Submissions, submissions!

(The title of this post to be sung to the tune of Traditions from Fiddler on the Roof).


Phew, this blog post is LATE! Truth be told, I almost forgot to post it today.

So, anyway, here’s the deal. I didn’t submit anything last week, and not because I didn’t have places to submit, but because I realized that I need to do more research than the week I’ve been giving myself allows. Or find more time to do research in that week. So, I’m not sure I’m giving up on the 1 submission a week idea, I just think I need to be smarter about the submitting than I have been.

On the bright side, I did submit something already this week. I put my query letter for the Windsmith into a contest. Cross your fingers.

On the subject of submissions, I wanted to discuss something. I’ve realized that I’ve been sending off submissions left and right, but I haven’t done anything to track them.

This may seem like submission 101, I realize, but give me some slack. I’m learning as I go along here. And then sharing what I learn with you all. So here’s what I’ve learned. Not keeping track of submissions is a horribly bad idea.

It’s not too late, of course. I still have copies of all the emails I’ve sent. So, my simple solution is to use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything. What I sent, who I sent it too, when, if I got a response, when, and what that response was.

I can’t really think of anything else to track there, but that’s my plan. Post everything I submit to this spreadsheet and keep track of it all. That will help me focus, I think, because I’ll have a record to look at. And as I work in Excel all day at the day job, I think it will be easier for my brain to process the information this way, too.

I’ll let you know how it goes when I get said spreadsheet set up. Maybe I can even tell you how many times I’ve submitted something. Until then, however, that’s all I got for now. See you tomorrow!