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Syndicate Yourself!

© Roxianne Moore

Review of Successful Syndication by Michael Sedge Allworth Press, 1999 ISBN 1-58115-051-2 $16.95

When we think of successful freelancers, a few of the names that come to mind are Ann Landers, Dave Barry, Gary Larson. What do these writers have in common? Their work appears in newspapers or magazines all over the world. Why? Because they're all syndicated. And, with this book, maybe you can reach these heights of syndication.

If you've been a freelancer for a few years, you realize that individual newspapers and magazines don't pay a whole lot for columns. But if instead of getting one small check, you got twenty or fifty for each column, those figures would add up fast.

In Successful Syndication, Michael Sedge takes writers and cartoonists through the process of syndication in well-detailed steps. And if you have any doubt in Sedge's methods, consider how often you've seen that name in the past couple of years. He's a very prolific writer, and an expert in marketing. In a little more than a year, I've reviewed two of his other titles, Marketing Strategies for Writers, and The Writer's and Photographer's Guide to Global Markets. Both are well-written and packed with information, although you will find some repetition of details.

The same goes for his newest title. Some of the basics, such as submissions, query letters, and business practices, don't change a whole lot from one book to the next. Neither do his anecdotes. But even if you skip over those portions, you'll still be left with a solid guide to syndication and self-syndication.

Sedge will lead you through steps designed to help you decided if you're cut out to be a syndicated columnist or cartoonist. As he suggests, you'll never know until you try. But you also need to have realistic expectations, and he does offer plenty of details and quotes from syndicated authors. One quote in particular, in the first chapter, stuck in my mind as I considered the possibilities of syndicating my own newspaper column:

"It began to take over my life. . . . I couldn't handle the stress of daily syndication." This was from cartoonist Charles Kaufman, who said that while his cartoons still appear in military magazines, they're only monthly. But his story is a reminder that syndication means a long-term commitment to a particular project, week in, week out. And some of us just aren't cut out for that.

But if the first chapter doesn't scare you off, and you're sure you'd like to give syndication a try, then Sedge will lead you through finding an agency, negotiating contracts, and self-syndication. He also provides the basics for submitting proposals, doing business, and setting goals. Sample forms and contracts at the back of the book will give you some idea of what to expect and help you to analyze contracts.