Due to a technical glitch, all of the posts for this month have been temporarily lost. We are working with Blogger to retrieve them. I may have to repost everything lost. Will keep you updated.
Thanks for your patience.
Dara
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
Submission Management
Today we will talk about subs....not the sandwich variety, but submissions, the work we are ready to send out.
After the query, article, requested manuscript and/or photos are ready to be sent, we need to track them. Before, you send them or just after, if you send an e-mail submission, you should document a few things. This information will help you in the future with your sales and your tax attorney or accountant will love you at tax time.
Take the time now to get into the habit of tracking your subs. You should develop a simple spread sheet which you keep in a online file folder, or do as I do, start a hard copy file. I hate having to flip back and forth to list things in an online file; maybe I am just lazy.
I have a notebook for a master file, and then I have a tracking sheet for each piece sent out in the appropriate folder. It takes me less than a minute to document the info. When I pull out the manuscript or article I can read exactly who the piece has been send to and when. This is also very helpful when you send simultaneous submissions.
My tracking method is simple, I made my spread sheet in about 15 minutes, using my Excel program. There are many other spreadsheets programs, use what you have.
Divide your spreadsheet into columns and lines, making a small chart. I write big so my rectangles are large. My chart includes headings for Title, Date sent, Publication/ Addy sent to, Editor/phone #, Reply date, Accepted(A)/Rejected (R), $paid, Rights, Comments. If you are sending an email with an attachment, document this in the comments section. Make sure you have the email addy listed here.
I always send a read receipt using my Outlook mail program. This is like sending a registered letter. It doesn't tells you who received the email, but that someone at that e-addy opened what you sent. I started doing this and have actually used it when an editor told me she had not received my article with photos yet they showed up in her paying e-zine. When I pulled up the e-receipt, she paid me, and issued an apology with a proper byline correction in the next issue. The pay was small, but the credit was important.
I have a similar chart for my photos because I sell those as well. If I sell a photo with an article I note photo# in comments section, but the sale is reported on my Photo tracking sheet. On the photo sheet I list the photo # under title heading, along with all of above info duly noted. If I sell all rights to a photo (rare), then it has to be noted there. I also make a notation with the title of the article in the comment section on my photo tracking sheet this way they are cross referenced.
I know this seems like a lot of work, but once you have several manuscripts out there, you will appreciate these sheet.
After you send the work out, get busy writing something else. Don't sit around waiting on the mail, the reply comes no sooner.
Good luck with your tracking, may we all have more acceptances than rejections noted.
Thankfully we're still in our write mind,
Dara
After the query, article, requested manuscript and/or photos are ready to be sent, we need to track them. Before, you send them or just after, if you send an e-mail submission, you should document a few things. This information will help you in the future with your sales and your tax attorney or accountant will love you at tax time.
Take the time now to get into the habit of tracking your subs. You should develop a simple spread sheet which you keep in a online file folder, or do as I do, start a hard copy file. I hate having to flip back and forth to list things in an online file; maybe I am just lazy.
I have a notebook for a master file, and then I have a tracking sheet for each piece sent out in the appropriate folder. It takes me less than a minute to document the info. When I pull out the manuscript or article I can read exactly who the piece has been send to and when. This is also very helpful when you send simultaneous submissions.
My tracking method is simple, I made my spread sheet in about 15 minutes, using my Excel program. There are many other spreadsheets programs, use what you have.
Divide your spreadsheet into columns and lines, making a small chart. I write big so my rectangles are large. My chart includes headings for Title, Date sent, Publication/ Addy sent to, Editor/phone #, Reply date, Accepted(A)/Rejected (R), $paid, Rights, Comments. If you are sending an email with an attachment, document this in the comments section. Make sure you have the email addy listed here.
I always send a read receipt using my Outlook mail program. This is like sending a registered letter. It doesn't tells you who received the email, but that someone at that e-addy opened what you sent. I started doing this and have actually used it when an editor told me she had not received my article with photos yet they showed up in her paying e-zine. When I pulled up the e-receipt, she paid me, and issued an apology with a proper byline correction in the next issue. The pay was small, but the credit was important.
I have a similar chart for my photos because I sell those as well. If I sell a photo with an article I note photo# in comments section, but the sale is reported on my Photo tracking sheet. On the photo sheet I list the photo # under title heading, along with all of above info duly noted. If I sell all rights to a photo (rare), then it has to be noted there. I also make a notation with the title of the article in the comment section on my photo tracking sheet this way they are cross referenced.
I know this seems like a lot of work, but once you have several manuscripts out there, you will appreciate these sheet.
After you send the work out, get busy writing something else. Don't sit around waiting on the mail, the reply comes no sooner.
Good luck with your tracking, may we all have more acceptances than rejections noted.
Thankfully we're still in our write mind,
Dara
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