So a story I’ve been diligently working on has at long last been sent out to a few literary journals for their consideration. For several reasons I wanted to get it out there: it was ready; I needed to get back into the submission mode; and there’s another story ripening in my mind that I’m getting excited about. It’s been a little while since I’ve submitted, and some things have changed.
I used to carefully adhere to the guidelines and so made a point of noting a simultaneous submission when required, or make an effort to send those refusing to accept such, a different story–never the story I was particularly confident in. Why tie a story up for four months at the whim of one lit journal?
I’ve found, however, that the majority of the journals, even the big named, well-established, much-sought-after, near-snobbish-about-it types, have dropped this ridiculous restriction. I’m sure they realized that well, writers either lied about exclusivity or like I just did yesterday, weren’t sending them anything. Instead of being the creme de la creme, they were becoming the last resort. Well no, it’s not out elsewhere; it’s gone the route already. In fact, my method is to send to the "top tier" first, then send out to the next level, and usually I stop there, figuring that the story just isn’t good enough as is and needs some reworking. Many writers do just the opposite, sending to the lesser known (and that’s what I mean by "top tier" etc.) first. But my goal isn’t just publication; I suppose I’m as big a snob as a writer as publications can be on their end.
Alway loved this one: Simultaneous submissions will not be read.
Oh yeah? Well unless they’re wasting precious reading time calling other journals, how do they know? Hey, did you get an orange 9 x 12 envelope in the mail this week from Susan in Connecticut?
So M…R…: With any luck on my side, you’ll never get a chance to read any of my work unless it’s in published form elsewhere.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
It’s patently unfair for a journal to demand exclusive evaluation of your story for the 3-4 months it inexplicably takes them to make up their minds, especially when they end up accepting less than 5% of submissions anyway–oh, and probably aren’t paying you for your story if they do accept, either. Were it not for realistic-thinking journals that allow simultaneous subs, I’d still be an unpublished writer, as would most of the writers out there. The only way I’d ever submit to a journal that prohibits simultaneous subs is if they guarantee a decision within 1-2 weeks–and of course that’s never going to happen.