How to Track Author Opportunities: Organize Submissions, Deadlines, and Follow-Ups

Authors hear a lot about finding opportunities.

Pitch the podcast.
Attend the conference.
Apply to speak.
Submit the article.
Meet the bookstore owner.
Enter the contest.
Make the connection.

But there’s one part we don’t talk about nearly enough:

What happens after you find the opportunity?

If you want to know how to track author opportunities without letting them take over your writing time, the answer is simple: create one central system where you can capture the opportunity, evaluate whether it fits, record the next action, and schedule the follow-up.

Because finding an opportunity is only half the job.

Finding opportunities matters, but authors also have to be willing to create them. In Stop Waiting to Be Discovered: Create Your Own Opportunities, I talk about taking an active role in opening doors instead of waiting for someone else to notice your work.

Don’t Lose the Opportunities You’ve Already Earned

After attending the AWSA Conference, I was reminded just how quickly opportunities can accumulate.

A writers conference can produce:

• Business cards

• Speaking leads

• Podcast possibilities

• Bookstore contacts

• Submission opportunities

• Organizations to research

• People to follow up with

• Resources to explore

• Ideas you want to remember

And they don’t all land in one tidy little folder.

Some are written in a notebook.

Some are on business cards.

Some are buried in your email.

Some are saved as screenshots.

Some are tucked into handouts.

And some are simply things you thought, I need to remember that.

That is exactly how opportunities start slipping through the cracks.

After the conference, I spent time turning my notes into organized conference notes, a task list, a contact list, and follow-up items.

It reinforced something I already knew:

Everyone talks about finding opportunities. Almost no one talks about managing them.

And that may be the bigger problem.

When I Realized I Needed a Better System

As my author business grew, so did the number of opportunities coming across my path.

There were conferences I wanted to investigate, possible speaking opportunities, podcasts I might pitch, writing submissions, collaborations, and people I didn’t want to lose contact with simply because life got busy.

And opportunities rarely arrive neatly packaged.

One is mentioned during a conference conversation. Another appears in an email. Someone tells you about a podcast you would be perfect for. You take a screenshot so you can “look at it later.”

You can probably guess what happens next.

Later gets crowded.

I’ve learned that being intentional about opportunities is part of treating my writing like a business.

It isn’t enough to discover an opportunity. I need to know:

• What is it?

• Does it fit where I’m headed?

• What action do I need to take?

• Is there a deadline?

• Who do I need to contact?

• When should I follow up?

A great connection can only take you so far if you never take the next step.

What Authors Should Track

Before deciding whether an opportunity is worth pursuing, give it somewhere to live.

That can be a spreadsheet, database, planner, or another system that works for you. The specific tool matters less than consistently using one central location.

Consider tracking:

• Opportunity name

• Opportunity type

• Contact person

• Website or contact information

• Submission deadline

• Event date

• Requirements

• Cost

• Current status

• Follow-up date

• Notes

• Next action

Author opportunities might include:

• Speaking engagements

• Podcasts

• Conferences

• Book festivals

• Writing submissions

• Contests or awards

• Guest blog opportunities

• Media interviews

• Collaborations

• Bookstore events

• Teaching opportunities

You don’t have to pursue everything you record.

You simply want to make sure a promising opportunity doesn’t disappear because you forgot where you saw it.

Capture First. Evaluate Second.

Finding an opportunity and committing to an opportunity are two different decisions.

When something interesting comes across your path, capture it first.

Then evaluate it.

Ask yourself:

Does this reach the audience I’m trying to reach?

Does it support my current goals?

What will it cost in money, travel, preparation, or time?

What could I reasonably gain from participating?

Does it fit this season of my author business?

Speaking opportunities are a great example. Before saying yes—or even applying—it’s important to consider the audience, the event, and whether your message fits. I explore that process more in What Authors Should Know Before Pursuing Speaking Opportunities.

An opportunity can be wonderful and still not be the right opportunity for you right now.

That isn’t failure.

That’s strategy.

Let Your Calling Help You Choose

Not every opportunity that crosses your path belongs on your path.

One way to evaluate an opportunity is to ask whether it supports the message, audience, and calling you are building your author business around.

Author and entrepreneur Gina Romero, who teaches on building a brand around your calling, is a great example of approaching visibility with purpose.

In her Christian Authors Network article, “Building a Thriving Online Presence Through Authentic Connection,” Gina explains that her goal wasn’t simply to sell books. She wanted to connect with and encourage the people she felt called to reach.

That distinction matters.

When you know what you are called to communicate and who you are trying to reach, opportunities become easier to evaluate.

Instead of asking only:

“Can I do this?”

Ask:

“Does this opportunity make sense for where I am going?”

That question can save you time, money, and energy—and keep a shiny new opportunity from becoming a very attractive detour.

Always Record the Next Action

Here’s where many opportunities stall.

We save the information but don’t identify what needs to happen next.

Instead of writing:

Possible podcast

write:

Listen to two episodes and research guest requirements.

Instead of:

Conference in Dallas

write:

Review speaker application and submission deadline.

Instead of:

Follow up with Susan

write:

Email Susan Tuesday about the collaboration we discussed.

Specific actions move opportunities forward.

Vague notes become things we keep rereading.

Follow-Up Is Part of the Opportunity

We often think the important moment is the meeting, pitch, application, or conference conversation.

But the follow-up may be just as important.

If someone says, “I’d love to talk with you about being on my podcast,” don’t depend on either person’s memory.

Record it.

Schedule the follow-up.

Then follow through.

You aren’t being pushy.

You’re completing the conversation.

That follow-through is so important that I’ve written an entire post about it. Ihttps://deedeelake.com/post/why-every-author-needs-a-simple-follow-up-system

A simple tracking system should make it easy to see both your follow-up date and your follow-up status.

My Conference Note Trick

Here’s one of my favorite practical tricks.

When I write something in my notes that requires action, I draw a box beside it.

That box means:

This isn’t simply information. I need to do something with this.

Maybe I need to:

• Contact someone

• Research an organization

• Visit a website

• Download a resource

• Follow up with a new connection

• Investigate a speaking opportunity

• Add someone to my contacts

• Schedule something

Instead of stopping during a workshop to organize everything, I mark the action item and keep listening.

Then I process those items later.

Use ChatGPT to Organize Your Notes

Here’s another shortcut I use.

After a conference, meeting, brainstorming session, or workshop, take pictures of your handwritten notes and upload the images into ChatGPT.

Then ask ChatGPT to organize the information.

Those little boxes beside your action items make the process even easier.

You can tell ChatGPT:

“Anything with a box beside it is a follow-up or to-do item.”

Then ask it to create two separate resources.

An After-Action Report

Ask ChatGPT to organize:

• Key ideas you learned

• People you met

• Resources mentioned

• Opportunities worth investigating

• Ideas you want to remember

• Important observations

A Task List

Then ask it to pull out:

• People to contact

• Research to complete

• Emails to send

• Resources to locate

• Deadlines

• Follow-ups

• Decisions to make

Several pages of handwritten notes can suddenly become something you can actually use.

That’s much better than coming home from a conference with a notebook full of brilliant ideas that never sees daylight again.

Create a Weekly Opportunity Check-In

You don’t need to review your opportunity tracker every day.

Set aside a short period once a week instead.

Look for:

Deadlines approaching.
Is anything due within the next week or two?

Follow-ups due.
Who needs to hear from you?

Opportunities waiting for a decision.
Is there something you’ve researched but haven’t accepted or declined?

Applications or pitches awaiting responses.
Do you need to check their status?

New opportunities.
What did you discover this week that needs to be added?

This turns opportunity management into a routine instead of something constantly bouncing around in your head.

Don’t Let Organization Steal Your Writing Time

There is a danger here.

Writers can organize instead of writing.

We can create beautiful spreadsheets, reorganize folders, redesign planners, color-code seventeen categories...

…and somehow never open the manuscript.

Your system should make your author business simpler, not give you another business to manage.

If you are spending more time maintaining your system than acting on the opportunities inside it, simplify.

You need enough information to make decisions and know your next step.

That’s it.

A Resource for Tracking Author Opportunities

If your opportunities are currently scattered across notebooks, screenshots, email folders, sticky notes, and spreadsheets, consider creating one central tracking system.

It should allow you to:

• Capture the opportunity

• Evaluate whether it is worth pursuing

• Record deadlines and event dates

• Track follow-ups

• Identify your next action

• See what is still open and what is complete

That is also the thinking behind the Author Opportunity Tracker I created.

It wasn’t designed simply to collect names and dates.

It was designed to answer the questions authors actually need to ask:

What is this opportunity?

Is it worth pursuing?

What do I need to do next?

When do I need to follow up?

Because an opportunity is only valuable if you can act on it.

Opportunity Without Direction Becomes Distraction

As authors, we’re often told to “put ourselves out there.”

But visibility by itself isn’t the goal.

You want opportunities that move you toward the readers, relationships, ministry, business, or writing goals you are pursuing.

Tracking author opportunities gives you a place to capture possibilities without immediately saying yes.

It gives you room to evaluate.

It reminds you to follow up.

And it allows you to see where you’re headed instead of simply reacting to whatever appears next.

Opportunity without direction can become distraction.

But opportunity combined with intentional action?

That’s how an author business begins to move forward.

Your Next Step

Take ten minutes this week and gather the opportunities currently living in your email, screenshots, notebook, conference notes, and memory.

Put them in one place.

Then choose one opportunity and identify the next action.

You don’t have to tackle everything today.

You just need to know where you’re headed next.

And remember:

Don’t lose the opportunities you’ve already earned.

Because later gets crowded.