Magazine Submissions - Finding a Winning Strategy

[Throughy]

Submitting to magazines, I'd like to be able to submit each article to multiple magazines and each will be copyright registered.

Is there anything against submitting to more than a single magazine at the same time (intending to accept but one, of course)?

Are there any unspoken rules, any "do's and don'ts" of sorts that deem attention? Here referring to practices of business conduct.


Any suggestions that could be applied toward maximizing ongoing submission efforts?

[T.S.Bowman]

A lot of magazines have a "No Simultaneous Submissions" policy which states that you can submit something to them on the condition that you wait until you are rejected to submit it to another.

You may want to check into the respective policy involved before you decide to submit.

[tabasco5]

Or you can submit to multiple simultaneously and then inform them if you get accepted by another.

[hvysmker]

Have you tried the, "Writer's Market", book? It's very thick and cost a lot, but very useful. The book can be found in your local public library. There's also a pay website.

Anyway, it is updated and comes out yearly. I subscribed for the first four years I was writing and it cost about $40 an issue back then. The book came with a year's access to their website.

It contains vital information on thousands of publishers and managers, such as what genre they specialize in, what time of year to submit, and what kinds of submissions are allowed. It also gives, on each publisher, how much is paid, the normal turnaround times, and other matters of use when submitting. It's well-worth the money or a trip to the library, not only telling which ones to use, but which ones aren't for you.

Google for information.
Charlie

[Terry D]

Here's a free site which can show you a wide variety of magazines in any genre. It provides an overview of their requirements and links to the magazines where you can get more submission info. There are a number of sorting functions to suit about any needs.

http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Search.aspx

There is another, similar site which has a small fee, but a very fine reputation -- https://duotrope.com/

Also, there is no need to register a copyright for your stories. They are protected by copyright law as soon as you write them, no registration required.

Always follow a publication's guidelines. To do anything else is unprofessional. Writing may be an art and a 'calling' but publishing is a business.

[T.S.Bowman]

Or you can submit to multiple simultaneously and then inform them if you get accepted by another.

If you have submitted to a No SimSub magazine (or whatever) and you "let them knbow" that you have been accepted somewhere else, you will have burned a bridge with that particular publisher because they will no longer consider your submissions.

I happen to find the NoSimSub rule rather ridiculous. But it will be up to you as to whether you ignore it.

[Throughy]

Have you tried the, "Writer's Market", book?

...From my post at http://www.writingforums.com/threads...ke-submissions

Where those two you mention were brought up, Terry D.

[Angel101]

You can submit to more than one magazine at once as long as the publisher indicates it's okay. The most important thing about submitting your work is reading the submission guidelines. As an editor, I can tell you that it's blatantly obvious when someone has ignored the guidelines you set, and it's a major turn off. Always read thoroughly and follow them exactly.

Usually--at least in my experience, and bear in mind that I write poems and not fiction/non-fiction--magazines that indicate a no simultaneous submissions policy have a quick turnaround time. When that's not the case, I just don't submit to that magazine because I happen to feel that the policy is ridiculous and unfair to the writers, especially if you're planning on holding on to my work for 9 months.

The real winning strategy, though, is just submitting good work. Don't let rejection bother you. Just keep at it. Getting published is a race where endurance matters more than speed.

[InstituteMan]

While I have a limited track record here, one of the pieces of advice that I saw somewhere on the interwebs is to actually read the magazine you are submitting to in order to figure out whether what you are sending them fits their style and generally preferred set of topics. As someone with a day job and a family and this crazy writing obsession, that has been tall order, but I have set up a reading regimen of journals that seem to be good targets for my work. I recently spent a weekend skimming through several online magazines that seemed of interest to me, got fascinated by one, thought to myself, "I've already written a piece that would really fit in with this type of work," submitted that story, and received a surprisingly quick acceptance. I don't think that I am all that brilliant, mind you, but the piece and the publication really were well matched, and that let me get a little lucky. We all have limited time available to us, but reading the magazines you submit to can save you time and considerable emotional energy if you target your submissions well.

Caveat: we all are still going to face more rejections than acceptances, especially starting out, but if you can move your acceptance rate from 0.1% to 5%, that is a marked improvement.