[bomp] Re: A childs garden of press releases

[moparlary@xxxxxxx]

Before Fusco started doing all the heavy lifting of booking the Subway Surfers, the drummer and I used to handle it for my old band. What we found is that some of the folks who booked clubs were as finicky as children when it came to press kits and how to submit them.
??? Disclaimer: this was in the early 1990's before the internet really became the accepted way of doing business in the real world.
??? Other disclaimer: Rock n roll is not the real world.
???? Best thing is to ask first if they will accept an internet press kit, other wise you may be wasting your time. One club my old band dealt with had an unwritten rule of not accepting press kits at the club - something that wasn't said when we dropped it off.
???? If they have a list of requirements for a press kit on their website, follow them to the letter, otherwise it is likely to wind up in the trash or the deleted file. 
???? What should be in it?
??? A demo on the format of their choice (CD-R or cassette...again, ask if the requirments aren't posted on their website)
??? A press release. This should be brief and contain a brief bio of the band, it's members where the band has played, any product you have out now, contact info (phone number and e-mail of who books the band, band website address, myspace or facebook site).
??? If there is a news peg such as "We just released our first CD, or played the XYZ festival to rave reviews) start the press release with that.
??? Keep it to one page, whether itis a print or electronic press release. Mention the band name a lot. Most people just scan these things for the highlights.) Use a clean easy to read font. You can put the band logo or design on thetop of the page as an eye catcher, other wise keep it easy to read, or people won't.
????If you have copies of CD or show reviews include them (if it's a hard copy press kit) other wise just include links to the specific articles on the web.
?? If you are attaching a?photo, ask the club what they prefere (JPEG,bitmap, GIF file). Why? They may use the photo in a ad and won't waste time converting something in the wrong format, also you want the best looking photo possible, in focus with ID's of each member.

?? Hope this helps. (Disclaimer, I work for a newspaper and see the good the bad and the unusable, when it comes to press releases.)

say hello to Guttenberg....MoparLarry

-----Original Message-----
From: bomp-digest owner-bomp-digest@xnet2.com
To: bomp-digest@xnet2.com
Sent: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 5:00 am
Subject: bomp-digest V2008 #2179






Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:04:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Mark Robinson" <wytches@lycos.com>
Subject: [bomp] press kits

   Hi
   I  know  some  folks on this list are or have been in bands. So here's
   the  question:  how  do  you put together a press kit. Have an outside
   firm handle it, do it yourself and hang it off the band's web site? We
   are  releasing material and booking agents have started to ask for our
   press kit. This has gotten out of hand
   thx
   mark
   Rev. Mark R. Robinson
   www.greeneleven.com

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