I run a small press and typically send out dozens of review copies (books) each month.

I've been keeping track of who gets what, when they get it, whether they actually write and post a review, etc., in a very bloated text file. The system has become cumbersome. Really cumbersome.

I've tried the usual suspects as replacements: OneNote, EverNote, MyInfo, ListPro, and so forth. None of them do what I want them to do, simply and efficiently. And I'm not a big Excel fan.

Maybe what I need is a cut-down database? (Don't want to go the full-blown database route - overkill.)

Recommendations, please?

I'll probably appear obtuse, but notwithstanding your lack of enthusiasm for Excel, Excel is certainly what I'd recommend - especially if you have some idea of how to use it in the first place, and therefore won't have to learn a new application from scratch. For me, the problem with designating an application for a database is that you never quite know at the beginning what you'll want to add to the database or the app's functionality later. The feature-set of Excel is likely to avoid that problem. Otherwise, there've been databases in the past that were designed to hold records of freelance author's submissions - perhaps one of those could be adapted for your purposes? (But I'm assuming you're on Windows - I'm not up-to-date with recent lightweight database applications on that platform. Bento on the Mac would have been very applicable, but that has died the death. Tap Forms - http://www.tapforms.com - seems to be generally regarded as an adequate replacement - but again, only for the Mac.)

Hugh wrote:

I'll probably appear obtuse, but notwithstanding your lack of enthusiasm
for Excel, Excel is certainly what I'd recommend

alternatively, Google Sheets, if you happen to have a Google account already. A lot lighter to use than full-on Excel in my experience.

There is also Snap DB (but might be a bit too simple for this task?):

http://skwire.dcmembers.com/fp/?page=snap-db

You know my dirty secret: I'm not familiar with Excel. If there's nothing else out there adequate for my needs, I'll just have to bite the bullet and learn what I need to learn. But is there an "Excel-lite", maybe a languishing open source project?

All I need is functionality to:

1) Enter reviewer's name (email and mailing addresses not essential, though if they can be included without cluttering up the data, great)
2) Which book(s) were sent - maybe select from available titles in a drop-down list?
3) Date on which the book was sent
4) Results: did he post a review?
5) Free-form notes field at the end for catching anything else

The tricky part is handling reviewers who get copies of different books. I imagine I'd need a separate line for each?

I set up a FileMaker database for exactly this purpose, but I never use it, because it is, as you say, "overkill." Instead, I've been using TheBrain. As long as you don't want to print out reports, this is a good option. But, if you do need to print reports, you'll need another app.

With TheBrain, I set it up this way:

You have a Thought for each reviewer... these can be under a single parent Thought called "Reviewers." Or you can put them under different industries, or whatever. In the notes section, keep the contact information (but beware that you can't print mailing labels from TheBrain).

You have a Thought for each title in your catalog. You could then create a child relationship from the book Thought to the reviewer Thoughts you send the review copies to. You can use the notes window to record dates, or add the date to the link itself. However, I would add an additional layer, which is to create a separate Thought to represent the interaction of the book with the reviewer. This way you can use tags to designate status and result.

Here's a screen capture of a simple example:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/155244/Example-Book-Reviewer-Database.png

Just a suggestion.

Steve Z.

This - obinmizell.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/submission-tracking-for-freelance-writers/ - is a list of "submission-tracking" databases that might be adaptable for the OP's purposes. It appears to have been recently updated.

Sorry - http://robinmizell.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/submission-tracking-for-freelance-writers/

For a simple database app, you should check out GSBase, which is regularly updated:

http://www.citadel5.com/gs-base.htm

(Don't be intimidated by the array of screenshots... mostly GSBase looks like a spreadsheet.)

For a simpler spreadsheet, maybe check out Panorama Sheets:

http://www.provue.com/panoramasheets/

(Not sure when Panorama Sheets was last updated.)

Steve Z.

Another vote for a spreadsheet: Excel, LibreOffice Calc (open source), Numbers, ...

While I am normally a huge fan of spreadsheets, this seems like something better situated to task software like Trello, Asana, or something similar. The former two seem best suited for the job, and Trello is extremely easy to use, especially if you are not tracking a large number of activities. The only thing that I do not really care for in ether of these programs is their exporting features, but that may not be an issue for you.

Good luck,

--Ken

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I'm going to give The Brain a shot, swayed by Steve's screenshot of what-can-be. I hope - for my modest needs - the learning curve won't make my nose bleed.

bobmclain wrote:

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I'm going to give The Brain a shot,
swayed by Steve's screenshot of what-can-be. I hope - for my modest
needs - the learning curve won't make my nose bleed.

One of the many good things about TheBrain is that the developer has a ton of tutorial videos on their website. Watch a few of those and you shouldn't have any trouble.

I should warn you, if you're not aware, that TheBrain isn't cheap. But they do offer a trial period, so I hope you can determine how it will work for you before you invest in it.

Steve Z.

If The Brain proves to be too expensive and/or complicated, I really think that you should give Trello (or possibly Asana) a look. These programs are frequently used for product tracking and marketing, and they easily lend themselves to this type of task with minimal set up (and cost). Trello can be learned in almost no time. Always nice to have a Plan B.

--Ken

Thanks, Ken. I've been using Trello for quite a few months now, primarily as a means to keep track (at a very high, at-a-glance level) of where books are in the acquisition/production/publication process. I just drag them from column to column as they move from submission to publication. Fast, easy, and gives me a nice overview of the company. I can see Trello scaling to a few hundred books, since all I'm doing is moving "title cards", but I don't think it could handle records for hundreds of reviewers.

One thing I want to do - and that I think I'll be able to do with The Brain - is click the title of a book and see which reviewers have been assigned to it, and their statuses; or click the name of a reviewer and see which books I've sent him and whether anything has come of it (and whether I should keep sending him free copies of other books). For example, Joe Reviewer asks me for a copy of Book "C". His name rings a bell, sort of. I want to click his name in The Brain (or whatever program I end up using) and be able to see, right away, that he hasn't written any reviews of Books "A" and "B", which I also sent him.

That does sound like it would stretch Trello a bit. If you ever used Ecco, it might be a good tool to reconsider. Let us know how things go for you.

Good luck,

--Ken

InfoQube is ideal for such an application. I have many customers which are using it for this task.

I can help you configure it if you wish.

Pierre
IQ Designer
http://www.infoqube.biz

Maybe I am a bit late with my reply and most of the solution I am presenting here is nearly identical to what Steve Z. has suggested.
But this request for a review copy management system is a good example of a simple tracking / tricketing / todo mangemment tool implemented with TheBrain.

Here you can find my summary as a Google Document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PbII3VwRRBXdItginZFCAPkqFvoW-sxOTnzQANRF2GQ/edit?usp=sharing

Ideas and suggestions for improvement are appreciated very much.

Best,
Dominik

This is quite helpful, Dominik. Thank you.