A press kit is a small, tidy set of materials that lets a journalist, curator, or event organiser write about you without chasing you for basics. Its job is to remove friction. When the facts, images, and contacts are ready in one place, a stranger can do that work faster and more accurately.
Founders and artists need slightly different contents, but the underlying logic is the same. Give people what they need, in a form they can use, with the rights already settled. This checklist walks through the parts and the order to build them.
What a press kit is for
The kit serves the writer, not you. A journalist works to a deadline and will use whatever is easiest to reach. If your facts are buried and your images are locked, they will move on. A good kit answers the obvious questions before they are asked.
Writers rarely have time to interview you before they write a caption. They need the spelling of your name, your role, and the one fact that frames the piece. A kit that supplies all of that in seconds keeps you in the running when the deadline is tight.
Think of it as a small shop with labelled shelves. Everything a writer needs should be findable in one or two clicks. Build it before you need it. A launch, a show, or an award shortlist rarely gives much warning, and assembling files in a hurry tends to produce errors.
The core documents
Start with text. Two documents cover most needs, and both should exist as plain files that copy and paste cleanly.
The bio and the short bio
Keep two lengths. A short bio of roughly fifty words covers a caption or a listing. A longer bio of 100 to 150 words covers a programme note or an article footer. Both should be in the third person, so a publisher can use them without editing.
The fact sheet
A fact sheet is a plain list of fixed facts. For a founder it might hold the company name, what it does, the founding year, and the location. For an artist it might hold the practice, the medium, the year the practice began, and notable bodies of work. Every line should be a fact you can support. Leave out anything you cannot confirm.
Images and rights
Visual material is where kits most often fail. Send images that are already the right size, already labelled, and already cleared for use.
For an artist, that means good photographs of the work, with credits for the photographer and for the work itself. For a founder, that means a clean headshot and a few contextual images, such as the team or the workspace. Include captions in a separate text file so a writer does not have to guess.
State the usage rights in plain words. Say what a publication may use, for what purpose, and under what credit. If a photographer owns the image, name them and note the terms. Rights are not a detail to settle later. They are part of the kit.
Contact and access
Give one clear route in. A single named contact, an email address, and a response time that is realistic. If you use a booking or management contact, say so, and make sure that person expects the enquiry.
Add availability for interviews or studio visits if relevant. A short line telling a writer when you can talk saves a round of emails. State your location if it affects scheduling, and mention a time zone if you work across borders. Give a second route only when the first may fail, such as a mobile number for a same-day request.
Format and hosting
Keep the kit simple. A single page on your website with clear sections and download links is usually enough. Avoid formats that require special software to open. Plain text, PDF, and common image formats cover nearly every case.
Name files so they make sense on their own. A file called bio-short.txt is easier to sort than final-final-v3. Consistent naming saves a busy writer time.
Test every link before you send the kit out. A broken download at the moment a writer needs it undoes the good will the rest of the kit created. Where you can, offer a single zipped folder as well as the individual files, so a writer can take everything in one step.
Keeping it current
Set a reminder to review the kit twice a year. Check the facts, the images, the links, and the rights. Replace worn headlines and outdated roles. An out-of-date kit causes small errors that are hard to correct once they are published.
Practical checklist
- [ ] Write both a short bio and a longer bio in the third person.
- [ ] Prepare a fact sheet of statements you can support.
- [ ] Supply images at the right size with clear captions.
- [ ] State the usage rights for every image in plain words.
- [ ] Name one contact route and a realistic response time.
- [ ] Note your availability for interviews or visits.
- [ ] Host the kit on one simple page using plain file formats.
- [ ] Review the kit twice a year and update it.
Contributing to BGTC Voice
A well-built press kit makes your work easier for others to describe and place. If you have prepared one for a launch, a show, or an application, the practical choices behind it are useful to share. BGTC Voice welcomes short accounts that explain what a writer actually needed and what you changed as a result.