Day 08 Writing Workout

Welcome to DAY 8 of our 30-day writing workout!

Over the past few days, if you didn’t already know, you’ve learned how to find more markets and contests than you have time to write for… but before you send completed pieces out into the universe, there’s something you really need to do:

TRACK THOSE SUBMISSIONS.

If a market says they are okay with “simultaneous submissions,” you can send the same piece you sent them to another market that is okay with… you guessed it… “simultaneous submissions.”

Let’s say you go crazy and find ten different markets that piece might be appropriate for, and you send them to all of them.

A month later, one of them emails you with good news–they are going to publish your piece in their magazine or anthology, or publish your novel with their press…

BUT remember all of the others you sent your work to? You now need to send messages to the other nine to let them know that you sold or contracted your piece to someone else and they need to withdraw your creation from their submissions list. It’s common courtesy, and it is expected.

But how do you keep track of all this?

There ARE free (and pay) websites online that have submissions trackers you can use. If you Google SUBMISSION GRINDER or DUOTROPE or SUBMITTABLE or CHILL SUBS, for instance, explore the options they give and the look you like.

You can also go old school and create your own template. You’ll need columns for the name of the piece, the date it was due, the actual date you submitted it, and when you can expect a reply. Another column can state the type of piece you sent–poem, flash fiction, short story, whatever–and leave a final longer column for results. In that column you can mention what happened–acceptance, rejection, form letter rejection, longlisted, shortlisted, SOLD!, or contest win.

I like having a paper in front of me that shows what has happened with submissions. I use a green highlighter for successes and a pink highlighter (red highlighters don’t exist, I think) for when I crash and burn. On my paper copies, 14 different submissions can be listed. My goal is always for at least one of them to go green before I flip the page. It’s a humble enough goal, I believe.

More on that tomorrow when we discuss an important thing all writers need: RHINOCEROS SKIN! Come join me on Day 09 for that important topic!