"List" Queries: Getting More Mileage

By Michael H. Sedge

A decade ago, I began using list submissions. This marketing technique increased my article sales, while decreasing my overhead and workload.

What is a list submission?

Very simply, it is a sales tool that syndication agencies have used for years. After I have sold a few features or article/photo packages to an editor, I merely submit article lists. This is particularly true if I am trying to sell already completed features.

The "list" idea first began, for me, in 1990. I had sold a few articles to Mini-World, a magazine produced in Japan, which at that time was edited by Naoko Yokoyama. Because its coverage included an array of subjects that I had written on, I decided to fax the editor an article list rather than individual queries. The list looked something like this:

The Art of Cameos from Shells

The art of handcrafting raised-design cameo jewelry from conch shells continues today, as it has for two hundred years, in the southern Italian town of Torre del Greco. This feature explains the step-by-step process of creating cameos, from the shell to the shine to the store. (800 words)

A Sea of Resources

Although mankind has used some ocean minerals and elements for centuries, extracting them in sufficient quantities to meet today's needs would be an awesome task. Research is being carried out in many areas, however, in hopes of finding new and improved ways to harvest and utilize these resources. (1,500 words)

Master of Horror

If Edgar Allan Poe were alive today, he'd have some tough competition. With such works as Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, and Pet Cemetery to his credit, Stephen King is without a doubt the master of contemporary horror. (Interview-1500 words)

Coffee: Italian Style

Hot or cold, topped with foamy milk, laced with liquor, or spiced, Italian coffee is a unique experience. Delve into the coffee-drinking culture of the Italian people, from its roots in the sixteenth century to its contemporary popularity. (1,200 words)

Square Dancing

Young people throughout Europe and Asia seem to be drawn like magnets to any trend that carries the "Made in USA" label. This holds true not only in fashion, film, and music, but dance as well. Almost overnight, in fact, a craze has developed for the fast-paced, American, barn-stomping do-si-do step known as square dancing. (1,200 words)

From this list, the cameo article and interview with Stephen King were purchased and appeared in Mini-World magazine. Yokoyama also took the Italian coffee piece to include as a chapter in Italian Family Meals released by Mini-World Books. Following this initial, positive experience with lists, I continued this method of marketing, resulting in instances of greater and less success.

The key to benefiting from submitting article lists is that the editor knows you and your work. I would not attempt to sell features in this way until I had sold at least two articles through traditional query submissions, though I know other writers who have tried-some with limited success.

One of the disadvantages of this marketing technique is that you will rarely get an assignment. More often an editor will agree to look at the completed manuscript(s) on speculation if he or she is interested in a particular topic. My personal view is that if I have already written the article, there is little to loose.

I now advise friends and colleagues to take one day and list the articles they have published in the past three years. Then consider which of these are still valid topics. Are they timeless or, as some people call them, "evergreen" pieces? If the latter, they might make perfect list articles. Next to each topic, write where the original article appeared in print. Then consider what rights you have to offer.

First serial rights, whether in North America, United Kingdom, Australia, etc., are only the beginning. You still have an entire world of rights out there to sell. (See WOL Article Archives for Michael Sedge's feature on rights.)

Now you should have enough articles-at least four-to make up a list submission with a brief description of each feature, as I did above. You now merely select the editors and email your list. It is that simple.

© Michael Sedge

A native of Flint, Michigan, Michael Sedge has worked in the marketing, publishing, and telecommunications industries for over 30 years.

An accomplished writer (with over 3,500 published articles, 20 books, and four television documentaries to his credit), Sedge has resided in Europe since 1973.

Following positions as Naples Bureau Chief, International Daily News, and a military correspondent for The Associated Press, Newsweek, and Time-Life books, Sedge founded Strawberry Media, a US-European media/marketing agency, in 1988. Under his direction, the company soon had international clients such as Arrowhead Space & Telecommunications, AT&T, BankAmerica, Holiday Inn International, MCIWorldcom, Mobil Oil, and Rapid Link Telecommunications.