‘Reading is a possession, a march toward a possession.’
–Italo Calvino
Onward and upward, forward heave ho. From the flash that was February to the spaciousness of blustery March, Submittable forged ahead with eyes on the prize. And now, to share the spoils:
Soapbox Megaphone
Submittable loves to celebrate the great work you do by spreading the news about it. From our vantage, your creative calls are endlessly inventive, your mission is inspiring, you use software in fresh ways, and you look amazing in that shirt. Let us mom-style brag about your organization and open calls on our networks at no cost – social media, newsletter, blog. Deadline: no deadline.
On Your Mark, Submitters
Submittable is dedicated to making the process of finding, following, and submitting to your organization easy (and even fun) for submitters. To this end:
The Mobile App keeps amping up – our latest release contains all kinds of killer assists for writers and other creatives. Enjoy immediate (obsessive?) access to your pending submissions with the new Active Filter, easily access your preferred personal submission list settings with saved filters and browsing data, and know immediately what’s up with your submission status via improved notifications.
The Discover feature is a free power tool for Submittable users looking to dominate. They can view and follow upcoming creative deadlines, as well as search for specific genres, sub-genres, and sub-sub-genres (by way of over 100 tags), and limit their search by date. To ensure your organization gets in on the greatness, go to Categories and select the name of the category you want included. Check the Promote checkbox on the General Settings tab and voila! Sit tight for magic.
You’ve put a lot of thought into your calendar, so it’s vital to receive work in a timely fashion. Submittable wants to help — now, in their Saved Drafts list, submitters will clearly see the deadline for your call. Tough love, no excuses, game on.
Reviews, Grants, and Videotape
Take your review process to the next level with Custom Review Forms. Hone in on specific assessment criteria, reduce the need for extensive written commentary, and even generate automatic numeric scores. With Custom Reviews, you can ensure your whole team is on the same page. Here’s a new video to guide you through the process.
Do you offer grants? The Submittable crew has specifically dedicated the last six months to considering grant-makers’ needs. We’ve attended conferences, done interviews, talked with you. The process has affirmed our belief that Submittable software is uniquely well-suited to the grants process. We tell you why in this video – and urge you to stay tuned for an exciting integrated Tables feature, available soon.
The Blog
This month, the blog included a profile of Robert Morgan Fisher, who leads a veterans’ writing group focused on the profession of writing (including creative submissions), as well as a celebration of the Brooklyn Arts Council, whose robust grants program enriches artistic opportunities across the borough.
We were also excited to offer wisdom from three guest bloggers: Sara Codair considered prohetdom in research, Lisa Beach revealed the dark underbelly of a rebooted, mid-life writing career, and Mary Walton took us on a tour of online proofreading tools.
Yesterday in Missoula, Montana, it was sunny, snowing, raining, and rainbowing all at once. Talk about cross-genre. Here’s to the seasonal creativity of eccentric spring, and to all of you. Be well until next time.
Rachel Mindell is Senior Editor for Submittable's Marketing Team. She also writes and teaches poetry. You can find Rachel's creative work here: rachelmindell.com