Pamphlets
A pamphlet should cover a very narrow topic. If you try to cover a broad topic in a small publication, you'll have to cover it superficially. Ideally, you should publish a series of pamphets on related topics, so that together they cover a broader subject area comprehensively.

Composing your own gives you the opportunity to coordinate the design (and writing style) with your letterhead, brochure, and other materials. You know your clientele, and you can provide originally written information that is tailored precisely to their needs and issues. And you avoid the possibility that recipients get the same canned pamphlet from other firms too.

On the other hand, canned pamphlets save you time and — if you purchase bulk quantities — design and printing expense. A wide variety of literature is available from pamphlet publishers. But you should never send a canned pamphlet to the media — chances are they've seen it already, and it does not help establish your credibility.

FAQs and backgrounders
When you create these informal materials, you should focus on authoritativeness, accuracy, readability, and educational value rather than impressive design. You can store the content electronically and print them out as needed, or at least print a master and make photocopies as needed. In most cases, you can print or copy them on your letterhead or plain paper — lightly colored paper is fine, but don't use dark or boldly colored paper or it'll be hard to read and look too much like a grocery store flyer.

An FAQ sheet should thoroughly answer a single question that clients and customers ask, well, frequently. Send them to the media only when they help explain a newsworthy event or enhance their coverage of an issue.

FAQs typically range in length from half a page to two pages (front and back of one sheet). At the end of the explanatory text, refer to further sources of information: books, articles, videotapes, websites, etc. And try to make those further sources available in your office.

Backgrounders are more comprehensive, typically three or four pages and sometimes longer, and typically a bit more sophisticated than FAQs.

Educational pieces are usually printed, but you can also make them available online as PDF downloads or rich-text files. The key is to make it ultra-convenient for reporters and clients to obtain them. All literature should bear your name and contact information, and at most a three-sentence bio. Readers don't care where you went to law school; they want to know why you are qualified to write about the topic.

Periodicals
Like pamphlets, periodical literature — such as newsletters, alerts, clippings, and reprints — must be informative rather than promotional in their editorial concept. If you publish information that is useful, that helps readers improve their bottom line or stay out of trouble, they will remember you as a reliable source of valuable advice and information.

If you want to distribute a news release or announcement — such as announcing a new practice area, a new website feature, or additional staff — do that as a separate enclosure or separate mailing altogether, not as part of the periodical content. If your periodical literature is too promotional and self-serving, reporters won't take it seriously.

Newsletters
Publishing a newsletter is a big commitment. Once you start publishing one, you must follow through, or you'll appear unable to fulfill your promises. Before you begin, make a list of articles that might appear throughout the first full year of publication. (You can substitute more timely articles when the need or opportunity arises.) Estimate the time and expense involved in writing, producing, and distributing the letter. Then double your estimates.