How to Organize Story Submissions

I’m a huge fan of spreadsheets! So I’m sharing the tables I use to keep my story submissions up to date. I use all of these, but you can mix and match what works for you.

You can find the blank template here, or click on the images. The spreadsheet is view-only, so either download it, use FILE > Make a Copy to create your own editable copy, or copy and paste the tables to your own spreadsheet. Please do not request edit access.

When organizing your stories, you’re trying to answer 3 important questions:

1. Where the heck did I send my story?

Here are 3 spreadsheets to help you answer that question.

1. By story title

Please enjoy the silly names I made up for my examples.

Notes: You can see “Falling Off a Log” is out to two places. “The Happy T-Rex” is in a different color because he’s a reprint. And some publications don’t send “we received your story” confirmation emails (which is such a pain) so if I haven’t heard on those in a reasonable period, I make sure to query.

2. By publication

Same stories as above, but with more info on the publications.

Note: Whitelisting means setting a filter on your email to keep emails from a certain sender out of spam. But sometimes submissions go by Google forms or another service, and unfortunately, there’s no email on the website to whitelist.

3. By expected result date

This is a great table to glance at to see if I’ve got any stories I should have heard about by now.

Note: “Falling off a Log” is in blue to show it’s there twice.

Next question: say you come across a great call for submissions. So naturally, you wonder:

2. Do I have a story to fill this call?

And here are 3 spreadsheets to answer that question.

1. By story title

Please enjoy more silly names as examples

Notes: Reprints are in orange again, and I use the bright blue to highlight stories that are not out anywhere at the moment (because I need to get off my butt and send them somewhere).

2. By word count

Honestly, the first thing I do when I see a new call is look at the required word count, then check this table. Rather than look at my entire story list for something that fits, I can just look at a subset that matches the word count. Huge time-saver.

Note: Reprints are in orange again.

3. By genre

Notes: Reprints are in orange once more. The numbers are word counts. Stories can be under multiple genres.

And the last question:

3. What is my history with this story/publication?

2 tables for this one. It’s very useful to know you’re not accidentally sending a story to a publication that’s already considered it!

1. By story

I didn’t make up any more silly story and publication titles.

Notes: I put rejections in brown (too much red type is disheartening), acceptances in blue, and stories I haven’t heard back on in black. I always note the date of rejections and acceptances because sometimes publications want you to wait a while before sending them another story.

2. By publication

Note: So these go by press, not publication. Meaning the made-up “Mayo Press” runs multiple anthologies, so they’re all listed together. This also works for podcast companies that put out multiple podcasts. You want to see when you’re submitting to the same folks.

And there you have it, my best short story submission spreadsheets!

You can find the blank templates here, or click on the images. The spreadsheet is view-only, so either download it, use FILE > Make a Copy to create your own editable copy, or copy and paste the tables to your own spreadsheet. Please do not request edit access.

Also check out How to Publish a Short Story

Happy writing!

How to Organize Your Story Submissions

Free Downloadable Spreadsheet

1. Where the heck did I send my story?

2. Do I have a story to fill this call?

3. What is my history with this story/publication?