Duotrope’s decision to switch to paid subscriptions for their popular submissions tracking solution caused quite an uproar. So I decided to compile information on some alternatives to make available here as part of the growing Write Tips database. Now, let me be clear: Duotrope is still a viable option. They have a right to not go into debt providing their service. Running, updating and maintaining a website is not free. Throwing a fit over their changes in the face of the site’s incredible gr0wth and our failing economy is silly. You may be a poor writer but services still cost money to provide. I thought most of the uproar was pretty unreasonable. However, writers do need a way to track submissions, response times, etc. Tracking story submissions can be one of the most challenging part of the writer’s life. Fortunately, there are a lot of tools out there which can be useful in simplifying tracking. Here are some suggestions.
1) Excel Spreadsheet – For old school, Excel is the way to go. Label columns for STORY TITLE, MARKET, DATE OF SUBMISSION, DATE OF RESPONSE, and NOTES and track them. I use this. You can sort by column to see data on each market’s response times or each story’s submission records, etc. It costs nothing, since most people have MS Office (Open Office has an Excel clone you can use as well), and it’s quick and easy.
2) Card System – This is even more old school, the pre-computer age, but, as Bud Sparhawk explains, still a trusty system for many long time writers. Index Cards are cheap. So’s the shoebox to hold them in.
3) Lists – Writer’s Write offers a Triple system suggestion which is also an option to Excel or the Cards.
Don’t get bored, technophiles, here’s some options for you:
4) The Submission’s Grinder – set up as an alternative to Duotrope, it has both free and subscription options with affordable pricing, although from what I have seen, it’s a much clunkier interface.
5) Sonar (software) – Free to download and use. Now in version 3 with frequent updates and fixes when required.
6) Story Tracker (software) – Designed for both cell phone and IPad and downloadabe for $7.99 from the Apple Store, now in version 2.5.
7) Writer’s Planner -A free online database for submissions tracking. Allows exporting your data for backups.
8 ) The Writer’s Database – A second free online database for submissions tracking.
So you can see that there are many types of options available, many free. I have heard one or more writers recommend all of these methods, but have not tried them all myself, so I’d love to have people comment here with evaluations so those looking can get an idea of how things are. Whatever the case, I’m sure more options will keep popping up over time and there are doubtless some I’m not aware of. I’ll continue to update this post if it proves useful to you.
Meanwhile, happy writing and I wish you success!
For what it’s worth…
Bryan Thomas Schmidt is the editor of Blue Shift Magazine and an author and editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction. His debut novel, The Worker Prince (2011) received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases for 2011. A sequel The Returning followed in 2012 and The Exoduswill appear in 2013, completing the space opera Saga Of Davi Rhii. His first children’s books, 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Jokes For Kids (ebook only) and Abraham Lincoln: Dinosaur Hunter- Land Of Legends from Delabarre Publishing. His short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and online. He edited the anthology Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 (2012) and is working on Beyond The Sun for Fairwood Press (July 2013), headlined by Robert Silverberg, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick and Nancy Kress, and Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age for Every Day Publishing (November 2013). He hosts #sffwrtcht (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer’s Chat) Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on Twitter and is an affiliate member of the SFWA.
Hey Bryan, Yeah, it’s Duotrope’s business and they can do what they want. I did make sure to keep reminding my readers of Duotrope’s change starting in Dec. I also noted that Spacejock has come through as the coding saint for writers with free software. Excel has a price tag on it as well for us with major obligations beyond our writing passion-so I use Google spreadsheets. Google also has a great system in their alerts if you want to track a submission date deadline with reminders and then use Calendar. Set it for the necessary time for ‘next step’ and forget it (or try to). Thanks for being so helpful. Great post.
As I said, many people get MS Office with their computers. Excel included, Those who don’t can download from OpenOffice.org a compatible free option that has an Excel clone program with the same functionality.
I’ve never thought of a spreadsheet, but then I’ve never used one. I basically keep a List of Submissions as a document file. The thing is to remember to put the subs in it, and put an ‘r’ after the notation when a rejection slip comes in. When my document froze up on me, it was quite an inconvenience as I had no idea of what story had already been submitted to which place. At that point I started publishing the stories on my own blog to generate traffic, and of course I wrote some new material so that I can go on submitting.