It’s been a good week of work. I spent yesterday morning out of the office (shuttle service for a routine test – his this time, not mine). Despite that, I was able to get back to the desk around eleven and get a small project done.
I spent the afternoon doing something few of us remember to do (or bother to do, as the case may be) – I followed up. I had sent out a number of queries last month, some of them with topical subjects. I need to know if they’re being rejected so I can send them elsewhere. Mind you, one of the queries was in fact a simultaneous submission. I love to comply when editors say they don’t want to see something being floated around to other pubs, but that means they have to be diligent enough to follow through on their end and give me a definite answer.
I can count on one hand the times this year that’s actually happened.
For that reason, I’m okay with simultaneous submissions. Here’s why I think it’s a okay for freelancers to send multiples of one idea:
The idea is going to be framed differently. If you’re doing your job right, no two magazines will receive the same idea. Similar, yes. But the focus is going to be different because no two magazines are alike.
The magazine wait time is infinite. Even with snail mail, I’ve gone months without word (and in a few cases, I’m waiting on ones mailed years ago, including my follow-up postcard reminders). Unless you know that editorial staff is quick with responses, don’t feel compelled to play by arbitrary rules that could harm your chances elsewhere.
Topics go out of vogue. I had some ideas circulating that were perfect for Halloween. I sent them early enough according to the guidelines (two months ago), but no response from any of the editors. Time wasted and opportunities missed thanks to overworked editors who don’t follow their own protocol.
You have to eat. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that editors are too busy to respond to all queries. Good enough reason for you to submit that idea around to a few folks at the same time (tweaked to fit each style, of course). It takes time – billable time – for you to put those queries together, and you’re running a business. If that editor’s business process doesn’t mesh with your own, you have a choice. Either use their process and be at their mercy or adopt your own and take control of your business and earnings.
The chances of two magazines wanting the same thing are rare. Really rare. It’s never happened to me. Ever. Send it out. If you’re one of the lucky ones getting the assignment from two magazines, make sure the articles are different enough in scope and focus so as not to ruffle feathers. For instance, if you propose an article on the dangers of commercial lawn care, you can present that as an overview story and then refocus the second one on specific products and how they affect plants, animals, and humans.
What about you? Do you send the same general idea to more than one editor at a time? Have you ever sold the same idea at the same time to two different places? If so, how did you handle it?
5 responses to “Simultaneous Submissions”
If you've got the individual slant on a similar idea, it's not technically, a "simultaneous submission". "Simultaneous submission" is sending the exact same piece to multiple publications, which happens more often in fiction than non-fiction, because successful mags may cover the same topics, but, if they're any good, they each take a slightly different tone. Slanting an idea towards different publications is different, in my view, than sending the same piece out in a blast.
This is great advice on making similar pitches to multiple magazines. Some editos clearly operate on a "Do as I say, not as I do" principle!
True, Devon. The problem comes into play if you're using the same experts as interview sources or trying to frame it in much the same manner for each. Some folks will do that. I'm against that. The magazines each paid for something original. They deserve to get an original idea with different sources and angles.
Nicky, back before computers made editors' lives ten times more hectic (just try wading through all those emailed queries!), there was a protocol. Editors would expect exclusivity, but they'd also give responses within six to eight weeks. More often than not, responses were faster if they wanted your idea. I would get them within a week of sending usually.
Now it's like the rules have all morphed into a giant free-for-all. I get that they're busy – I was on that side of the desk once – but a simple "No thanks" takes less than twenty seconds to type and send.
Paper queries have gotten me no better luck. I'm a little tired of bothering with paper as the wait is infinite and there's no indication the magazine will ever respond.
Just think of how much money we're saving on postage now that we can query via e-mail 9 times out of 10? Of the thousands of queries I've sent out over the years, probably less than 10% used the SASEs. editors who liked my pitches would generally call, so they didn't use the SASE, and only a handful of editors who didn't make an assignment bothered to send the SASE back. I often wondered what happened to all of those unused SASEs – assistants probably peeled the stamps loose and re-used them.
I'm about to make multiple pitches on a story targeted to a February book release of someone I interviewed earlier this month. A Q&A might fit better with one market while a profile could work in the other.
One thing to bear in mind when submitting similar ideas to multiple publications and two or more editors pop – be honest. If one of their competitors has already assigned you to do a piece on the topic, they need to know. Competing titles always want to feel like they broke the story, even if it's a puff piece. If they find out later that you sold something on the same topic (even with a very different angle), the editor will probably feel like you deceived them and probably won't hire you again. Be honest, and let the second editor decide it they can live it it, kill it, or just want to shift the focus even more.
Absolutely, Paula. If it's sold, don't dare try to resell the same thing. Good way to lose a ton of credibility – and future work.