026
- Newswire.com, What is the entire process of sending a press release (30 Nov 2018), read 18 Oct 2026
- Business Wire blog on links in press releases (nofollow), read 4 Oct 2026
- Essentras wire rate card: every vendor price page, checked 14 and 16 Oct 2026
- Essentras public catalog API: AP News, Yahoo Finance, bundle, Medium, Reuters and Patch listings, read 18 Oct 2026
- Essentras refund policy (turnaround, removal within 90 days, indexing)
- ContentGrip, How to send a press release via email (18 Sep 2026), read 18 Oct 2026
- Respona, How to send a press release (7 Apr 2026), read 18 Oct 2026
Essentras sells paid placements on named outlets, including the AP News and Yahoo Finance listings on this page. Wire and portal prices are the vendors' own, as dated. Paid placements are not earned coverage.
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