How do authors track submissions to agents?
- One spreadsheet or QueryTracker account.
- One row per submission.
- Six columns: agent, agency, date sent, materials, status, response.
- Stale submissions: 12+ weeks without response.
- Most querying writers track 50-100 agents across 12-24 months.
Authors track agent submissions in a single spreadsheet (or QueryTracker account) with one row per submission, six columns: agent name, agency, date queried, materials sent, status, response date. The tracker prevents duplicate submissions, identifies stale follow-ups (12+ weeks without response), and shows patterns across your query data over time.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Querying is a marathon, not a sprint. Without a tracker, writers double-submit to the same agent (embarrassing), forget to follow up on stale ones (lost opportunities), or cannot see why responses are slow (no data). A tracker turns querying from chaos into a managed pipeline.
Chapter ii·What to include
- Agent name and agency name.
- Date queried and materials sent (query only, or query + sample pages).
- Status: pending, partial request, full request, R&R, offer, rejection.
- Response date.
- A notes column for personal observations.
- A "follow-up" date for queries past the agent’s stated response time.
Chapter iii·Example
A querying writer keeps a 47-row spreadsheet across 14 months. By month 8 the data shows: 28 rejections, 7 partials, 2 fulls, 10 still pending. She follows up on the 10 pending at month 6, gets responses from 4 (3 rejections, 1 "I’ll get to it next month"), and stops querying once she has an offer of representation in month 11.
Chapter iv·Related questions
WriteLoom’s Pitch studio tracks every submission with version, status, and response date — so no follow-up gets lost.
See the Pitch studio