• DO NOT call demanding coverage for an event, team, or individual. Please understand that due to constraints of space and time, Hometown Weekly does not possess the resources to cover every event, team, or individual requesting coverage. You’re always welcome to send along an email to news@hometownweekly.net or sports@hometownweekly.net to make a suggestion - or, after the fact, to send along photos and/or accounts of your story. Providing they are appropriate for the paper, we’ll be glad to print them.
• DO NOT contact the editorial department with social media requests. All Hometown Weekly social media promotions run through the sales and advertising department.
• DO NOT write in the first or second person. “I” and “you” have no place in your press release. Neither do “we,” “our,” or “your.”
• DO NOT use explicitly promotional language in your submissions; it will be removed.
• DO NOT include hyperlinks in your articles - if you must include web links, spell them out fully, do not embed them in text.
• DO NOT mention businesses unless you have been explicitly granted permission. That includes event sponsors.
• DO NOT send your requests for coverage more than a couple of times. Due to the volume of submissions we receive at the paper, individuals sending repeated unsolicited requests for coverage will be subject to their contacts being blocked by our spam filters.
• DO NOT send document files in formats other than Microsoft Word or PDF. If you do not have access to Word or cannot make a PDF, feel free to paste the text of your article directly into your email. Other file formats run the risk of being discarded.
• DO NOT embed photo files in your Microsoft Word file. Send them separately from the document.
• DO NOT send flyers or releases in “Who,” “What,” “When” format. They are considered advertisements, and should be directed to our ad department if printed as is. If you would like the information in your flyer to appear in the paper, you may re-write it as a story and re-send it.
• DO NOT send multiple press releases or stories for a single event - you may only submit one release for a given event.
• DO look at the paper before proposing a story. Ask yourself: “Have I seen any stories like mine in the paper?” Like any publication, Hometown Weekly has its own tone, capabilities, and areas of interest. We are neither investigative reporters, nor public advocates. Chances are, if you haven’t seen a story like yours in the paper before, your story wouldn’t be appropriate for the paper.
• DO make sure any of your photos are high resolution. We are unable to print small photos. For reference, photos under 200 kb are typically considered too small.
• DO let us know about your event as far in advance as you can! The likelihood of us being able to cover an event is often dependent upon when we find out about it.