Resources for Writers

» Kimberly Dawn Wells - How do you organize your writing projects?

If you're organized, or more organized than some of us, how do you keep track of your projects?

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» Jennifer Jensen - How do you organize your writing projects?

In response to How do you organize your writing projects? posted by KimberlyDawn:

My paperwork organization is horrible--I have great ideas, but if it's not in easy reach, it doesn't happen. So my desk is stacked and stacked over again!

However, I created submission-tracking tables on the computer which work really well. I name my files so they group: "story", "story ltr", etc. For each story, I create one named "story sub list" where I have a table that lists all publishers who might be interested, what rights they buy, their length requirements (for magazines), their payment rates, and whether or not they accept simultaneous submissions. When a publisher sends a story back, I know who to send it to next.

I also created a "Submission Tracking" file, a table for ALL my stories. It has the following columns: date sent, date replied, title, publisher, postage, rights, response time (expected) and response/contract amount. It lets me see at a glance when to expect an answer, where I've already sent a story, and if one has been home for a while and needs to be sent out again.

I haven't tried any writer's software that includes submission tracking ($$$, you know), but this works well for me.

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» Kimberly Dawn Wells - How do you organize your writing projects?

In response to How do you organize your writing projects? posted by Writerrider:
I downloaded Life Journal for Writers and effectively got rid of nearly 60% of the paper in my office, and that's including all the fire department, ems, school board, and personal stuff!! If paper is a problem, I highly recommend it. It's also great for getting rid of electronic files because instead of having thousands of .doc and .txt files, I now have one program to open, one program to back up, and everything is SO easily moved from folder to folder (that I can completely customize).

It sounds like you have a great system started for your submission tracking. If it works for you, and doesn't cause you to get too caught up in the details of maintaining it, it works!

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