Many publishers, magazines, and e-zines refuse to accept simultaneous submissions. This can cause inconvenience, and sometimes outright hardship, for authors who want to submit their work to them.

What are simultaneous submissions?

Simultaneous submissions occur when you send your work out to more than one potential publisher at the same time. The obvious benefit to you is that you get your work in the hands of more people, thereby increasing your chance of being published. So what’s the problem, right?

Why do so many refuse to accept them?

Let’s say you’re running an e-zine. You have an issue coming up in a week or so, and you’re choosing from your submissions and putting the online magazine together. You’ve notified the authors that you’ve chosen as submitters, but just before the deadline, an author contacts you to remove a submission. It’s been sold to another e-zine.

So, you’re left with only a few days before publication, and you have to pick a story to replace the one you just lost. It’s understandable that publishers want to avoid this situation. So, they ask that you submit your work to them exclusively, wait for a decision, and only then move on to submit to the next publisher.

How long does it take to get a decision?

It depends on the magazine, obviously, but it’s not unusual to see turn-around times of weeks, or even 2-3 months. Yes, that means that the great story you just wrote might get submitted to a half dozen, or fewer, publishers this year. That doesn’t make your chances of getting published great, does it?

Does pay rate have any affect?

I don’t have any official statistics, but anecdotally, I can say that no, it doesn’t. The e-zine that doesn’t pay anything is just as likely to demand no simultaneous submissions as the print magazine that pays good rates.

How do they know if I submit elsewhere?

They don’t, unless you have to pull a submission from them. You might send your story out to several places, ignoring the simultaneous submission rule. What happens when someone accepts the story? You’ll need to pull it from the others’ consideration.

It may be tempting, but your reputation as a writer can follow you. That editor will remember, and the next time you submit a story, it’s likely to get tossed out up front. Is it worth burning the bridge?

What I suggest.

First off, the obvious path is to seek out publishers who accept simultaneous submissions. Many do, so give them first crack at your work.

Consider submitting to a publisher who refuses simultaneous submissions if the pay is high enough or the prestige of publishing there is good enough. In these cases, it’s worth the time spent waiting. Of course, it’s up to you to decide what’s high enough and good enough.

Also consider it if you’re unpublished. You’re better off getting some publishing credits, even if you have to wait for them.

If a magazine is unknown and pays little or nothing, then I’d avoid submitting to them unless they accept simultaneous submissions. In that case, the publisher probably needs your work more than you need to be published, so they should be more flexible.