Phyllis Edgerly Ring has written more than 900 published articles in several dozen magazines that include Yankee, American Profile, Christian Science Monitor, Hope, Ms., Liguorian, Elan, American Visions, Northeast Outdoors, and The World & I.  Ms. Ring spent six years as features editor for a New Hampshire newspaper group, and was awarded first place two years consecutively in the feature-writing category of the New Hampshire Press Association’s annual competition. She was also a 2002 recipient of the Media Excellence Award from the National Foundation for Women Legislators.  In addition to nonfiction, Ms. Ring has also published stories and articles for children that have appeared in Pockets and Brilliant Star magazines, and her picture book, Jamila Does Not Want A Bat in Her House, is forthcoming from Brilliant Books.

 

 

HOW ABOUT A SIDEBAR WITH THAT?

Serve up sidebars and increase your freelance sales

by Phyllis Ring

 

Readers expect two things when they page through a magazine: worthwhile information they can access quickly and an appealing layout that makes that content easy to read. Editors count on writers to help provide each of these, and sidebars are often a very effective tool in the process

Typically between 100 and 500 words long, these shorter pieces accompany and complement an article with supplementary information on the topic. Sidebars usually have their own headline, are set off from the main article in a box, and share information in a condensed way, frequently through listed or bulleted items or very short paragraphs.

 In the course of researching an article, you often uncover information that may be too lengthy, or too marginally related for you to incorporate into the main text itself, yet it may also seem too interesting to leave out. Sidebars can help you corral and feature this, and are also a fast and easy way to increase your publishing credits, since they take less time to write. Suggesting a relevant and appealing sidebar when you query an editor about an article idea often boosts your chances of an assignment or sale, and may even increase the payment you receive for it.

 When I wanted to add value and interest to service piece about girls’ susceptibility to eating disorders, I included a 275-word sidebar of bulleted tips about how adults could help young people avoid this trap. When the editor wondered whether boys might also struggle with this issue, I had a whole new sidebar possibility. At a little more than 300 words, “What About the Boys?” netted me an extra $150 for that story, and ultimately helped me land more sales of this manuscript, too.

 

 

Dish out an appetizing sidebar 

Sidebars are a welcome addition to most any article because they serve the needs of readers and editors. Readers like them because they provide near-instant gratification—information that’s brief, accessible in one place, and usually digested quickly and easily. Sidebars are often a handy resource in themselves, one that readers may clip or tear out for future reference, making them what one editor I know calls “refrigerator material”.

Magazine editors love sidebars because readers do, because they expand on the article’s take-away value, and because they are one more way to break up long, uninterrupted (i.e. boring) blocks of text. Sidebars can help editors design far more attractive page lay-outs, just as photos, graphics, and other artwork can. Editors also know that a sidebar’s “bite-size” content lets readers sample an article’s topic and may whet their appetite for the article’s “main course.”

 Obviously, a sidebar should contain information that complements or expands on the article’s focus or theme. Yet while it sheds light on this, a sidebar should also be able to stand on its own without readers having to read the main article in order to understand it. Ideally, a sidebar’s content is factual, abbreviated, and delivered in a more direct voice and pace, with briefer wording, shorter sentences, and really active verbs. This is often a place for the writer to address the reader with such directive guidance as, “check out” this resource or “avoid” making that mistake.

 If you plan to offer a sidebar or two when approaching an editor, be sure to study some recent issues of the magazine closely to get a feel for how the publication features and uses them. Notice what type and length are published most frequently and pattern what you have to offer after these. Even if a magazine doesn’t seem to feature sidebars, you can still suggest the idea for a brief, focused one when you query about your article idea.

Studying magazines’ sidebars can also be a fruitful source of future article topics, either for that publication or a different one. A brief sidebar I once saw about the use of marine animals in military operations spawned a 1,200-word feature story that I later wrote and sold.

 Sometimes, if you have access to a magazine’s editorial calendar or know future themes that it plans to cover, you can even offer a stand-alone sidebar-length piece on one of those topics. It’s important to keep it tightly written and focused, and within the word length that the magazine prefers for sidebars. (You can also offer to tailor it to the editor’s preferences when you describe it in a query letter.)

 Stand-alone sidebars, especially those that offer information in a list format, can be a good way to break into magazines, including larger markets, since they’re usually more willing to consider something very short and often have more need for pieces of this length. One sidebar that I sold this way was eventually published as a short department piece in the front of the magazine, while another that I wrote about how mothers can quit smoking was featured in a parenting magazine alongside another writer’s full-length article about preparing to have a baby.

 

 

A menu of possibilities

 

A sidebar’s content can be anything from a more in-depth exploration of something you’ve mentioned in the article to a quiz designed to tease readers’ attention and get them interested in the subject. It might be a mini article in itself or a simple list of tips or resources related to the topic.

 An article I was assigned to write about vision care ultimately needed to address how computer-use affects our eyes. While this information didn’t fit easily into the tips-style format of diet and natural health-care measures that I was asked to compile, I readily turned it into two sidebars. One featured information about how to set up a “vision-friendly” computer work space, while the other detailed specific exercises designed to offset eye strain. In writing another heath feature, I found that a five-question quiz based on material developed by a national diabetes association was a great way to make readers curious about whether they ought to learn more about the disease. My editor knew that after readers had checked out this sidebar teaser, they’d be more likely to read the article.

 Many editors want sidebars that provide a resource list of where to find more information on the topic, such as publications, organizations, or web-site URL’s. An article I wrote about one woman’s efforts to uncover African-American history in her hometown featured a sidebar of resources with information about how readers could begin their own similar historical research.  A piece I wrote about Pap tests offered a resource list of web sites with more information, plus a list of things women need to know about when and how to obtain this diagnostic screening. Travel stories frequently include sidebars about a unique attraction at the featured destination, or helpful if-you-go tips for prospective travelers.

 Sidebars can also be a great way to localize an article for a regional publication by providing a list of local resources related to the topic. A story whose topic and interview sources have a more national focus can also be localized with a sidebar about local efforts, organizations, or people associated with the topic, while a more regional story can have its audience broadened with a sidebar or two about national trends.   

 Sidebars can also be a good place to include straightforward kinds of information such as instructions in a how-to piece, or a glossary that helps define specific terms when a complex topic has its own vocabulary. Food and cooking articles frequently include sidebars with recipes.

 Newspaper features sometimes use longer sidebars to create side-by-side related stories. My 750-word profile of a mother/daughter team who combined their life skills to offer designer résumés for those with lower incomes was accompanied by a 400-word summary of their tips for creating a successful résumé.

Even when writing for online publications, where word counts for full-length articles may be as short as 400 to 800 words, sidebars serve the purpose of gathering useful or intriguing information in one place. They also keep text in small chunks, something that’s always a plus in electronic publications or web sites.

 No matter where you use them in your non-fiction writing, sidebars prove that good things very often do come in small packages. Become adept at crafting them and your freelancing possibilities may grow a whole lot larger as a result.

 

 

RECIPE FOR SIDEBAR SUCCESS:   Choose a topic sufficiently related to the main article. Give your sidebar an eye-catching title Double-space each sidebar manuscript on a separate page. Include your name, contact information, and sidebar word count in upper-left corner. Calculate sidebar’s word count separately from that of the main article. When possible, list, number, or bullet a sidebar’s content to make it more accessible.