simultaneous submissions

[Devora]

I have a question about this, but it comes in the form of a dilemma. I have not have this happen, but what should one do if the were to have submit a story to a publication, having forgot they already submitted it another already, and both accept it?

Any suggestions on how one could clear this problem up?

 

[Caged Maiden]

If you have submitted to someone so long ago you have forgotten... they probably didn't accept it. Some agents don't require they be the only ones you submit to, and a submission is not a promise or contract, so if you submitted to two agents simultaneously, you could choose the one that you think could do the most for your particular book or that you would like working with best.

 

[Devora]

i was thinking more along the lines of Literary Magazines, and Short Stories than Agents and novels. (sorry i did not specify that.)

 

[Christopher Wright]

Generally you want to keep a log of your submissions--when you sent them in, when you received notices, what those notices were. That way you avoid those things. That also makes it easier to avoid accidentally submitting something to a publisher who already rejected it. That's awkward.

 

[Devora]

My question though is what is one supposed to do if they submitted one story to two magazines (both don't allow simultaneous submissions), and both happen to accept the story, and you forgot that you sent the story to another publication?

 

[Steerpike]

Sounds like you did it inadvertently. Just send a note to the second publication telling them what happened, and now that you've discovered the mistake you are withdrawing the submission.

 

[Devora]

well i don't know if either magazine has even accepted it yet cuz the story has been in their hands for a few months. Wat happened was was that I was waiting for a response from one magazine, and, for reasons i don't exactly remember, went to check for the submission in my Sent Folder of my email around the time i submitted, and i couldn't find it. And Because i couldn't find it (I checked thoroughly) i assumed that somehow i must have not sent it and thought i did. So i just went and sent it to another publication.

The main problem of this dilemma comes from the Submissions Portal (its another site that handles intake) of the second magazine. I saw that the something was up with the day it said i submitted didn't match with the date i inputted into Duotrope (i delete the stat of the first magazines submission because of the email thing). I was sure that was the day i submitted the story, but the thing said i submitted it a few months earlier. And that got me thinking, "wait, wasn't that about the time i sent the story to this other magazine?" I saw that there was some kind of link next to the day in the slot that the submission was dated and i clicked on it, and for some reason it took me back to the site of the First magazine!

Both of the magazines say they don't do Simultaneous Submissions.

I'm querying the story's status at the moment, and i need to know wat to do if both magazines happen to Accept the story ? (both have the same pay rate btw)

And wat should i do if for some reason both magazines say they never got the story.

 

[Steerpike]

This is simple.

If they both received it, you withdraw it from the second market. You don't wait to see if they both accept it first.

 

[Kelise]

I'd advise to be very apologetic and careful in the future. Many places are so strict to their guidelines that they can hold it against you - simple mistake, yes, but as they have their pick of who to work with, they chose those who stick to the rules.

I say this because a friend was submitting three of four stories at a time - one to each place - and her partner was assisting. One or the other made a mistake, and the same piece was submitted to two places. Both accepted on the same day, which is how she realised. When she apologised, both rejected her for voiding their guidelines.

It's a tough world out there. A spreadsheet is pretty necessary to ensure these issues don't happen. Best of luck.

 

[Penpilot]

Be honest and as Steerpike said withdraw it from one of the markets. I think they'll understand mistakes happen and if you act quickly it may even give you a slight boost in reputation because you demonstrated some professionalism. From my limited understanding, if a market plans on accepting your story, they make plans based on having that story available to them. If they make plans and then you withdraw your story, you just wasted their time and screwed them over. But if you withdraw one before anything gets rolling, it's probably no sweat off their back.

 

[Devora]

Thing is though is that i don't even know if the First magazine even got the story because of the missing email in my outbox.

Also i might just query one of them first, and if they say accept then i will cancel the other one, but if that says Reject instead then i'll query the other. Wat you think?

 

[Steerpike]

They may not have made any decisions yet. It sounds like you are looking for justifications not to do the right thing. If you want to be a professional writer, it is important to behave like one, in my view. To me, if they both received the submission, that means explaining what happened to the second market and withdrawing the piece (which at least gives them the option of deciding how to proceed). Obviously, if one of the markets didn't get the submission, then there is no problem. But if they both did, then it is best to be up front about what a happened.

 

[Christopher Wright]

Honestly, I think if you're going to submit stuff to publishers you need to follow their submission guidelines, and if you figure out you haven't you need to fix it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, even if it's going to put you at a disadvantage. You say it's an honest mistake, and I have no reason to doubt you, but since you've figured it out NOW, if you try to "ride it out" then you're turning an honest mistake into a dishonest opportunity.

And if *I* think that, then the publishers will DEFINITELY think that.

 

[Devora]

I took Steerpike and C. Wright's advice and told one of the publications that i'm withdrawing from one of the magazines.

 

[TWErvin2]

This is simple.

If they both received it, you withdraw it from the second market. You don't wait to see if they both accept it first.

This is what to do. And keep better track next time. Create a spread sheet with information necessary to track, such as title of story, market sent to and date, market's reply and date, and any additional notes, minimum.