diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 70dcd2b..16b7fc4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -15,6 +15,53 @@ You'll need to `pip install oursql requests` (this will require having
 the MySQL development libraries installed). Other than that, just run 
 main.py.
 
+## Usage
+
+You can use nzbspider with either a release list or a configuration 
+file.
+
+### Release list
+
+This is a text file, specified with the `--list` parameter, that
+contains a newline-delimited list of release names to search for. You
+will need to use the `--target` parameter to specify what directory to
+download the NZBs to.
+
+### Configuration file
+
+This is a text file using a specific configuration syntax to select
+specific releases from a pre-filled MySQl database, to search for. To
+use this mode, you will need to copy config.json.example to config.json
+and change the database details to match yours. A (basic) database
+schema is included. Only results that are at least 24 hours old will be
+matched, regardless of your configuration.
+
+The configuration file format is as follows:
+
+* Newline-delimited, a new predicate on every line.
+* Three whitespace-delimited fields: release name, section, and target 
+  directory.
+* Enter `-` for any or both of the first two fields to match regardless
+  of the release name or section (depending on which you fill in as `-`).
+* The `%` character is used to denote a multi-character wildcard
+  anywhere in the first two fields.
+* The first two fields are enclosed in wildcard characters by default.
+* The target directory does not have to exist; it will be created if it
+  doesn't.
+* You must enclose a field value in `"` quotes if it contains a space.
+  
+An example configuration file (the real configuration format doesn't
+allow comments, so don't copy this verbatim!):
+
+	- MP3 ./mp3s             # Will select everything in section 'MP3'
+	- - ./everything         # Will select absolutely everything
+	IMMERSE - ./immerse      # Will select everything labeled 'IMMERSE'
+	Mad.Men%720p - ./madmen  # Will select every 720p episode of Mad Men
+	
+Note that these searches are run against your own database, not directly
+against the NZB indexing sites! You'll still need a list of valid 
+release names pre-filled in your database.
+
 ## Notes
 
 The script will assume that all releasenames in your database are safe