Many literary journals declare they will not consider simultaneous submissions; that is, they don’t want you to send them a story and at the same time send that story to other journals. They want an exclusive chance to consider your story and then get back to you with an acceptance or rejection.
The problem with this, as Erika Dreifus points out at The Practicing Writer, is
…that if every journal asked for three months’ exclusivity just to consider a piece, stories that might need to be seen by 20 (or more–it happens, and it has happened to me more than once) journals before finding a home would be in circulation for five years before receiving an acceptance …. And as for the idea of withdrawing a piece after three months with no answer so you can try somewhere else, well, that seems like a waste of three months to me
You know what I’m going to say: If all of those 20+ journals one might need to try before netting an acceptance took “up to four months,” it would be well into year seven (closer to year eight) of the submission process before the good news arrived. Add to that the time it takes to write and revise a story so that it’s even ready to be submitted, plus the time it will take for production and publication (especially for print journals) and we’re quite possibly starting to approach the decade mark. For one story.
(Here’s the original post from The Kenyon Review blog that prompted Dreifus’ thoughts on the subject.)
Most commenters on The Practicing Writer, and most short story authors I’ve talked to, agree that the simultaneous submission ban can usually be safely ignored:
I say keep those simultaneous submissions going, and unless the guidelines specifically ask it to be earmarked as such, keep mum and do be polite and withdraw it when necessary.
Not that I’m an expert or anything, but I agree, if only because the prospect of one story going around for 10 years is soul-deadening. What do you think? Have simultaneous submissions worked out for you? Can it backfire?
I’m not at a place where submitting is something I have to think about. However… I would say yes to submitting multiple places- regardless of what the policies are supposed to be.
By restricting simultaneous submissions the Journals are trying to unfairly maintain the upper hand.
When an agent auctions a novel or screenplay – the competition is what gets the author that fat check. That’s what journals want to avoid- competing for an author’s writing.
An unpublished writer needs the low or no paying Journals to establish a track record before moving on to larger and more profitable endeavors. To me that says to get published as often and quickly as possible.
When you play by someone else’s rules you set yourself up to lose. When you can make (and get others to play by) your own rules then you’ve set yourself up to win. I believe that to be one of the keys to success in any endeavor.
I agree with Erika (a classmate of mine, by the way) that the no-simsub policies can and should be ignored, and I do. I usually also don’t mention in a cover letter that I’m simsubbing, even if guidelines request it. I think editors should and probably do assume that all submisstions are also under consideration elsewhere. I have generally been pretty prompt at withdrawing stories from other magazines once they’ve been accepted somewhere. Early on in my subbing experience, though, I didn’t do that but it worked to my advantage. A good online journal took a story and a short time later a nice (but small-circulation) print journal accepted the same piece. I explained the circumstances and to my surprise they were willing to take it as a reprint. So that was great–a twofer!
Great comments, thanks!
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