Google Sheets for literary agents on Mac: query tracking, follow-ups, and color rules

How literary agents use Google Sheets on a Mac

Most of the work is records. You track who you queried or submitted to, when you did it, what they asked for, and what came back. Some agents also track editors they pitch, clients on their list, and deals in progress. The sheet holds the dates, so you do not have to.

Hard data on this is thin. No study we found covers how agents use Sheets, on a Mac or anywhere else. The examples here come from one writer's published query system, a literary agent's blog advice from 2017, and Google's own help pages. Treat them as starting points, not rules.

The volume explains why a tracker matters. The 2025 AALA members survey ran from March 1 to April 15, 2025, with 268 respondents, about 52% of membership at that time. It found that 81.7% of agents receive upwards of 20 queries a week. Memory fails at that pace.

Set up the columns that survive an agency change

Janet Reid is a literary agent who calls herself a devotee of spreadsheets for tracking information. Her advice is to put the most-needed or most-updated info in column A. In a query tracker, that is usually the follow-up date. She also writes that nothing is more useless than an outdated database.

Agents change agencies, so a single name field fails. Reid suggests at least two, and preferably three, data boxes for each agent, such as first name, last name, and agency. Keep them in separate columns. She notes that a missing follow-up date column causes confusion.

• Follow-up date: column A, so overdue rows stand out first.
• First name and last name: separate columns, so you can sort by surname.
• Agency: its own column, because agents move between agencies.
• Date first sent: the anchor for every follow-up date.
• Response and response date: what came back, and when it arrived.
• Notes: what the agent asked for, and your next step.

Column order matters less than filling every field. Once the dates are in, sort by follow-up date, and the overdue rows rise. The sort guide shows the menu steps on Mac.

Follow-up dates: pick a wait time and write it down

Reid asks writers to wait 30 days before a follow-up. She says early nudges, around 4 weeks, irk agents. Whatever wait time you use, store it in one place and build each follow-up date from it. Do not guess row by row.

Here is a worked example. You send a query on March 3. A 30-day wait sets the follow-up for April 2. If the sent date sits in B2, the cell =B2+30 gives you the follow-up date. Then choose Format > Number > Date, so the cell shows a date, not a plain number.

If =B2+30 returns an error, B2 is probably text. Retype the date, then check the format again. Text dates look right on screen but break every calculation built on them.

Color rules for query status and fit tiers

One published system uses color on purpose. Emma Lombard's setup, as Jane Friedman describes it, uses four tabs. An All tab lists every agent and marks fit: red for a fabulous fit, orange for a good fit, and yellow for an agent who represents the genre. Three more tabs, labeled Red, Orange, and Yellow, track the queries.

On the query tabs, the colors carry status. Red means sent and awaiting reply. Green means partial or full requested. No color means still to query. Gray means rejected. Rejected agents stay on the sheet, so you do not query them twice.

Set a status color with conditional formatting on Mac

1. Click the column letter for Status to select the whole column.
2. Choose Format > Conditional formatting.
3. In the side panel, set Format rules to Text is exactly.
4. Type Sent in the value box, then pick a fill color.
5. Click Add another rule, then repeat for Requested, Rejected, and To query.
6. Scan the column. Each status should show one color.

Menu names can shift with Google's updates. We could not confirm the current Mac menu layout. If a name differs on your screen, look for Conditional formatting under the Format menu, or ask Lazur to point at it.

Keyboard shortcuts for Google Sheets on Mac

Google's keyboard help page lists the Mac Command shortcuts. Start with ⌘+/, which opens the list of common shortcuts. Open it once in your own browser, because the list on your screen is the one that matches your setup.

Not every Mac shortcut uses Command. Google's page says some use Ctrl, Option, or Fn instead. It also says some shortcuts may not work for every language or keyboard. Test a shortcut on a quiet afternoon, not in the middle of a send.

Find, filter, and freeze in a growing tracker

A busy year fills a sheet fast. Find and replace helps when an agency changes its name or a title changes. Press ⌘+Shift+H, type the old text, and read the matches. Only then click Replace all, because a broad replace touches rows you did not mean to change.

Freeze the top row so headers stay in view while you scroll. The freeze guide shows the steps in Chrome and Safari. To filter one range, the filter guide has the steps.

Hide rejected rows instead of deleting them. ⌘+Option+9 hides the selected row, and ⌘+Option+0 hides a column. If a shortcut does nothing, the hide guide gives the menu route.

Multi-tab trackers and the =SHEET and =SHEETS functions

Once each status has its own tab, you want one summary across them. On February 23, 2026, Google announced two functions for that job. =SHEET and =SHEETS manage and reference multi-tab spreadsheets. Both recalculate when a sheet is added, deleted, moved, or renamed.

That fits a tracker with an All tab and status tabs. A summary that points at each tab keeps working after you rename or move one. Build the setup on a copy first, and check each total after a rename.

Ask Lazur to explain the syntax from the help page on your screen. Lazur reads what is on screen, so keep the page open and visible while you ask.

Silent agents and cancel dates

Some agents never reply. Decide in advance what silence means in your sheet. Friedman's description of the Lombard system includes a cancel date column, next to the follow-up date and the response. The cancel date marks the point where you stop waiting.

Write the cancel date when you set the follow-up. A silent row then turns into a decision you made on purpose, not a guess a month later. When you stop waiting, mark the row rejected and keep it on the sheet.

Sharing the sheet with an assistant or a colleague

Many agents work without help. The 2025 AALA survey found that 62.4% of agents work without an assistant dedicated to them and their client work. If someone else helps, share the sheet with edit access, and use the history to see who changed what.

Google's page lists co-editing and sharing with revision history. Before a big clean-up, open revision history with ⌘+Option+Shift+H. A colleague can change a status without telling you, so check the history first.

Mistakes that make a query tracker useless

• No follow-up date. A missing column causes confusion, so add it on day one.
• Deleted rejections. Keep rejected rows in gray, so you do not query twice.
• One name field. Agents change agencies, so split names and keep the agency in its own column.
• Typed status words. A stray space or a new spelling breaks color rules. Use a dropdown.
• Stale rows. Reid's point holds here: an outdated database is useless. Update each row the same day.
• Dates stored as text. Format the column as a date, or the date math fails.

Mac, privacy, and the limits of this setup

Google's Sheets page gives no prices. It says some Gemini features are only on Workspace plans. It also lists formula writing, error fixing, co-editing, and sharing with revision history. Check Google's pricing for your plan before you count on a feature.

Offline editing appears on Google's list too. Test it before a trip. Turn off Wi-Fi, make a change, reconnect, and check that the change saved.

A tracker holds names, emails, and private notes. Lazur listens and looks at the screen only while you hold the shortcut. Audio and the screenshot go to AI providers to answer you, and they are not stored. Content is never used to train AI models. Check your agency's rules on contact data before any tool reads it.

A setup you can build in one afternoon

1. Make one tab called All, with agent details and a fit color.
2. Add the columns from the list above, with follow-up date first.
3. Add a Status dropdown, then set colors with Format > Conditional formatting.
4. Create one tab per status, such as Queried, Requested, and Rejected.
5. Freeze the top row, then sort by follow-up date.
6. Open revision history before any bulk edit, with ⌘+Option+Shift+H.
7. Ask Lazur to walk you through any step you cannot find.

Working in Sheets with Lazur on a Mac

Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac. It lives in the notch, and it runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Windows is planned, not available. Hold ⌥⌘, Option and Command together, and ask about anything on screen. Lazur answers out loud.

Ask where something is, and Lazur draws a circle and a label around it. Ask how to do something, and Lazur guides you one click at a time, waiting for each click. It does not click buttons or operate the sheet for you.

Hold fn to dictate clean, formatted text at the cursor in any app. Dictation is included with Lazur. Click the cell first, then speak, so the text lands where you want it.

Research runs in Lazur's own Chrome tabs through the Lazur for Chrome extension. Ask it to check an agency's submission page while you keep working. Check the agency's own site before you change a row.

Where to go next

• Create a dropdown list for status values that colors can read.
• Count unique values to see how many agents sit in each status.
• Remove duplicate rows after a bulk import.
• See revision history before a clean-up.
• Download as Excel when a colleague needs a file.
• Lazur for Mac runs on macOS, and pricing lists the trial terms and plans.