Simultaneous Submissions

What is a simultaneous submission?  Simply put, it's when you send out a single batch of poems to more than one place at the same time.  This is a touchy subject with many editors.  The reason?  Many of them have been burned by accepting Poem A only to find that Poem A had been submitted by the poet to a number of other journals and had been accepted at one (or more) of them.  Who wants to waste their time (or their readers' time) on poems they cannot publish?  

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Why do writers send out work simultaneously?  Because we're only on this earth for a short time and many editors take months to respond to a single submission.  Too often, those responses end up being a small slip of paper with some type of generic "Dear Contributor" note on it that doesn't confirm in any meaningful way that a writer's work has been read.  Worse, editors use those all-purpose "No, thank you" slips for reasons such as (1) We're full now and won't be reading for ten months; (2) A few of these poems came VERY close but ultimately we're going to pass; (3) You are so far from the mark here that you're wasting our time; (4) I had a bad hair day and didn't even read these, or (5) You sent more poems that we request in our guidelines, therefore we did not read these.  Some editors will scribble a quick note now and again on a rejection letter--if you run across these editors, pay attention to what they say and don't be afraid to send them a nice note thanking them for the feedback.  They're busy and don't bother to write down something when they don't mean it.  If they say "send more," DO IT.  If they say "check guidelines," DO IT.

Writers fear (rightly so in some cases) that their singly-submitted poems may be sitting on an editor's desk for three, four, six, or even ten months and will never have any sincere chance of finding publication there.  Even when you send well-edited, well-written poems, they won't always connect with every editor at every journal.  But if that same batch of poems were on three editors' desks. . . five editors' desks. . . eight editors' desks. . . .  Writers write to share their vision of the world with others.  We're eager to see our work in print and the mathematical reasons for simultaneous submissions are tempting indeed. 

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If you decide that sending out your work simultaneously is for you, it's probably best if you admit that fact upfront to the editor.  Sometimes they will realize that they have a short window of opportunity to accept your pieces and will read yours quickly.  Some editors, though, are prickly about this and refuse to be rushed.  A sentence such as "Regrettable, this is a simultaneous submission" or something like that is enough.  The obligation is upon you to immediately withdraw a poem from everywhere else that it's under review at once it's accepted.  Bad reputations are hard to shake and letting a poem get accepted (or worse, appear in print) in more than one literary journal at the same time is a poor choice.  

You can simply send out work without mentioning that it is a simultaneous submission, but you run a greater chance of upsetting an editor if you have to withdraw a poem that was accepted elsewhere.  Editors will know what you're doing and might not appreciate the perceived duplicity.  Professional courtesy demands honesty.

Until you really get the hang of simultaneously submitting, it's best to start slowly.  Send Batch A to Journal 1 and Journal 2.  See how that works out.  Don't send a single batch of poems to twenty journals or you're asking for trouble.  Most professional writers who simultaneously submit only do so to three or four journals at a time.  Once you begin to consistently write strong, effective poetry, you'll find that sending to more than a couple at once can result in multiple acceptances again and again (i.e. big trouble).

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One last point about terminology.  Some publication guides and writing how-to books mistakenly use "simultaneous submission" and "multiple submission" interchangeably.  This is incorrect.  A simultaneous submission is sending a group of poems (Batch 1) to Journal 1, Journal 2, Journal 3, and Journal 4 (etc.) at the same time.  A multiple submission is sending more than one group of poems (Batch 4 and Batch 6) to a single journal at the same time.  Multiple submissions are a bad idea because an editor who receives yet more work from you before responding to the first submission might well assume that you suspected the first batch wasn't good enough to be published, which is why you sent along the second "better" group.  Or they might assume that you're a lousy record-keeper and didn't realize you'd already sent poems.  It's professional courtesy to let an editor respond to one batch of poems at a time, then send more once you've written a new group that seems appropriate for that journal. 

One last bit of advice here--Don't carpet-bomb editors.  If you strike out a few times at the same journal, stop sending for awhile.  Read a few back issues of that journal.  Read a few issues of other journals, and send your work to those places.  Editors can get tired of seeing the same writers fire off submission after submission after submission at them.  Don't quit, just take a little time and regroup.  Then write new poems and try again.  When you finally do get that lovely acceptance letter, don't forget to thank an editor.  Also, a thank you email once the actual issue arrives is always a hit.  As a journal and anthology editor myself, trust me on this.

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