Pimping Ain't Easy: Keeping Track of Your Stories to Sale

The real trick to being a working writer is to be organized like you are planning to invade Normandy. Today, I spent time reviewing and signing a couple of contracts and then checking my lists and ensuring that none of my stories were being lazy.

By that, I mean sitting in a folder and not earning any money for Daddy. Yep, I just went there. I have to keep track of everything I write and looking for good customers (markets).

Here is the current list of stories in my submission and drafts folder:

Key:
* = has been submitted to a market
# = awaiting for a specific market to open

New Stories (written in the last month):
"Funeral Pyre for a Jarl" #
"A Prayer for Mr. Bang" *
"Imprint" *
"A Simple Job" *
“The Embers Burn, and Gentle is the Arrow's Stinging" *

Older Stories:
"A Test of Will" *
"Contents of a Dead Soldier's Pockets" *
"Dagger of Azathoth" *
"Fading Light from a Dying Star"
"Unto the Breach" *
"Memo to the Prosecution" *

Stories That Require Editing:
"The Day the Laughter Survived"
"40 Lashes"
"Abigail's Dragon" #
"Asenath" #
"The Fisherman's Wife" #

Stories in Progress (these are stories I have started, but haven't completed yet)
"Murder on the Feng Shui Express"
"Lessons Learned From the 5th Attempt to Conquer the World"
"Nothing has Changed of the Sorrow in Store"

Favorite Quotes

When I get an idea for a story, I open a new document in my Drafts folder and quickly write down the basic idea. Sometimes these seeds will set there for years. There has been a story that I've wanted to write for years, but I didn't see a market for it or never found the time.

I now have the desired market and the time. It is only of the Heller Mysteries series featuring Jonathon Heller. This character has appeared in two other stories. Like all of the Heller stories, this story starts with an epigraph. I love these two quotes since it hits everything I love about fiction.

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ― G.K. Chesterton

“I desired dragons with a profound desire.” ― C.S. Lewis