Friday, February 22, 2013

Why simultaneous submissions are crucial?

I have realized the importance of simultaneous submissions a bit late in my writing life. The first book I had written around 9 years back, was sent to just one Indian publisher who took centuries to get back and that too after several nudges, pokes and prods.

I became aware of the term simultaneous submissions when I started searching for an agent around 2 years back. Until then the greenhorn that I was, I never knew about this term. But, as I searched the internet for the perfect way to write a query letter, I came across an agent’s guide to getting a query letter right. The agent highlighted the importance of submitting to several agents at the same time but also doing the agents the courtesy of informing them right in the beginning about it and keeping them in the loop when other agents offered representation.

There is value in it. Simultaneous submissions widen a writer’s chances as we spread the net wider. Querying lots of agents at the same time gives us the advantage of the benefit of pitching our stories to several prospective representatives of our work as well as ensuring that we get a wide feedback and it also reduces the waiting time.

Though my simultaneous submission (query) did not snag me an agent (many agents asked me to query them with my other books), atleast now I know that I did the best for my book: that is queried as many agents as I thought right. For my next book whenever I query again, I will query many, many, many agents. No making such mistakes again in my life.

Now tell me, were you all like me, late converts to simultaneous submissions? Were you smart (unlike me) and widened your net, and queried many publishers at the same time? Did you make a mistake and queried just one publisher at a time? Do share your submission process. I would love to know all about it.

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20 comments:

  1. I see a lot of wisdom being shared here , Rachna:)

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  2. So true, Rachna. It's important to query many agents at the same time. Otherwise you wait forever. I've heard batches of 5 are good.

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  3. Years ago, I sent a copy of one of my novels to a publisher who had requested seeing it. I never heard back from the publisher. Wouldn't answer my emails or my certified mail. They could have at least said, "Sorry, we're not interested."

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  4. Very true, Rachna! The thing about this process is this: Query 5-7 agents a week. (This is a way to see if your query is working.) If you get NO response then tweak that query before the next 5-7 agents are queried. And make sure to tell each one that you are querying simultaneously. Great advice! *waving*

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  5. Yeah, that simultaneous submission thing is a must...I'd go crazy if I didn't have an iron in the fire somewhere:)

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  6. I think it would only be smart to give your manuscript as many opportunities as possible.

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  7. I do the slow query thing with my novel - sending to just one at a time. I'm not in a rush cuz it takes me several months of research (following the blog and reading articles and some published works) before I query an agent. They usually get back with a rejection within a couple weeks.

    I do see the value of simultaneous submissions. A lot of authors have been picked up that way. Its hard to wait out several months while your query sits in a slush pile, or an agent never replies. The query process can be frustrating, no matter how often you submit.

    ......dhole

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  8. The truth is, I never queried. I entered one query contest, got runner up and a 5 chapter request, but she didn't request a full. So I self-published and never looked back. Didn't want to go through the agony, lol. But who knows, I might try querying sometime.

    Keep at it Rachna - sounds like you're on the right track :)

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  9. I learned about simultaneous submissions when taking a course from The Institute of Children's Literature. It's pretty much the same procedure when submitting articles, and some publishers accept them, others do not. They usually indicate so in their guidelines. It's important to keep good records of what was submitted where, otherwise you forget (like I did once). I like the occasion when more than one place is clamoring over your work. Doesn't happen often, but does make you feel good. :)

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  10. In theory I like to have at least 5 submissions out at any one time, but I'm way behind on that goal right now :-)

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  11. Hi Friends, thanks for chiming in with your thoughts.

    Thanks Rahul.

    Natalie, like you I feel that querying batches of 5 agents at one time is a great idea.

    Richard, I can understand how you must be feeling. I feel the least publishers can do is if not acknowledge our submissions, atleast do us the courtesy of a formal rejection and not keep us hanging uncertainly wondering what is happening.

    Robyn,I agree with you, if there is no response from those 5 agents tweak the query letter and send to 5 more agents.

    Mark, I too would go crazy if I didn't submit simultaneously.

    Alex, in sync with you.Give our ms as many chances as we can.

    Donna, though I am a late convert to simultaneous submissions, I am now hooked to it.

    Gwen. Thanks.

    Karen, I try to keep a record of where I submitted, but at times I still manage to goof up.

    Kenda, 5 submissions out is a great goal.

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  12. Oh, man. Could you imagine what it would be like if simultaneous submissions weren't allowed?

    With my first novel, I only queried 2 agents at a time. That was fine in the beginning, since most agents got back to me quickly. It was only the last group that took 6 months to reject my query. By then, I had moved onto another novel. Now I query 5 agents a week (until I get bored a few weeks later and forget to query. lol)

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  13. Interesting post. The advantages are clear - but do not some publishers ban them?

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  14. Great post, Rachna. I don't have experience with agents yet but I have a lot of experience with the editors of literary magazines. I try to choose the ones that allow simultaneous submissions. In the past, I made the same mistake of submitting to those who who didn't. It was not a smart idea. I wish you the best of luck with your manuscript!

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  15. I've always done simulataneous submissions. For some things, like short story or poetry journals, the turnaround time is so slow it would take too long to get anything done! I always simultaneously subbed to agents, too.

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  16. Nope, I've done simultaneous submissions from the start. In fact, this is my first ever novel that I've queried, and I'm querying over 60 agents at the same time. :-)

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  17. With the exception of my first attempts at querying, I always did so in batches. It made the most sense.

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  18. Yes, it's very important to send many at once. And repeat as necessary. Good luck!

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  19. Definitely a valuable thing to do! I sent to about 5-10 agents at a time when I queried, which seemed to be a good number.

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  20. If I ever query a novel, I would definitely send simultaneous submissions.

    Interesting to note, a lot of anthologies/magazines frown upon simultaneous submissions for short stories, but I really think they're crucial when submitting.

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