Press releases should be written in such a way that that they can be published with only a minimal amount of copy editing. If a press release is particularly interesting, reporters may “kill” a press release and instead write a story using the content therein as a foundation, while also contacting the people who sent the release and others that the press release may have omitted or who have opposing viewpoints, if applicable. Provide plenty of details so that the release can stand alone and interest readers or be interesting enough to pique a reporter or editor’s interest in expanding the release into a featured news story.ed as

Basic advice:

• Press releases are published as a free service for our community.

• Press releases must be written in complete sentences, listing the who, what, when and where of the event. Include a brief biography, such as for a featured speaker; and/or the history or mission statement of an event or organization, such as for an annual event or a nonprofit organization.

• For fundraisers, please indicate what or whom the proceeds benefit. List the full, formal title of individuals referred to or quoted in the release.

• Press releases must include the event, location, including street address, time and a contact phone number for publication. Releases without this information will not be published.

• Submitted photos should properly identify the photographer, if applicable, and all the individuals in the photo. Double check names to avoid spelling errors.

• Send photos that are huge, as large as they appear fresh of your camera, i.e., at least 1 megabyte or bigger. If you download photos from a website, they are likely too small for us to use. If the photo on screen is smaller than your hand, it’s too small. If the photo is measured in kilobytes, aka “kb” not megabytes, “mb” it is too small.

• The best digital format is a jpg, jpeg or gif file. We cannot guarantee that submitted photographs will be returned.

• Publication date can not be guaranteed.

• Send the release in the main body of the e-mail, not an attachment.

• Send press releases by e-mail to Editor@LarsonNewspapers.com, subject: “Press Release,” followed by a brief name of the event and a suggested publication date for the release. Note: “Larson” is spelled with an “O” and “Newspapers” is plural.

• All press releases are edited for space and content. We reserve the right to edit any release for space, style, content and good taste.

• Include prices for tickets, attendance, fees, registration, group or club membership, special event charges, annual dues, filing costs, etc.

• Copyrighted text and photos to which you do not own the copyright will not published. You must send express written permission from the copyright holder demonstrating you have their permission to send out copyrighted material. Repeated attempts to submit material in violation of another’s copyright will not be tolerated. You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claim resulting from publications or use of copyrighted submitted photos or text.

• Do not send flyers. We do not publish them. Send us photos instead.

• Do not send photos with text, watermarks, photographer’s signatures nor copyright symbols on them, even if you own the image. We have no way to remove the mark from the image.

• If you send a mugshot of speakers, presenters, participants, etc., make sure they are not wearing hats nor sunglasses and do not have objects in the frame obscuring their faces. We have no way to remove those obstructions.

• Do not write in all caps.

• Press releases are for events, activities, clubs, announcements and news items. If you instead want to sell a product, service, property, you contact our Advertising Department and at (928) 282-7795 Ext. 114 to purchase a print or digital ad or our Classifieds Department at (928) 282-7795 Ext. 152 to purchase a paid classified ad.

Note that no press release is guaranteed to be published. All press releases are put in a queue and published as space and time allows. If your news item absolutely must be seen by readers, you can contact our Advertising Department at (928) 282-7795 Ext. 114 or email KLarson@larsonnewspapers.com and purchase a print ad or digital ad package to promote it. Your paid ads are guaranteed to be published per the paid advertising contract.
You can still submit a free press release. The free press release may also be printed in addition to the ad, and regardless of whether you buy an ad or not, so your news item may reach readers with both the paid ad and free press release.

Deadlines:

• Deadline for the Wednesday issue of the Sedona Red Rock News is Thursday at 5 p.m.

• Deadline for the Friday issue of the Sedona Red Rock News is Friday (the week prior) at 5 p.m.

• Deadline for The Scene, the weekly arts and entertainment special section, is Thursday at 5 p.m. for the following week’s edition.

• Deadline for the Wednesday issues of the The Camp Verde Journal is and the Cottonwood Journal Extra is Wednesday at 5 p.m.

• Deadline for The Village View, the monthly section covering the Village of Oak Creek and Big Park, is the third Thursday of the month at 5 p.m. for the following month’s edition. The publication goes out to readers on the first Friday of the month, so please be aware that if you event is on the first few days of a month, send it early enough to be in the previous month’s publication lest it be too late.

• Submissions made after deadline cannot be considered for publication in that issue.

Press release example:

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Jane Doe or John Doe
phone (928) 000-0000 or (928) 000-0000, cell phone
Please publish on or before Jan. 20th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Suggested headline: John Doe hosts gathering
John Doe will host a community gathering on Monday, Jan. 31, starting at 5 p.m. The gathering takes place at the Sedona Gathering Place, 100 Sedona Drive, West Sedona.
All Sedona residents who like to gather are welcome to gather.
Non-gatherers are also welcome as they may learn to enjoy gatherings.
Doe earned a degree in gathering from the University of Arizona in 1989. He started gathering people for gatherings in 1996. Doe moved to Sedona in 2001 and starting gathering people for gatherings in 2003. He has held 30 such gatherings and trains people in gathering.
For more information, call (928) 000-0000.

Letters to the Editor

For letters to the editor or guest perspectives, click here.

Calendar Listings and Arts Events

All events must include:

• Event name, date, start time.

• Venue name and street address. Even if an event takes place at a private home, you must still provide a street address.

• Ticket prices, cover charges or admission fees.

• Contact telephone number that will be published for readers.

Include ticket price(s), cover charges or admission fee(s).

• Ongoing Events, published Wednesdays on the Community Calendar page, is reserved for only those nonprofit or free events scheduled on a regular basis, whether every week on the same day, or once a month on the same day. Events scheduled for every week or every month on the same day and time need not be sent in every week. Any changes to regularly scheduled events must be submitted.

• Support group information will be redirected to the Support Groups listing, published Wednesdays on the Community Calendar page.

• Club events will be redirected to the Your Community page, published Wednesdays page where club news is published.

• All submissions must include the event, venue, including street address, the time and a contact phone number. Submissions without this information will not be published.

• Submitted photos should properly identify the photographer, if applicable, and all the individuals in the photo. Print names to avoid spelling errors. The best digital format is a jpg, jpeg or tiff file. We cannot guarantee that submitted photographs will be returned. We will keep some arts photos on file for future publication, but this is not guaranteed, so always send a publicity photo with your calendar listing.

• Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Thursday for the following week. Submissions made after deadline cannot be considered for publication that week.

Send arts and entertainment press releases via e-mail to editor@larsonnewspapers.com or drop off at 298 Van Deren Road, Uptown Sedona. For e-mail, include appropriate subject line, such as “OnGoing events” or “OnTap calendar,” etc.

Send calendar listings via e-mail to Managing Editor Christopher Fox Graham at editor@larsonnewspapers.com or call 928-282-7795, extension 129. Include appropriate subject line, such as “OnGoing events” or “At a Glance calendar,” “Clubs” or “Support Groups.”

Calendar listing example:

Monday, Jan. 31
Community Gathering: Hosted by John Doe, 5 p.m., free, Sedona Gathering Place, 100 Sedona Drive, West Sedona, 000-0000. 

Early deadlines:

For the six federal holidays, Larson Newspapers is closed. All deadlines the move up one business day to early deadlines, so all copy, classifieds and advertising deadlines must be delivered 24 hours earlier than normal. Please plan accordingly.
• New Year’s Day (Jan. 1, or the preceding Friday if Jan. 1 is a Saturday, or the following Monday if Jan. 1 is a Sunday)
• Memorial Day (the last Monday in May)
• Labor Day (first Monday in September)
• Independence Day (July 4, or the preceding Friday if July 4 is a Saturday, or the following Monday if July 4 is a Sunday)
• Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday of November)
• Christmas Day (Dec. 25, or the preceding Friday if Dec. 25 is a Saturday, or the following Monday if Dec. 25 is a Sunday)

We do not take off Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day [Washington’s Birthday], Columbus Day nor Veterans Day.

For more tips, click here to visit our Press Release Tips page.

For business press releases, click here to visit our Business Press Releases page.