Here are tools I’ve found helpful.

• 750 Words This site provides a secure space for writing. I use it for drafting, brainstorming, or even just getting stuff out of my system. It has some fun analysis tools, and provides silly incentives, like like the Phoenix for writing 100 days in a row. Here you can see my data for a particular day of writing: Mary’s Data. Scroll down the page to see data about sensory inforamtion and  my mindset while writing.
• SixFold.org This unique publication hosts contests for fiction, and poetry. Submitters actually read and vote on the entries in three rounds, adding comments for the authors in each round. I’ve entered a story for the first time, and find that careful reading of the stories I’m voting on (six in each round) is very helpful in my own writing. It reminds me of grad school when I interned for New Madrid, which my teacher, Dale Ray Phillips calls “the most useful course in the whole program.”
• Submittable.com This allows writers to submit work online directly to the publication. It is free to use for writers, and keeps a personal database, so you can see what you have out there, and what stage each submission is in. They also have a search tool to help writers discover new opportunities.