Paper, Not Promises: Twelve Rules for Getting Public Records
$29
Most public records requests fail before they’re ever answered — buried in the wrong inbox, padded with a reason nobody asked for, or priced into silence. Paper, Not Promises gives you twelve field-tested rules for filing a public records request that actually gets a document back: who to send it to, what to name, and how to fight a bogus fee. Includes a ready-to-use request template and an AI drafting prompt.
Description
Twelve Rules for Getting Public Records — No Law Degree Required
Public records law reads like a democratic promise: the government’s papers belong to the public. In practice, most requests die in the same three ways — sent to the wrong desk, worded so broadly the agency buries you in a fee estimate, or answered with silence nobody bothered to track. Paper, Not Promises is a field guide built from two decades of filing public records requests, distilled into twelve rules anyone can follow: parents tracking a school board vote, neighbors checking a city contract, or a first-time reporter on deadline.
What’s Inside
- The twelve rules, in plain language, covering where to send a request, what to name, how to scope it so it actually gets filled, and what to do when an agency says a record doesn’t exist
- A copy-and-fill public records request template — the same five-sentence form that does the work of six of the twelve rules at once
- A dedicated AI section: how to use ChatGPT, Claude, or any large language model to draft a request without it hallucinating a law that doesn’t exist
- Guidance on fighting inflated fee estimates and forcing an agency to show its math
- A plain-language walkthrough of when to stop and call a lawyer
Who This Is For
Anyone filing their first public records, FOIA, sunshine law, or right-to-know request — no legal background required. This is not a substitute for legal advice; it’s a filing habit built to survive contact with a real records office.
Format
Digital PDF, delivered instantly after purchase. First edition, September 2026, published by Revolt Training.
