Press Release Generator

Press Release Generator

Overview

This skill writes a professional press release that announces an intelligent textbook (or a major milestone, such as a new edition or a tie-in to current events or legislation). It pulls the same canonical book statistics that the README, LinkedIn, and case-study skills use, then reshapes them into the form journalists actually expect: Associated Press (AP) style, inverted-pyramid structure, a genuine news hook, attributed quotes, and a boilerplate.

A press release is not a LinkedIn post with a dateline glued on. The two formats optimize for different readers, and that difference drives almost every instruction below:

• A LinkedIn post sells scope to peers — metrics forward, emoji, hashtags, first person, enthusiastic.
• A press release gives a busy editor a story they can run with minimal rewriting — news value forward, human stakes, third person, neutral reported tone, verifiable facts, and a real person to call.

If you find yourself reaching for the LinkedIn voice (📊 bullet dumps, "thrilled to announce," hashtags), stop — that is the wrong instrument.

When to Use This Skill

• A textbook is being published or has reached a newsworthy milestone
• An advocacy group, school, library, or nonprofit wants media coverage
• The content ties to current events, a new law, a public-health need, or a local angle that a regional outlet would care about
• The user mentions a press release, news release, media advisory, press statement, embargo, or "getting picked up" by the press
• A conference, launch event, or grant announcement needs a written release

Two operating modes (this matters — read before Step 1)

The skill must work in both of these situations, because the user often wants a release for a book that is already deployed but not checked out locally:

1. Inside the textbook repo (ideal): docs/learning-graph/book-metrics.json and mkdocs.yml are on disk. Use the canonical metrics directly.
2. Live site only: you have a published URL but no repo. Derive a verified factual skeleton from the deployed site instead — see Step 2B. Do not invent numbers you cannot see; an editor will fact-check them.

Detect which mode you are in before gathering data, and tell the user which one you used so they know how the figures were sourced.

Workflow

Step 1 — Gather book metadata

From mkdocs.yml (or, in live-site mode, the site <head> and footer):

• site_name — the textbook title
• site_url — the live URL (the single most important link in the release)
• site_description — one-line description
• repo_url — repository, for a "the project is open source" line if relevant

From docs/course-description.md (if present): audience, prerequisites, subject scope, and learning goals. These shape the "who is this for" sentence.

Step 2A — Metrics from the repo (preferred)

Read the canonical metrics file — never recount content by hand or scrape the brittle book-metrics.md table. This is the same source the other book skills use, so every artifact reports identical numbers.

python3 - <<'PY'
import json, pathlib, sys
p = pathlib.Path("docs/learning-graph/book-metrics.json")
if not p.exists():
    sys.exit("book-metrics.json missing — run bk-generate-book-metrics, or use Step 2B")
print(json.dumps(json.loads(p.read_text())["metrics"], indent=2))
PY

Useful keys: chapters, concepts, glossaryTerms, quizQuestions, microsims, words, equivalentPages, faqs, diagrams, developmentStage.

Step 2B — Facts from the live site (fallback)

When there is no repo, the deployed site still yields hard, checkable facts. The sitemap is the fastest route to an accurate structural skeleton:

curl -s https://SITE/sitemap.xml | grep -o '<loc>[^<]*</loc>' | sed 's/<[^>]*>//g'

From the URL list you can count chapters, simulations (/sims/), quizzes, and named tools, and confirm the presence of a glossary, FAQ, and resources page. Fetch the home page for the title, tagline, publisher, and mission language. Prefer fewer, certain numbers (e.g., "nine chapters and four interactive simulations," both countable from the sitemap) over impressive-but-unverifiable ones. Tell the user which figures came from the sitemap so they can confirm.

Step 3 — Get the news hook and the things only a human can supply

This is the step that separates a real release from a glorified summary, and it is the step the repo cannot answer for you. Interview the user for:

• The angle — why is this news now? A new resource alone is weak. Strong hooks: ties to a specific law or policy, a public-health statistic, a local "first," a season (back-to-school), a grant, an event, an unmet need the data exposes. Lead with this.
• Dateline city and state — usually the publishing organization's home city.
• Release timing — "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" or an embargo ("EMBARGOED UNTIL ...").
• Spokesperson quote(s) — full name, title, organization, and an approved quote. One or two only (a principal/leader, plus optionally a partner, educator, parent, or subject expert).
• Boilerplate — the standing "About [Organization]" paragraph.
• Media contact — name, email, phone.

If the user does not have a quote or contact yet, do not stall and do not invent them — see "Never fabricate sourced facts" below.

Step 4 — Assemble in AP style

Use the structure and rules in the AP Style Reference section. Build the body in inverted-pyramid order: the single most important fact first, then decreasing importance, so an editor can cut from the bottom without losing the story.

Step 5 — Run the AP checklist

Before presenting, verify against the Quality Checklist below. AP-style slips (a superlative in the headline, a wrong month abbreviation, a quote that starts with "I") are exactly what signals "amateur" to an editor.

Step 6 — Deliver with a short distribution note

Present the release as clean, copy-paste-ready text (plain paragraphs, no markdown styling inside the release body — newsrooms want plain text). Follow it with 2–4 lines of practical distribution advice tailored to the topic: which kinds of outlets fit (local dailies, education trade press, the relevant advocacy/professional newsletters, the city/regional desk), and a reminder to send as pasted text plus a PDF, not only an attachment.