Press Kit Checklist: What a Writer Needs So They Do Not Have to Ask You

Who opens a press kit, and do you need one?

The readers of a press kit are not only journalists. They are newsletter authors writing a roundup, bloggers building a list, podcast hosts preparing a question, directory editors checking a listing and anyone writing about your category for the first time. All of them share one problem: they are short of time and will cover whatever they can describe correctly from what is in front of them. A press kit is the pile of correct material, gathered in one place so nobody has to guess a spelling or crop a screenshot from a video.

You do not need a full kit for every product. If you will send no outreach, an “about” page with a name, a description and a contact address is enough. Build the kit when you plan to write to people you do not know, since the first thing a stranger does with your pitch is look for the facts. The press kit entry in the glossary defines the term, the press pitch email template gives you the message that points to it, and the playbook for press and blog outreach says who to write to.

What goes on the one-page fact sheet?

The fact sheet is the part most writers will actually read. Keep it to one screen, in plain text rather than an image, so that it can be copied. Every item should be checkable by the writer in seconds.

1. The product name exactly as you want it written, with a note on capitalisation or pronunciation if it is not obvious, because wrong spellings spread.
2. One sentence saying what it is and who it is for, with no adjectives that need proof.
3. The date it went live, or the date it will, so a writer does not report an old launch as new.
4. Where to try it: a working link, and say whether an account is needed.
5. The price, or “free”, and what is free and what is not.
6. The platforms it runs on, such as web, iOS or a browser, stated narrowly.
7. Who made it: name, role and a link to a profile writers can verify.
8. A contact address, and when you will reply, because a writer on a deadline moves on if you are silent.
9. Only facts you can show. If you quote a number, such as users or revenue, link where it comes from; if you do not have one, leave it out.

[PRODUCT NAME]  (say it: [pronunciation, if needed])
One line: [what it is, for whom]

Status: [live since DATE / launching DATE]
Try it: [link]  (account needed: yes/no)
Price: [free / price and what it covers]
Runs on: [web / iOS / Chrome / ...]

Made by: [name], [role]. [profile link]
Based in: [city or country, if you want it known]

What is new: [one thing that happened in the last month]
What it is not: [one honest limit]

Contact: [email]  (I reply within [x] hours on weekdays)

Assets: [link to the folder or zip]
Last updated: [date]

Which words should you write ahead of time?

A writer who copies your sentence verbatim is doing you a favour, so write sentences worth copying and write them in three lengths. The shortest fits a caption or a list. The middle one fits a paragraph in a roundup. The long one gives context for a full piece. All three should say the same thing at different scales, and none should read like an advertisement.

• Short (about twenty words): what it is and who it is for.
• Medium (about seventy words): the problem, how the product solves it and what makes it different, without superlatives.
• Long (a few short paragraphs): why you built it, how it works, what it costs and what is still rough.
• Founder bio (three sentences): who you are and why you are the person making this, with no invented credentials.
• Two or three quotable lines written as if you said them aloud, which a writer can use with your name.
• Questions you expect: how it differs from the obvious alternative, how data is handled and what it costs to try. Answer each in a sentence.

Which images and files should you supply?

• Logo files: a vector file, if you have one, and a PNG on transparent background, with versions that work on light and dark pages. The logo and icon specs list what platforms expect.
• Product screenshots: three to five, using the real product with believable data, cropped to the product itself without your browser’s toolbar and tabs. The screenshot answer shows how.
• A short demo video of the product doing its main job, silent or with captions, since writers often embed it. See how to record a demo video.
• A founder photo, only if you are comfortable with it being published, and say so; some people prefer to be named without a picture.
• A share image that matches your page, as in the OG image specs, so a writer who pastes your link sees a good card.

Name files for what they are, such as product-name-dashboard.png, not Screenshot 2026-11-13.png. State plainly how the images may be used: that writers may use them for coverage of the product, and whether they must credit you. If any image contains someone else’s work, such as a stock photo or a customer’s data, replace it before you publish the kit.

How do you let a writer try the product without a hurdle?

A writer who cannot try the product will describe it from your own words, which is exactly what you were hoping to avoid. Remove the hurdle. If an account is needed, supply a demo login or a link that creates one without a form. If the product is paid, offer a free period for reviewers, in writing, with an end date. If you are asking for an embargo, a date before which something must not be published, say so at the very top of the first message and keep it short, because it is a request, and a writer may decline it.

Check the access yourself by opening the link in a private window, signing in with the demo details and trying the main path. A press kit with a broken login is worse than none, since it makes the product look unfinished at the moment someone was prepared to look.

Where does the kit live, and when do you build it?

Host it on a public page of your own site, usually at a path like /press, with the fact sheet as plain text on the page and the images in a single zip alongside individual downloads. Do not put it behind a form or inside a PDF only; both slow the one person you need to move quickly. Put the date at the top, and update it when the facts change.

Once the page is ready, you can launch your product free on this board and use the public launch page as one more link a writer can open. The ideas board shows how other builders describe a product in a line.

What can you skip, and which mistakes lose coverage?

• Skip a glossy PDF brochure. It cannot be copied from or cropped, and few writers read it.
• Skip stock photos of people at laptops; they say nothing about your product.
• Skip customer logos you did not ask permission to use.
• Mistake: claims you cannot show. A figure a writer checks and cannot confirm costs you the whole piece.
• Mistake: a kit nobody updated. An old price or an old date makes writers doubt everything else.
• Mistake: making writers ask for the basics. Each email you require is a reason to move on.