posted
I am about to send out my very first submission. What I want to know is - should I send it out to one market at a time or to several at once?
Posts: 456 | Registered: May 2009
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posted
One at a time, unless guidelines specify the market accepts simultaneous submissions. Most of the pro-markets do not though.
Posts: 710 | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
I'm not sure if this applies to you (if you are submitting to agents or magazines or direct to publishers) but when you query an agent, most agents say they are fine with simulaneous submissions. The reason being it takes an agent anywhere from a day to three months to get back to you, and some never write back at all. They usually understand you are actively looking for representation.
The rule I've always come across is don't send partials or a full MS to several agents at one time unless you inform them ahead of time. That way they can act fast if they are interested. But when in doubt, I agree that you should not sumbit to multiple agents at a time.
If it's magazines or things like that, I think you are supposed to submit your work one at a time.
posted
Thanks all! I'm submitting to magazines. But this one's gonna be a long shot. It's a 20,000 word novella - written by a no-name house painter without even one publication under his belt. I'd send it to Writers of the Future, but since I couldn't go to the ceremony even if I did win, that might be problematic. F and SF says they accept works up to 25,000 words, but I hear that's for big names only. I think I could manage to cut this down a bit, but too much and I'll have to rethink the whole story.
Posts: 456 | Registered: May 2009
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posted
Wotf has a limit of 17000 words. They count those by how many pages your MS is, not by your word processor's word count, so lots of dialogue may make your story seem longer and they will toss it.
Cutting 20,000 down to 17,000 is a very realistic aim. I bet there are whole scenes you could remove and simply allude to.
WOTF pay for you fly to the ceremony and put you up in a hotel for the week. Besides you can still win and chose not to go. You would get a very high rate of pay, plus prize money, plus a published story that would make you eligible for a Campbell Award, plus kudos. Few places offer that.
Edited to add: Nowhere else offers that.
Of course, you may not want all that...not everyone does.
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited May 09, 2010).]
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