Brette McWhorter Sember's Web site reads like a late-night infomercial.

"In about four hours, I had two acceptances, more than paying for the cost of your kit," writes one customer.

"I don't know if I've set a record, but a little over two hours after I finished e-mailing 152 regional parenting magazines from Brette's listing, I made a sale!" writes another.

Sember, who has successfully worked in the regional parenting publication (RPP) market for four years and had her work appear in more than 130 publications, writes three monthly columns for regional parenting publications. Based on the information she has gathered from these magazines, Sember created Successful Selling to Regional Parenting Publications, a kit consisting of a 27-page e-book and database of more than 150 parenting publications with e-mail addresses that can be merged into any e-mail program. Instructions on how to use the database with Outlook, Outlook Express and Eudora address book are included in the e-book, which also explains the kinds of articles RPPs publish, the rights they buy, typical payments and how to contact editors among other topics. The cost of the package is $29.99.

Good market for humor writers

"The RPP market is good for humor writers, because it is hard to find good humor writers," says Sember. "It's also a good market for essays. Editors like to run essays because they provide personal and real glimpses into parents' and families' lives."

And, you don't necessarily need a local angle to sell a story.

"Local angles are only important if you want to write a large feature for a specific publication," says Sember. "In general, RPPs understand that it is simply not

cost effective for a writer to run down local quotes for a $45 piece."

Testing the product

While the e-book provides some good tips and background on the market, the heart of Sember's kit is the database of editorial e-mail addresses.

But why buy a database when you could compile your own list of editors?

"Many people use the list of addresses available from Parenting Publications of America, which includes 118 magazines, says Sember. "If you visit this site, you will find many of the magazines either do not have e-mail addresses or list e-mail addresses that no longer work -- all of the family.com e-mail addresses are now defunct for example."

Sember is right on target with her analysis of the Parenting Publications of America (PPA) directory. Before I purchased her product, I compiled my own list of editors from the PPA Web site. While I was able create a list of editors, it was much smaller than Sember's database and had many more bad e-mail addresses. Sember's e-mail database is remarkably clean. The first time I used it there were only three or four bad e-mail addresses -- an incredibly low rate since editors change so often. Sember updates her database on a monthly basis. Previous customers can purchase an updated list for $9.99.

When I pitched a reprint of one of my humor columns to the list I compiled from the PPA Web site, I garnered one sale for $30. But, my list took me more than eight hours to compile. -- not a great use of my time.

My results

When I pitched a column (see sample e-mail pitch) to Sember's database I became a satisfied customer very quickly. Within two hours I sold a reprint to two magazines for $45 each -- $90 total -- three times what I paid for the database. Within 24 hours an editor contacted me to discuss a regular column in her six-times per year publication.

"The curious thing about this market is that you may hear back from only a handful intially, but then get a tear sheet and check in the mail or a panicked e-mail three hours before a magazine goes to print asking to use your piece," says Sember. "I don't think I have ever sent out a piece and not gotten at least one response."

Sember's e-book and database live up to the testimonials on her Web site. Obviously, individual writer's results will vary. But, if you're looking for a way to enter the regional parenting publication market quickly and inexpensively, I highly recommend the Successful Selling to Regional Parenting Publications kit.

Tim Bete is a regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor and co-director of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop.

From the e-book,

Successful Selling to Regional Parenting Publications

What are Regional Parenting Publications (RPPs)?

"Regional parenting publications (RPPs) are magazines published for a limited area, usually a city, county or identifiable geographic area. Their mission is to provide information about local events, resources and activities of interest to families and to provide entertaining and informative articles that deal with parenting and families. Most of these magazines are published on a monthly basis."

What kinds of articles

do RPPs publish?

"RPPs try to publish articles that will give their readers information about local events as well as informational articles that update them about parenting techniques, health, education, resources and other things of interest to parents and families. RPPs always include a lot of information for parents of preschool and elementary school age children, but many are trying to expand their focus and readership by including information helpful for parents of teens. Some RPPs use humor, essays and poetry, but these genres do not make up the bulk of the work in the magazine. Articles that appear in RPPs are almost always 1000 words or less."

What rights do RPPs buy?

"RPPs normally purchase one-time rights and usually do not care if an article has appeared elsewhere before publication. This means you can sell them articles that have appeared other places and it also means that after they publish it, you still have the right to sell it anywhere you want. The payment offered by RPPs varies greatly. Almost all do offer payment, starting at around $30 and topping out around $100 per article at the large magazines for long pieces."