[marla-lesage Posts: 391 Status: Offline Write. Illustrate. Revise.]

Is it ok to submit the same item to more than one magazine at a time?

[Ev Posts: 4,453 Status: Offline Making learning fun! WWW]

Yes, as long as they don't prohibit it in their submission guidelines.

Caution: I would be sure to say in your cover letter that you're submitting elsewhere. I had the experience of having a magazine publish my piece and not tell me about it ahead of time. I didn't know until I received the envelope containing: my contributor copy, a letter congratulating me on my acceptance, and my payment. Since it had been well past their posted response time, I had assumed it was a rejection and had been just about ready to submit the poem for an anthology.

I'm sure it's not a situation that happens very often, but, because of that experience, I personally don't submit the same item to more than one magazine at the same time.

[marla-lesage Posts: 391 Status: Offline Write. Illustrate. Revise.]

I received a rejection after 225 days, and am now looking at resubmitting elsewhere. I was just wondering what was the norm.

[dkshumaker Posts: 1,020 Status: Offline]

I go back and forth with this. I have only done exclusive submissions with magazine articles, but with the length of time that most publishers seem to take now a days with rejections or the "no response" means no idea, I just wonder how any publisher, magazine or book, can expect we writers to NOT submit to multiple places? 225 days and finally a rejection? A few years ago I had sent a NF article directly to an editor who had published a different article of mine in the past. About a 9 months or a year later, I sent an email mentioning that I had assumed they were not interested in the article and I had plans on submitting it elsewhere when she quickly responded that it WAS under consideration and could I give them more time. And about 2 months later, they accepted it. .  . but now that many magazines are doing "Submittable" I think the only option you have is to withdraw the submission. . .

I'm curious. If you state that it's a multiple submission, do you think that may push editors to respond quicker, or does it send the message that you, the writer, is not sure if it's the best fit so you're just sending it out and hoping something sticks? I realize poems are probably different than articles. . . but just wondering.

Good luck with your poem Maria!

[Ev Posts: 4,453 Status: Offline Making learning fun! WWW]

I don't know the answer to your question. If I had to guess, I would guess that the reaction might vary from editor to editor depending on their own personalities and experiences. I have heard that some book editors have said at conferences that they understand the realities of submission response times and would never fault authors for doing simultaneous submissions.

If you say something like--"This piece is being submitted simultaneously to two other magazines."--I wouldn't think an editor would feel that "you, the writer, is not sure if it's the best fit so you're just sending it out and hoping something sticks."  Clearly, some pieces can work equally well for more than one magazine.  However, this is just my guess.

There are probably other writers here who would advise you just to submit to as many places as you feel are good matches and don't mention that it's a simultaneous submission.

It's one of those gray areas in authoring, and people have different opinions. 95% of magazines (a number I picked totally out of thin air) will check with you before they publish your piece, so most of the time you'll be fine if you want to do simuls and not mention it in your cover letter.

[Debby G Posts: 648 Status: Offline WWW]

About ten years ago, I submitted a how-to article about breaking writing rules to two magazines simultaneously, without mentioning that it was a sim. sub. Writer's Digest bought it quickly. The day after, the other magazine responded favorably. I was really surprised to get two offers and felt bad about admitting to the other magazine that I'd just sold the article elsewhere. I felt that I'd wasted the magazine editors' time and really hurt my chances of publishing with them again. Maybe things have changed in ten years, but after that experience, I wouldn't sim. sub an article again.

[marla-lesage Posts: 391 Status: Offline Write. Illustrate. Revise.]

Simultaneous submissions are expected/accepted when submitting book manuscripts, but I wasn't sure about magazines. I've seen some of the adult magazines specifically say no sim subs, but nothing for kids mags. I really wasn't expecting anything for the poem when I initially sent it. Now it's almost a year later & I'm thinking about submitting elsewhere. And it's a question that's come up in my critque group as well.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,386 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

I also do this with book manuscripts but not magazine submissions. Magazines are usually quicker to reply and most still actually reply. Of course, magazines are also more likely to have a theme. This means fewer pieces work for more than one or two. The pieces with no theme don't have time limits either. If I had a piece that was timely, I'd sub it everywhere that paid well at once.

Truthfully, I don't even mention it for book manuscripts because I think it's expected now. However, I would mention it for a magazine submission. It just removes that awkward sensation that happens when someone wants to buy something you've already sold.

I don't think it impacts how quickly the work will be read. Most people just work through their e-mail cues, or mail piles, in order. They won't know it's out elsewhere until they reach it in the cue.