One of the questions I get asked most frequently---by beginning and some experienced---writers is: "Are simultaneous submissions o.k.?"

Definition: Simultaneous submissions---often called "multiple submissions"---are queries, proposals, or ms sent to two or more editors, publishers, or agents, at the same, or essentially the same, time.

Simultaneous submissions are indeed acceptable---IF:

1. IF the publisher's guidelines do not state that the publisher does not accept simultaneous submissions.  (Most publishers have guidelines for writers; to obtain a copy, send a SASE--- Self Addressed Stamped Envelope---to the publisher, with a note asking for the guides.)

2. IF the publisher's write-up in the current edition of Writer's Market does not say that simultaneous submissions are not accepted.

(Writer's Market is an annual listing of thousands of publishers hunting for manuscripts to publish. Most of the listings include names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, FAX, etc., plus what types of writings are wanted; pay, key contract agreements, etc.)

3. IF you do not find a statement prohibiting such submissions in some other current source, such as a recent edition of the monthly magazines Writer's Digest or The Writer.

4. IF---you've talked with an editor or such---she/he does not say that simultaneous submissions are not accepted, desired, liked, or such.

Related questions writers ask:

"Should I mention to editors that a work is a simultaneous submission?"

My advice: not unless an editor asks directly. Most publishers recognize simultaneous submissions are standard practice, expect them.

"If an editor wants to know if it is a simultaneous submission, how do I answer?" A simply, brief statement will do, such as, "This is a simultaneous submission."

Will simultaneous submissions detract from the possibility of sales?" My view: not at all.  Indeed, simultaneous submissions could make a ms more attractive in the view of some editors, agents, and publishers. Reasons: They realize some other editor or such may sign the work before they do---and therefore may respond faster. A ms---like a car, a house, whatever---when desired by others, often benefits from that increased appeal.

And the truly big question: "What if two publishers accept my work?" Then you have a delicious decision to make: which do you accept?  You have two options: The moral decision: Accept the offer you receive first. The business decision: Accept the offer that will pay the most. The better of those two decisions?  I leave that to you.

Background:

Knowing how simultaneous submissions came about may be helpful.

The procedure was reportedly pioneered some 30 years ago largely by the big-selling author Norman Mailer. He, like many writers, got tired of sitting around while one publisher took several months or more to decide about publishing a work.

If a manuscript was rejected, the author---in the days before simultaneous submissions---then had to again mail the work and again wait months while another publisher makes a decision.

It often took a good, published writer a year or more to get a query, for example, around to just a few publishers.

That terrible waste of time for writers is what moved Mailer to take action. He started mailing his mss to several publishers at the same time, thereby initiating a new procedure in publishing---to the great benefit of writers.

(Incidentally, Mailer soon developed a still more profitable routine for writers: having publishers bid for a work.)

In sum: If simultaneous submissions were in vogue in the 1800s, English novelist and poet Charlotte Bronte might not have written:

"Bringing out our little books was hard work.
The great puzzle lay in the difficulty of getting answers of any kind
from the publishers to whom we applied."

 

Leon Fletcher, author of this article, is:

	The most published author writing about speech since Dale Carnegie.
	Author of How to Speak Like a Pro, Ballantine trade & massmarket editions; 14 other published books on self-enhancement, ETV, et al; 800+ articles published in Writer's Digest, TV Guide, Weekend,Sea, Sail, World Digest, Honolulu, Writing for Money, Monitoring Times, et al; 100+ online articles posted in 13 sites. Basic college textbook, How to Design & Deliver Speeches, now in 6th edition, used in hundreds of colleges & universities; next, 7th, edition scheduled by Longman for publication           in 2001.
	Emeritus Professor of Speech, Monterey Peninsula College.
	Online volunteer columnist & mentor for writers.