Freelance Writer Pitch Tracker

Pitching is a numbers game that most writers play blind: pitches sent into the void, follow-ups forgotten, no idea which editors actually say yes. This tracker runs the pipeline like the business it is. Every pitch is logged with its publication, topic and the rate you offered; follow-up due dates calculate themselves from YOUR follow-up window and flag themselves OVERDUE when an editor goes quiet; and the money still out there unanswered — your pipeline value — is always on screen. The pre-filled sample runs 10 pitches: $4,825 of work offered, a 66.7% acceptance rate on decided pitches, $2,075 accepted, and $1,850 still sitting in editors’ inboxes waiting for a chase.

What it does for you:
– Follow-ups that chase themselves: set your follow-up window once (14 days in the sample) and every open pitch gets a due date; when it passes, the row flags OVERDUE — follow up. In the sample, 3 of the 4 open pitches are already past due.
– Pipeline value, always visible: pitched + followed-up rates that no editor has decided yet, totalled live ($1,850 in the sample). A shrinking pipeline is your signal to pitch more this week, not next month.
– Acceptance rate that tells the truth: accepted + published + paid as a share of DECIDED pitches — rejections count, open pitches don’t inflate it. The sample’s 66.7% (4 of 6 decided) is judged against the target you set.
– Income per accepted piece: $2,075 accepted across 4 pieces = $518.75 a piece — the number that decides whether a market is worth pitching at all. Paid ($475) is tracked separately from accepted-not-yet-paid ($1,600).
– Publications rolled up automatically: per outlet — pitches, accepted, rejected, still open, acceptance rate, $ accepted, $ paid. The sample’s best outlet accepted 2 of 2 for $925; another rejected 1 of 2 while paying the best single rate — exactly the trade-offs this tab exists to show.
– The business around the pitching: categorized expense log, zero-based monthly budget that fills itself, and a dashboard with pipeline, acceptance and paid income on one screen.

What’s inside (.xlsx, works in Excel AND Google Sheets):
– Start Here — plain-English setup + your settings (your follow-up window in days, your target acceptance rate)
– Pitch Log — 16 pitch rows: date, publication, topic, rate offered, status → follow-up due date and OVERDUE flag calculated; pipeline, acceptance and income totals below
– Publication Summary — automatic per-publication roll-up: pitches, decisions, acceptance rate, $ accepted, $ paid
– Expense Log — business spending, categorized
– Monthly Budget — zero-based, Budget vs Actual fills itself
– Dashboard — pitches, acceptance rate, pipeline value and paid income on one screen
– Monthly Summary — spending by month, Jan–Dec

Instant download. Yellow cells are yours to type in; every formula cell is locked (password sheetdaily, shown in Start Here) so nothing breaks by accident. Sample pitches are pre-filled so you can see the math working — replace them with your own.