Submitting queries and manuscripts nowadays is as easy (and cost-effective) as a single keyboard click. But while programs like Submittable keep a list of e-submissions sent to certain sites, not every publisher uses such a program. Without it, can you pinpoint exactly where and when you sent out every piece, query or pitch in the last five or ten years?  I can, and so can you.

Starting out as a writer, my submissions, a huge paper chase of labels, letters and receipts, and it could get expensive. It also could get confusing trying to keep track of what I sent, when and where I sent it, and whether it sold. Often sales were “payment upon publication,” with a dangling future, and once I forgot about a promised check, unable to recall if I had gotten paid or not. After an embarrassing phone call where I was informed I had been paid months before, I developed my system.

A good tracking system is even more critical today. Because electronic submissions are easy and inexpensive (reading fees, when applied, are still cheaper than postage), we tend to submit a greater volume of work to a greater number of publishers. That increase means more items to track and more confusion.

I created a table comprised of five columns, titled “Date,” “Title,” “Sent to,” “Response,” and “Comments.” Each time I submitted, I entered a new line in the appropriate columns. Upon receipt of a response, I immediately made a note. You can modify your graph with different fonts or colors: I put rejections in red, acceptances in blue, payments received in green. The table becomes a big help at tax time, and the comment section allows for notes, upcoming deadlines, or relevant web sites.

You can make your system as simple or complex as you like. Because I write in several genres and have a large catalog of pieces, I also created a second table similar to the first but with pieces listed alphabetically by title. While the main graph offers a timeline rundown of submissions, the second table streamlines checking an individual piece’s submission history. With many years of submissions behind me, this record lets me quickly see if I’ve already submitted a story or query to a site. (However, if a lot of time has passed—think several years—since I first sent the piece, I might try again if I’ve revamped it.) I also have a third table to track my novels and film scripts.

The trick is consistency. Fill in your columns every single time you send something out or get a response. The result is time saved in the future and a clear picture of your income.

That’s it. A very simple system. Whether you use just one graph or follow my lead and diversify, you’ll be able to keep a clear record of submissions, something that will save you a lot of grief later, keeping track of your business and giving you more time for writing.

Bio:
Joyce Becker Lee has been freelancing for more than 40 years and has worked at pretty much every writing job, including theater columnist and reviewer, high school and college teacher, writing textbook editor, features writer, reporter, newspaper editor, web content writer, and playwright. A lifelong theater nerd, she also enjoys directing. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Northwestern University, and her work has been extensively published in such places as  Chicken Soup, The First Line, MemoryHouse, Cicada, EscapeIntoLife.com, JerryJazzMusician.com, and in Canada in Folklore and Prairies North, among others. She chairs her local Arts Commission, and currently works on two novels, a screenplay, a stage musical, and several short stories and poems. She can be found on Twitter at @writer_woman, at Facebook as J.B. Lee,   and on Instagram as jblee53.