Arts >> Books >> Literature

How to Manage Poetry and Prose Submissions to Literary Journals

If you've submitted your written poetry or prose to literary journals in the past, you already know about the managing your submissions. Literary journals have dozens of rules that vary from journal to journal and with the amount of time some take to respond (sometimes more than six months), it can be hard to keep track of which pieces are under review and which are available for submission. Before beginning the submission process, it is important to have in place a system for managing your poetry and prose submissions so that you know which pieces are under consideration and which are available for submission.

Things You'll Need

  • Duotrope account
  • Internet connection
  • Spreadsheet program (like Microsoft Excel, Gnumeric, Google Spreadsheets, Zoho Sheet, etc.)
Show More

Instructions

  1. Managing your Submissions with Duotrope's Digest

    • 1

      Sign-up for a free account at Duotrope's Digest account at duotrope.com.

    • 2

      Click "Control Panel" on the right to enter the details of the poetry or prose pieces you plan to submit.

    • 3

      Click "Add to Your List" under "Your List of Pieces" to add the poetry or prose. Once you have completed adding the pieces you plan to submit you can begin your search.

    • 4

      Click "Home/Search" to load the Duotrope's Digest literary journal search engine to begin your search either by literary journal title or to filter your search via other attributes.

    • 5

      Select a literary journal you wish to submit to. Read about the submission rules of that literary journal. It will be necessary to go to the literary journal's website for further detail about the submissions.

    • 6

      Once you have submitted, return to the Duotrope's Digest page for the literary journal and click "Submissions/Responses" to track your submission. You will be prompted to enter the details of the submission as well as selecting the piece you submitted.

    Managing Your Submissions with a Spreadsheet

    • 7

      Create columns for the following essential pieces of information: journal, website, delivery type (web or mail), address (web or mail), payment, submission name, submission type (prose or poetry), date submitted, date received response, response.

    • 8

      Create "check box" columns for the following pieces of information: reprints, multiple submissions, simultaneous submissions. These categories pertain to those areas which essentially require "yes" or "no." They do not need to be check boxes but they should simply indicate whether the journal allows reprints, multiple submissions or simultaneous submissions.

    • 9

      Input your submissions as soon as you send them, detailing all information in the appropriate columns. If you delay, it will be challenging to remember what you sent and to whom.

+:
+:

Literature

Related Categories