Record-Keeping Made Easy: Download These 6 Free Writing Trackers

Download our ready-made pitch, query and payment trackers (as seen in the February 2017 Writer’s Digest) to streamline the business of your writing—and make this your most efficient year yet.

To download the following Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, right-click the links below and select “Save As,” “Save Target As” or “Save Link As” (options vary depending on your browser). Download the spreadsheet to your Desktop folder, and open from there.

Download our Freelance Pitch Tracker.

Download our Literary Journal Submission Tracker.

Download our Freelance Payment Tracker.

Download our Agent Query Tracker.

Download our Direct-to-Publisher Query Tracker.

Download our Agent Submissions to Publisher Tracker.

SAVE SPREADSHEETS TO GOOGLE DRIVE
Recently I read a news story in which a writer in New Orleans ran into his burning home to save the manuscripts of two completed novels stored on his computer—the only place he had them saved. Luckily, he weathered the blaze and escaped with laptop in hand. Though we can admire his dedication to his work, there are any number of digital-age options that could’ve prevented this horrible scenario—among them, Google Drive.

The system is ideal for uploading a fresh document of your manuscript every time you make changes, storing files online in addition to on your computer (Google Drive has an online storage function similar to services such as Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive).

Google Drive allows you to create documents, spreadsheets, slideshows and more, all of which can be accessed from anywhere—laptop, tablet, smartphone—by logging into a free Google account. Such items are easily shared with your co-author, agent or publicist for more efficient record-keeping or file sharing.

It’s also a great place to create and modify the trackers from this article. Simply log in to your account at google.com/drive (or create one for free), hit the New button in the top left corner of the interface and click on Google Sheets. This will open a new window with a clean spreadsheet, where you can then begin entering the appropriate column headings. Title the spreadsheet by clicking “Untitled spreadsheet” at the top of the page. Once complete, you’ll be able to open up your Freelance Payment Tracker or Agent Query Tracker on any device with an internet connection—far from flames or flood.

Tyler Moss is the managing editor of Writer's Digest. This is an online exclusive from the February 2017 Writer's Digest.