NZ Press & Publicity Writing | Releases, Bios, and Exhibition Copy
I write press releases, artist bios, exhibition copy, album one-sheets, EPK copy, and programme notes for musicians, artists, galleries, labels, and festivals in Aotearoa and abroad. The work bridges what an artist is actually doing and what a journalist, curator, or audience will read and act on. My background is in feature writing, so I write press copy the way editors want to receive it. The turnaround is short and the same copy has to land for journalists, listings desks, and the artist who'll read it back.
What Sets My Work Apart
Written for Industry
A press release works if a journalist can write a story off it without follow-up questions, a listings editor can lift a paragraph straight in, and the artist is happy to see their quote in print.
Across Music, Visual Arts, and Performance
Album press releases, EPKs, one-sheets. Exhibition press releases, artist bios, catalogue essays, room sheets. Festival and programme copy. Grant and residency narratives where the same material has to do different work.
Built Around Your Deadline
Most of this work runs to a fixed date. Standard turnaround on a press release is one week from brief to final draft, faster if the date demands it. Bios and short copy are quicker. I'll tell you upfront what's possible.
Trained as a Feature Writer
Most arts copy reaches for the same dozen phrases. Bold new vision. Genre-defying. Deeply personal exploration. They could be describing anything, which means they describe nothing. I write from the work itself: what it sounds like, what it's made of, what it's doing that the previous record or show wasn't.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Writes the copy that publicity runs on. Press releases, artist bios, EPK copy, one-sheets, exhibition releases, programme notes, and the project narratives in grant applications. Not the same as PR, which is the outreach: pitching journalists, managing media lists, securing coverage. I write the words. A publicist, or you, does the outreach.
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Musicians and labels with a release coming out. Visual artists with an exhibition opening. Galleries, festivals, and venues with programme copy to write. Anyone applying for grants or residencies where the project narrative has to do real work. Most clients come to me when the writing has become the bottleneck between the work being made and the work being seen.
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For a music release: the tracks, release date, label or distribution details, any existing bio, and a sense of where you want coverage. For an exhibition: the works or images, the curatorial framing if there is one, opening date, and the gallery's press list. For a bio: a thirty-minute interview. The more specific you can be about who the copy is for, the better the work gets.
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A press release is one week from brief to final draft, with one round of revisions inside that. Bios and short copy run two or three days. Catalogue essays and longer pieces need two to four weeks. If your deadline is tighter, ask. I can usually make it work.
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No. I write the copy, not the outreach. If you need media list management, journalist pitching, or coverage tracking, that's a publicist's job, and I'm happy to recommend people I trust.
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I quote per project after a short call. A press release and bio package sit at one end of the scale, a full EPK or catalogue essay at the other. If you're working to a label budget, grant line item, or gallery marketing spend, tell me the number and I'll tell you what's possible inside it.
Send me the project, the release date or opening, a sentence on what it is, and what you've got so far. I'll come back to you within two working days.