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
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