---
name: press-release-writer
description: Professional press release writing that follows Press Advantage guidelines and journalistic standards. Use when the user asks to write a press release, create a news announcement, draft a PR, or mentions Press Advantage distribution. Automatically generates LSI terms and industry entities, follows strict formatting rules (no lists/bullets/questions/headings in body, third-person only), and produces 600-750 word releases in objective journalistic style.
---

# Press Release Writer

This skill creates professional press releases that comply with Press Advantage guidelines and standard journalistic conventions. The skill automatically handles LSI term generation, maintains proper structure, and ensures compliance with strict editorial requirements.

## Core Workflow

When the user provides a press release topic, follow this workflow:

1. **Generate 7 Compliant Headlines**:
   - Immediately generate 7 unique, compliant headline options based on the topic
   - Each headline must be:
     - Maximum 70 characters
     - Title case
     - News-focused (not promotional)
     - Free of location keywords, superlatives (best/top/leading/#1), and questions
     - Contains actual news announcement
   - Present all 7 titles to an AI agent to judge which is best.  This can be decided by looking at titles on Press Advantage for other businesses, and seeing how closely the headline follows the instructions.

2. **Gather Any Additional Required Information**:
   - If the user provides LSI terms explicitly, use them
   - If a URL is provided, fetch it for context
   

3. **Automatic Generation**:
   - Generate LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) terms relevant to the topic and industry
   - Identify relevant industry entities (companies, organizations, standards, technologies)
   - Research current industry context if needed
   - Lookup the company representative name and title from the md file based on the company name.

4. **Write the Press Release** following all requirements below

## Headline Generation Guidelines

When generating the 7 headline options:

**Variety in Approach**:
- Mix different angles: announcement-focused, impact-focused, innovation-focused
- Vary the structure while maintaining news format
- Use different verbs: announces, launches, unveils, introduces, expands, achieves
- Emphasize different aspects: product, partnership, milestone, expansion, award

**Character Count Management**:
- Keep under 70 characters including spaces
- Shorter is often better (55-65 characters is ideal)
- Count carefully before presenting

**Compliance Checks**:
- No questions (e.g., "Are You Ready for...?")
- No location keywords (e.g., "Chicago," "Milwaukee," city or state names)
- No superlatives (e.g., "Best," "Leading," "Top," "#1")
- No promotional language (e.g., "Revolutionary," "Game-Changing")
- Focus on the news, not the hype

**Examples of Good Headlines**:
- "TechCorp Launches AI-Powered Customer Service Platform" (56 chars)
- "Green Solutions Secures $50M Series B Funding Round" (52 chars)
- "Acme Industries Expands Operations to European Markets" (55 chars)
- "DataFlow Announces Strategic Partnership with IBM" (50 chars)
- "HealthTech Achieves ISO 27001 Certification" (44 chars)
- Also check the headlines.md file (if it exists) for other examples of good headlines.

**Examples of Bad Headlines** (DO NOT USE):
- ❌ "Is Your Business Ready for AI Customer Service?" (question)
- ❌ "Chicago's Leading TechCorp Launches New Platform" (location + superlative)
- ❌ "Best-in-Class AI Solution Revolutionizes Support" (superlative + hype)
- ❌ "TechCorp: The #1 Choice for Customer Service AI" (superlative + promotional)

## Critical Press Advantage Requirements

### Content Type
- This is a PRESS RELEASE, not an advertorial, blog post, or promotional content
- Must be objective news announcement written in journalistic style
- Must announce actual NEWS (about products/services, milestones, awards, reactions to current events)
- Must read like it could appear verbatim in a newspaper

### Writing Style - MANDATORY
- **100% objective** - no hype, big claims, exclamation points, or sales messages
- **Third-person ONLY** - except for direct quotes from executives
- **NO first-person** ("I", "we", "our") except in quotes
- **NO second-person** ("you", "your")
- **NO questions** anywhere in headline or body
- **NO lists, bullets, or numbered items** - write everything in paragraph form
- **NO subheadings** in the body
- **NO emoji**
- **NO tables**
- Perfect grammar and spelling required

### Word Count - CRITICAL
- **MINIMUM: 575 words**
- **TARGET: 600-750 words** (this is the sweet spot)
- **MAXIMUM: 800 words**
- Word count takes precedence over paragraph count
- Typically 14-16 paragraphs for 600-750 word range

### Structure Requirements

**First Paragraph (Lead)**:
- Must clearly identify the organization announcing the news
- Must answer: Who, What, When, Where, Why
- Should be 1-2 direct sentences
- Contains the actual announcement

**Body Paragraphs**:
- 2-4 sentences per paragraph maximum
- Follow inverted pyramid structure (most important info first)
- All quotes must be attributed to named individuals with titles
- Use names and titles from any provided data files

**Headline**:
- Selected from the 7 generated options (see Headline Generation Guidelines above)
- Maximum 70 characters
- Title case
- One main keyword
- NO location/geographic keywords (limits distribution)
- NO superlatives (best, top, leading, #1)
- NO questions
- Must contain actual news announcement

### Call to Action
- ✅ Acceptable: "Visit www.company.com to learn more" or "For more information, visit..."
- ❌ Forbidden: "Buy now", "Sign up today", "Limited time offer", "Click here to purchase"

### What Gets REJECTED (Automatic Rejection)

**Advertorial Characteristics**:
- Promotional tone ("revolutionary", "amazing", "best in class")
- Product-centric messaging (features/benefits vs. news)
- Customer testimonials or reviews
- Sales-oriented calls to action
- Opinion-based content
- Personal perspectives

**Format Violations**:
- Lists or bullets in body
- Questions anywhere
- Subheadings in body
- First-person outside quotes
- Excessive localization (city names in headlines)

## LSI Term Generation

When the user does NOT provide LSI terms explicitly, automatically generate them:

**What are LSI terms?**
- Semantically related keywords and phrases
- Industry-specific terminology
- Related concepts and technologies
- Synonyms and variations
- Contextual language that signals topical relevance

**How to use LSI terms**:
- Integrate naturally throughout the press release
- Use 10-2 relevant LSI terms across the 600-750 words
- Don't force keywords - maintain natural flow
- Distribute terms across different paragraphs

**Example LSI terms for "sustainable packaging"**:
- Biodegradable materials, circular economy, eco-friendly alternatives, carbon footprint reduction, recycled content, compostable solutions, environmental impact, waste reduction, green initiatives, packaging innovation

## Required Phrase Handling

If the user provides a specific phrase that must be included:
- Use it exactly once in the body
- Integrate it naturally into a relevant paragraph
- Don't force it awkwardly

## URL Context Integration

If the user provides a URL:
- Use web_fetch to retrieve the content
- This will typically give you the factual background needed to write the release
- Extract key facts, dates, names, and context
- Use this information to enrich the press release
- Maintain objectivity - don't copy promotional language

## Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:
- [ ] 600-750 words (minimum 550, maximum 800)
- [ ] First paragraph clearly identifies the organization
- [ ] Third-person throughout (except quotes)
- [ ] No lists, bullets, questions, or subheadings in body
- [ ] 2-4 sentences per paragraph
- [ ] All quotes attributed with names and titles
- [ ] LSI terms naturally integrated
- [ ] Required phrase used exactly once (if provided)
- [ ] Objective, journalistic tone
- [ ] Perfect grammar and spelling
- [ ] No promotional or sales language
- [ ] Headline under 70 characters
- [ ] Reads like it could appear in a newspaper

## Writing Approach

1. Start with the most newsworthy information in the lead
2. Build credibility with specific details (dates, numbers, names)
3. Include 1-2 executive quotes for human perspective
4. Provide context about the company/organization
5. Explain significance and impact
6. End with company boilerplate and contact information
7. Write in inverted pyramid style - can be cut from bottom up

## Tone Guidelines

- Professional and authoritative
- Objective and factual
- Confident but not boastful
- Newsworthy, not promotional
- Clear and concise
- Industry-appropriate formality

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

- Using "we", "our", "you" outside of quotes
- Including any lists or bullet points
- Adding subheadings in the body
- Writing in blog or editorial style
- Making the headline a question
- Focusing on product features instead of news
- Including testimonials or reviews
- Using promotional adjectives
- Falling below 550 words or exceeding 800 words
- Not clearly identifying the announcing organization
- Forgetting to attribute quotes
- Creating advertorial content instead of news