Cheryl Cowtan on Writing

If you're a writer without an agent, you're probably spending way too much time searching for potential publishers. I search on google, I log on MS Excel. I have the skills to do it myself, but I have not been writing all summer. Why? Because I'm juggling the submissions of 1 novel, 3 short stories, multiple poems and a novella. It doesn't seem like much, but when you factor in the searching, the rejections and re-submissions, it can become quite time consuming. The second issue with google searches is the results are saturated with outdated calls for submissions. I read, I get excited and then buried somewhere in the text is the end date of the call. I have seen some that are five years old. I need to write - not spend so much time submitting. So the question is: Should I try an agent who will take approximately 14% of my royalties and might not even search and submit for me (not all agents perform those tasks)?  Or should I move to a query database online to ...

How to Keep Track of your Contest Submissions Keeping track of your writing submissions is smart. Keeping track allows you to stay organized and on task with your submission strategy. You'll need to provide a list of published work to some publishing companies, you also need to keep track of your submissions so you don't double submit, or miss timelines. You won't always get a rejection, but if two months go by, past the publisher's response time, then you know it's time to submit that piece to another publication. Don't let your work sit and collect dust. Once you start submitting your work, you should keep track of the following: title of work submission date submitted to (URL to access site/publisher/magazine you submitted to) estimated reply time from publisher other details (contest closes, reading price paid, winning amount, accepts simultaneous submissions?) Outcome (published, rejected etc.) Make sure to keep track of published date (you'...