Duotrope does all of this organization for me, because it's not my strong suit either. It's $50/year, which is worth it for me personally, because they are also a great resource for discovering journals and contests. One of the features I like about Duotrope is that in my "currently active" database it also gives me a countdown of how many more days it has taken other submissions to the same journal to receive a response, so if 6 months have passed and I still haven't heard, I can tell if that's normal (for that journal) or out of the ordinary. I absolutely understand cost can be an issue! (At the risk of being forward, if you ever want a guest post about the ins and outs of Duotrope as an alternative, give me a shout!)
Some great ideas, particularly the use of color. Even if you don’t do much submission, keeping track is vital to mental health, I think, and no, it’s not nerdy or OCD to do so. For example, I sometimes can’t remember the titles of past poems. I have the gist or a phrase in mind but not what I called the thing. A quick peek in the spreadsheet is usually all that’s needed. Or to find when something was written.
I also have a column for notes. It’s not unusual to lose the impulse that started a poem, or just lose interest in it — these can be marked as “unfinished.” Nothing to be ashamed of, just didn’t go anywhere, but maybe worth monitoring. Same with output. I have a column for date started. It’s never clear to me why some months are more productive than others, or why successful poems sometimes come in clumps, but without a tracking mechanism, you may not even be aware of these phenomena.
Do you mean contests for single poems or for books? If for single poems (or a series), I keep those submissions in the exact same spreadsheet. Basically, I'm tracking where specific poems are, no matter the type of submission. Same goes for manuscripts. I track those submissions all in one place, noting the submission type (book contest, open reading period, or by query letter). Hope that helps!
Duotrope does all of this organization for me, because it's not my strong suit either. It's $50/year, which is worth it for me personally, because they are also a great resource for discovering journals and contests. One of the features I like about Duotrope is that in my "currently active" database it also gives me a countdown of how many more days it has taken other submissions to the same journal to receive a response, so if 6 months have passed and I still haven't heard, I can tell if that's normal (for that journal) or out of the ordinary. I absolutely understand cost can be an issue! (At the risk of being forward, if you ever want a guest post about the ins and outs of Duotrope as an alternative, give me a shout!)
Some great ideas, particularly the use of color. Even if you don’t do much submission, keeping track is vital to mental health, I think, and no, it’s not nerdy or OCD to do so. For example, I sometimes can’t remember the titles of past poems. I have the gist or a phrase in mind but not what I called the thing. A quick peek in the spreadsheet is usually all that’s needed. Or to find when something was written.
I also have a column for notes. It’s not unusual to lose the impulse that started a poem, or just lose interest in it — these can be marked as “unfinished.” Nothing to be ashamed of, just didn’t go anywhere, but maybe worth monitoring. Same with output. I have a column for date started. It’s never clear to me why some months are more productive than others, or why successful poems sometimes come in clumps, but without a tracking mechanism, you may not even be aware of these phenomena.
Such helpful suggestions, Frank. Thank you!
Do you mean contests for single poems or for books? If for single poems (or a series), I keep those submissions in the exact same spreadsheet. Basically, I'm tracking where specific poems are, no matter the type of submission. Same goes for manuscripts. I track those submissions all in one place, noting the submission type (book contest, open reading period, or by query letter). Hope that helps!