Whether you submit with regularity or not, it’s important to track your submissions. How else will you follow up if you have no record of the magazines and editors (or agents/publishing houses) to whom you have submitted your work?
I keep a simple Excel file with the following info:
- Date submitted
- Magazine name
- Editor’s name
- Editor’s email
- Editor’s phone number
- Name of article submitted
- Date to follow up. Most publications state a period of time to allow for review of your submission. Follow up with an email to the editor only after the stated time for review has passed.
- Status (accepted or rejected)
- Payment due. If accepted you need to know when your payment is due because some publications pay on acceptance and some on publication.
- Payment rec’d date. If you record this date as soon as the payment comes in, you won’t be left wondering later on if you got paid.
Not all of us are uber organized. I take advantage of the tools someone else has designed to help me. I just adjust them to suit my needs and circumstances.
Design whatever works for you, and be diligent to use it.