Some experts say that new releases have seen their day. There are, of course, situations where you need to use them, but they’re getting to be few and far between. Especially when thinking about the fact that most of us are doing our pitching via email these days. When you pitch via email, you have exactly four lines to make your point because most people are looking at email in the preview mode, and they can see two to four lines of your pitch. So, the meat of it better be in there. That’s pretty hard to do with a press release. The point is to be short and sweet and think like a journalist, and give them the elevator pitch. The best way to do that is in a pitch letter.

There are times when—if you’re announcing a personnel change or you’re sending financial results or something where there are legal requirements for you to put specific information in—then you have to do that. But the pitch letter is quickly become the vehicle of preference for today’s journalists to receive their tips.

For insight into the pitch letter, how to use it and what’s in it, check out Transcript—How To Write a Pitch Letter.