Hatrack River Writers Workshop: I was wondering...

This is topic I was wondering... in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :

What's the etiquette on submitting the same story to more than one magazine at once? I know that some magazines will take more than one story at once, but beyond that, I know nothing.

Also. Is it just me, or is the market for short stories severely limited? I checked out the 2004 Writer's Market, and it only lists 4 or 5 magazines who'll take short stories now. Publisher's will take anthologies, but that's not really the same thing. Besides, no one would take an entire anthology from a previously unpublished writer.

Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :

Unless a magazine says that they take simultaneous submissions then they don't.

I've also got the 2004 Writer's Market and there are far more markets for short stories than you mentioned. What's the criteria you're using?

Looking for something different I just stumbled across this page, which might give you some ideas of where to submit to.

http://www.sfreader.com/article004.asp

[This message has been edited by MaryRobinette (edited August 24, 2004).]

Posted by Gen (Member # 1868) on :

Nope. Don't do it. Not unless both magazines explicitly say it's ok.

The logic? A lot of people will say, well, it's not like I'll ever get published, so nobody will ever find out. Thing is, you get a story that *is* publishable, and it's publishable anywhere. Try telling one editor your story's unavailable because you had it subbed to someone else? They don't like that. They talk-to-other-editors, unofficial-black-list don't like that. And don't even think about a bidding war. I hear they laugh, and then ignore.

The Writer's Market is solid, but not so much in genre. I'd suggest www.ralan.com. There's not too many markets out there, but there are some great ones-- Writers of the Future, Asimov, Analog, Realms, F&SF, Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, Strange Horizons, and for semi-pros Fortean Bureau, Ideomancer, Abyss & Apex (although they're still closed to subs), and so on. For response times, which can vary wildly, I'd suggest checking out Submitting to the Black Hole.

Posted by punahougirl84 (Member # 1731) on :

The publisher's guidelines will specifically say if they accept simultaneous submissions (sent to more than one place at a time). In general, you don't do it. I would think that it is easier to have one story out at one place at a time - easier to track, and no worries of simultaneous acceptances!

I used www.ralan.com, and another site, and made a list of 23 places to submit sf/f short stories that match what I do. And there are far more - those were what I considered the best choices for me.

Good luck with your submissions! I just got a rejection from Asimov's... so now that story will go somewhere else (though I have someone new reading it, so I can tweak it a bit more if necessary).

Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :

Note--Writer's Market is a fantastic resource, possibly the best one out there, but it's not perfect. Do some research and you can find more magazines to submit to that aren't listed in Writer's Market. Some pretty good ones, too.

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

quote:
Publisher's will take anthologies, but that's not really the same thing. Besides, no one would take an entire anthology from a previously unpublished writer.

Chris, one author can't submit an anthology unless they are submitting it as the editor of the anthology.

Are you meaning a story collection?

anthology = a book-length collection of stories all by different authors

story collection = a book-length collection of stories all by the same author

If you mean story collection, even published authors have a hard time because story collections sell even worse than anthologies, and very few anthologies do well enough for publishers to make them worth the hassle of publishing. (They are even less worth the hassle for the editors who compile them.)

Anthologies are pretty cool for authors to be in, though.

Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :

Thanks, Kathleen. I wasn't aware of that distincion.

MR--Either I was reading it wrong (which isn't impossible) or you included markets I didn't. I was only looking at f/sf markets, and excluded canadian magazines.

Also, I've noticed some guidelines mentioning that "multiple submissions allowed", but I always assumed that meant more than one story to the same magazine.

Thanks for the websites, PHG. I'll check them out post haste. (or is that one word?)

CVG

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Multiple submissions should mean more than one submission to the same market, but I've seen some people use "multiple" to refer to simultaneous submissions (which means the same story at the same time--hence the use of "simultaneous"--at different markets).

If we all use the terms correctly, maybe people won't get them mixed up.

By the way, some editors say no multiple submissions (because they don't want your stories to compete with each other) as well as no simultaneous submissions. (Patrick Nielsen Hayden of Tor Books is one--when he is considering submissions for the STARLIGHT anthologies.)

Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :

Turn to the Small/Literary section. There are loads of them that take SF/F, and some of them pay really competetive rates. Most don't, but are still a respectable way to get in print.