Briefs are very short articles you can use to build your publicity. Why spend your time writing briefs?

- They fill odd-size holes on a page, and they can sometimes stand alone. If you offer a 75-word list, it stands a much better chance of getting published than a longer, 900-word article, which an editor has to have a lot of space for.

- Briefs help portray you as an expert in your field. You can send the same tip sheet to a variety of publications. For whatever reason, the media (particularly magazines) are not as concerned that the same information appeared elsewhere. So you don't have to worry that "I can't send this to Woman's Day because I've already sent it to Family Circle." Just go ahead and send it and if they've got a space for it, they may use it.

- You can promote yourself with briefs much more so than if a reporter wrote a long story about you. If you're going to pitch an idea about yourself and they call you to do an interview, and write a big story, they decide exactly what goes in that big story. Many editors are going to make sure that it doesn't sound too promotional and doesn't include too much hype. But with briefs, you can promote the heck out of your product, service, cause or issue much more than in a longer story. For some reason, editors will let you get away with it in those shorter briefs.

These are just a few of the many tips you can find in Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How to Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them