Writing is the fun part of this business -- and getting acceptances, of course. The non-fun part is researching the markets, submitting, waiting for responses, and getting those rejections. If we want to see our writing in print (somewhere other than coming out of our own printer, that is), then unfortunately the non-fun part (NFP) is something we have to do. For those of us who write for magazines, the sheer number of pieces we process can make the NFP especially unwieldy to manage.

Last spring I thought I'd been doing fairly well with my NFP. Then an author friend asked, "When do you give up sending a manuscript around...after how many rejections?" In order to answer her question I went back through my list of submissions. In the process I realized that although I'd been good about sending pieces out for initial submissions, I hadn't done much with my rejections. I had a whole bunch of homeless "babies" just sitting, crying for attention. My friend's question motivated me to get busy. I sent out seven of those rejected pieces that very week and garnered three more acceptances.

Then I read an excellent Institute of Children's Literature chat transcript featuring author Kathryn Lay http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/tr01/lay.shtml. She said that a large number of her acceptances were reprints. Ack! I already knew I needed to try to find homes for my rejected babies, but this made it clear that I also needed to look for second homes for my accepted little darlings. How would I ever keep up with all this extra NFP?

Well, necessity is the mother of invention, as we all know. I set to work and developed a special recording sheet for my submissions. It allows me (at a glance because it's color coded) to see which of my babies still need first homes and which need reprint homes. Since it's proved a helpful tool for me, I thought I would share it with you. A blank copy of the recording sheet is shown at the bottom of this article, a filled-in sample is also included. I'll also explain how I use Microsoft Word tables to create and work with my version of the forms.

Do you remember the evening television spot that used to say, "It's nine o'clock. Do you know where your children are?" This record sheet enables you to respond, "YES! I know exactly where they are and which ones need my NFP attention." You can quickly spot your homeless babies by simply looking in the first column for white or light green without a "w." It's also easy to see how many pieces you currently have circulating. Look for yellow. A quick glance at those entries lets you know if you need to do status queries. If yellow is largely absent from your current record sheet, you know it's time to spend some NFP hours and send more of your munchkins out into the world.

The "empty nest" may have some negative connotations when it comes to flesh and blood kids, but, for us authors, "empty nest" is our constant goal. So good luck to you on the NFP-on keeping all those babies of yours sent out into Submission Wonderland (as in, I "wonder" if they'll get accepted).

Using the Submission Record Sheets

The E/S column records whether the sub was sent by email or snail mail.

The A/R column is for Accepted or Rejected. I put M (for Maybe) if it's a revision request.

The $ column is for the pay. I record how much is promised and change it to gold (of course!) when I actually receive it.

• yellow = I'm waiting for a response to my sub. An "S" in it means I status queried.
• gray = Blah! A rejection.
• red = Stop looking for homes for this piece. The acceptance took all rights or else it has no future potential.
• light green = Good! The acceptance left me reprint rights. "W" means wait until after the publication date to sub as a reprint.
• dark green = This one found a second home. (So look below for current status.)
• white = Home needed
• purple = Possible homes
• blue = The sub was discontinued

If a sub is rejected and I think the piece still has potential, I add a line just below the original entry and type in the title. Its left-hand box is white until I find another possible market and send it out.

When a piece is published, I erase the "w" in its light green box. If it has no potential for future publication, I change its block to red. If it has potential, the light green lets me know that I need to look for other markets.

If I find other potential markets for a piece while it's circulating or awaiting publication, I enter them with a purple box below the entry. (If I end up not using them, they can be deleted.)

Using Microsoft Word Tables

To write in the table click your curser in the box where you want to write. Use tab or the arrows to move from box to box.

To add an extra line below your current line move your curser over the line to select it; go to your tool bar; click on Table; click on Insert; click on Rows Below. To add multiple lines (e.g., a whole new page of lines) select the number of lines you want and repeat the steps above.

If you need for a row to give you more than 2 lines of print, it will automatically expand vertically to accommodate your typing.

To change the color of a box hover your curser above the box until you see a small black arrow (it's usually in the lower left corner); right click; click on Borders and Shading; click on Shading; click on the color you want; click OK. (For some reason I occasionally can't get the black arrow to show. In that case I move my curser over the box and one beside it; I right click in either box and repeat the steps above. I then change the second box back to white.)

RECORD of SUBMISSIONS: SAMPLE TO SHOW HOW IT CAN BE FILLED IN