STRENGTHEN YOUR SUBMISSIONS STRATEGY, PART 3 by Max Jason Peterson

In previous posts, I explained the “why” behind my statistical method. Now I’ll provide the “how.” The following is the nitty-gritty of what my submission spreadsheet looks like (I use Microsoft Excel). But for those who don’t like spreadsheets, take heart! I will also explain how to do this using a word processing document, and even using notecards. (Both are tools I’ve enjoyed.) Further, even if you don’t intend to use a spreadsheet, I’d recommend skimming the setup details but still reading the paragraphs in between, where I explain how various measurements help me in my submissions quest. Bear in mind, as long as you understand the reason for collecting the statistics, you can find a way to do it using almost any tool, provided you get in the habit of consistently noting when things went out and came back, and when things were accepted and written.

For those who wish to try my spreadsheet method: the following might look like a lot of work at first, but you actually don't need to fill in each square while submitting; some of the fields can simply be duplicated (more on that later).

 

The headers on the first page of my spreadsheet, "Submissions," are as follows:

• Type (Poetry, Nonfiction, Books-Poetry, Art, etc.)
• Count (1 when I send it; 0 for potential future markets)
• Title (move initial articles to the end; if the work has multiple variant titles over its life, use the Notes field to indicate which was submitted)
• Market (initial articles at the end; watch for changing names)
• Date Out
• Date In (I will periodically scan to see if anything needs to be queried)
• AllowSimulSub? (1 for yes, 0 for no)
• Pro (1 for yes, etc.)
• Semipro (1 for yes, etc.)
• Token (1 for yes, etc.)
• Accepted (1 for yes, etc.)
• Published (1 for yes, etc.; this field indicates whether it was ever published by that specific market—which can be helpful when sorting for publications by year)
• Notes (can include everything from pay rate, URL, and special formatting, to whether you got good notes from the editor, if you made significant changes before sending or sent a particular version under a particular title, etc.)
• Lines (poetry)
• Words (prose; also helpful if you have multiple versions of a story at different lengths)
• Pages (some literary markets count this way)
• Pub'd (1 for yes, etc.—This is different from the “Published” column because it is the same for each line of the title. It shows whether it was ever published by anyone. Allows me to sort for reprints vs. unpublished work. I now use “0.5” when something is accepted but not yet published)
• Genre (I use 1 for yes, 0.5 for mixed, 0 for no, because I write literary/mainstream as well as SF/F/H and mystery; however, I bet using the genre name would also work!)
• Out (1 for yes, etc.; be sure to put the same number on each line for that title. This indicates whether it's currently circulating. As long as you send a piece right back out when it comes in, you don't need to change this very often. However, among other uses, it helps to avoid unwanted simultaneous submissions when you are sorting by market to find the next thing to send them.)
• Form (1 for yes, etc. I use this to indicate if a poem is formal or free verse, or if a story is “special,” i.e. drabble, flash, etc.)
• FormType (here I type in the kind of poetic format, like sestina, haiku, free; also useful to indicate flash fiction, novelette, etc.)

 

If you are looking for shortcuts, for example when setting up rows for a new work, remember that you can duplicate data in Excel by entering the repeated data three times in a row. Select the first square, hold shift, and click on the last square. Position the cursor at the lower right corner of this highlighted area. Pull down into the empty squares you want to fill. You can do this across multiple columns, too.

 

Next time I will continue to provide details about how to set up your spreadsheet, while explaining further what the measurements will do to help you. Hopefully this discussion may spark some ideas about the types of measurements you’d like to do for yourself! Your goals may differ from mine, but I believe statistics can still help you achieve them.

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For more information about Max Jason Peterson, visit maxjasonpeterson.wordpress.com or the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram links through gardnercastle.com.