Online Press Release Service

PR Newswire for Journalists
If you are a freelance writer or journalist, you should definitely check out the PR Newswire website. Go to their main page, then click on the PR Newswire for Journalists link, on the top left menu bar.

I registered with the site around one year ago, and setup my profile to have press releases, related to my topics of interest, sent directly to my email address. I'm using information from the press releases to write posts to the Bike Diva, Charity Mile and Charity Fitness Events blogs.

Create Opportunity
Another fantastic feature of PR Newswire, is the ability to setup media search campaigns, if you are looking for specific information. I setup two separate campaigns within the past few weeks for my two main areas of interest.

Herbs & Spices Campaign
One campaign was a request for information and news related to herbs & spices, along with a request for review copies of herb cookbooks and samples of herb related merchandise.

So far my herb campaign has resulted in receiving review copies of the books Field Guide to Herbs and Spices by Aliza Green, and The Flavor Bible by Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg. I have also received a box of Truvia, nature's calorie-free sweetener, to sample. I will be writing reviews of the two books for the Suite101 website - I am the Herbs & Spices Feature Writer for Suite101.

Cycling & Fitness Campaign
I also created an opportunity for my other main interest - cycling and fitness. I requested information on cycling and fitness news and events, along with samples of cycling related books and equipment. Here are the results of that campaign so far:

1. Hydrapak - 2 hydration packs and a gelbot water bottle
2. Oakley - sport performance eyewear
3. ZICO - case of 3 flavors of pure coconut water
4. VE2 - package of VE2 Energy Gum
5. Nexcare - 5 boxes of waterproof sports bandages and tapes
6. Vital Action - 4 flavors of their sports performance water
7. Detour - 10 varieties of their sports activity protein bars
8. YogaFit - yoga DVD for Cyclists
9. EKHO - WM108 and WM128 heart rate monitors and Bee Fit pedometer
10. Dr. Jeff Spencer’s bookTurn it Up! How to Perform at Your Highest Level for a Lifetime
11. Todd Crandell’s book Racing for Recovery: From Addict to Ironman and DVD Addict: Racing for Recovery, The Todd Crandell Story
12. Tom & Jerry Caraccioli’s book Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
13. Expresso Fitness - I’ll be traveling to a local gym to try out their upright stationery bike.

I will be sampling and reviewing all of these products during the next few weeks and months. Then I will write reviews and articles on all the products for the various sites I write for.

PR Newswire has many more features available than what I'm detailing in this post. I'm just mentioning the services that I find most helpful.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Writing Diva

P.S. Let me know if you know of any sites that are similar to PR Newswire, and I'll check them out ASAP. I would also like to hear from other writers that are using PR Newswire.