Use this checklist before submitting your own story. For the complete rules, see the Complete Press Release Writing Guide.

Focus on one clear, recent business announcement.

Avoid sales terms such as "buy," "free," "sale" and "trial." Write like a news article, not an advertisement.

Use factual statements and provide evidence for claims about partnerships, awards, funding, acquisitions or other third parties.

Use third person outside direct quotes. Avoid "I," "we," "our," "you" and "your" in normal article copy.

Keep headlines and article copy factual and neutral.

Choose simple wording that a general reader can understand.

Avoid phrases such as "In a world where..." and get directly to the business announcement.

Keep formatting clean and compatible with news publishers.

Do not put links in the headline, summary or images. Link relevant text inside the article body.

Use 8 to 20 words and clearly state the announcement. Avoid questions, sales language and ending punctuation.

Use clear images suitable for a general news audience. A maximum of 2 images can be included.

Use relevant comments from a named company spokesperson instead.

Stories should normally be between 350 and 1,200 words. Around 500 to 750 words works well for most announcements.

Check names, spelling, grammar, facts, links and formatting before uploading the file.