I’ve talked several times about writing expenses and income, and often share my spreadsheet templates via email. (See posts here and here.) But this time I decided I should share them for free downloading.
The first is an expense template–this will work for writers or illustrators: Expense Template. Feel free to customize how it best works for you. I initially set this up based off of Schedule C, and still find it helpful when using TurboTax. It is set up to do automatic calculations for each month, and then monthly totals are transferred to the year-end sheet. It also has two extra sheets where I keep track of use of cars and equipment depreciation, and cost of goods sold.
I also have an income template: Income Template
But is that it? Is Excel only for numbers? I don’t find it so. Some of the useful spreadsheets I have are a writing day log and a critique group log. These show dates, where we met, and who I met with. These are backups for my expense sheets and make for easy comparisons versus searching all my emails for when and where we agreed to meet. Here are those templates: Critique Meeting Log Template
Writing Day Log Template
I also have two excel spreadsheets related to agents. One has agent information I’ve collected from sites and newsletters. (These are agents I think I might want to submit to.) Each agent gets their own tab (sheet) and I add more information and updates as I find it. I could use a Word Table as well for this, but entries get pretty lengthy.
The other spreadsheet is for agents who have rejected me. It includes name, agency, date, and form or personal rejection. I’m querying on a specific manuscript right now, but that could be info for another column. A Word Table would probably work as well.
Some people use spreadsheets for submission info. That could be for all submissions or for a specific manuscript.
If you don’t have Excel, consider Google Sheets–a great alternative. Though I mostly use Sheets for collating info from a Google Form I’ve created. Google Sheets are handy when you need to share a spreadsheet with someone else so you can both work on the same sheet. As soon as one makes a change, the info is updated.
Yes, I’m on a Ryan T. Higgins‘ book kick. But how could I resist this title: we don’t eat our CLASSMATES (Disney*Hyperion, 2018)? It’s a hilarious back-to-school book and has a reassurance on the title page with Penelope Rex saying, “HEY, KIDS! You will never be eaten by a T. rex. They are extinct. I promise.” I love the twists in this story.
Be Quiet! (Disney*Hyperion, 2017) by Ryan T. Higgins is a humorous picture book. No surprise if you’ve read any of 
Natsumi! (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2018) by Susan Lendroth and illustrated by Priscilla Burris is a delightful picture book. I really love the illustrations.