A simultaneous submission is when you send the same piece of fiction to more than one publisher, editor or contest at the same time, instead of waiting for a rejection before trying the next one. It is normal practice in short fiction, and this guide covers what the rule actually is, how to stay inside it, and how to withdraw cleanly.
That last part matters more than beginners expect. Writers on r/PubTips and the Writing Forums threads about no-simsub policies describe the same pattern repeatedly: a story sells, the withdrawal email goes out late or never, and that editor quietly remembers. The reputation damage from a late withdrawal outlives the sale by years.
Table of Contents
- What Are Simultaneous Submissions?
- Simultaneous submissions explained for fiction writers, in one sentence
- What Do Publishers Mean by No Simultaneous Submissions?
- What to do when the guidelines say nothing
- Why some journals refuse simsubs
- How Do Simultaneous Submissions Work in Practice?
- What the disclosure line looks like
- What to do about reprints and online posting
- The alternative: circulate several stories instead
- How Many Fiction Markets Can a Writer Submit to at Once?
- What Should You Do When Two Publishers Respond?
- Withdrawing in a way editors respect
- If two acceptances land on the same day
- How Do You Track Multiple Fiction Submissions?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the etiquette for simultaneous submissions?
- Are simultaneous submissions ethical for fiction writers?
- Do literary agents accept simultaneous queries?
- How do I withdraw a story from a magazine?
- What happens if two magazines accept the same story?
- Conclusion
What Are Simultaneous Submissions?
Simultaneous submissions explained for fiction writers, in one sentence
A simultaneous submission is one piece sent to several venues at once, and it is allowed only where the guidelines permit it, disclosed in the cover letter, and withdrawn everywhere else the moment one venue accepts.
The word gets used loosely in online arguments, so it helps to pin down three terms that are routinely confused.
| Term | What it means | Who allows it |
|---|---|---|
| Simultaneous submission (simsub) | One story sent to several venues at the same time | Most literary magazines and indie presses, when their guidelines say so |
| Multiple submission | Several different pieces sent to the same venue | Some magazines; usually limited by a stated cap |
| Exclusive submission | The piece goes to one venue only, and you wait for a decision before trying elsewhere | Most novel publishers, agents offering exclusive submission, and a large share of top-tier literary magazines |
Here is the practical version for crime and noir short fiction. Say you have a 4,000-word story about a stolen car and a bad-faith witness. Sending it to four small presses at the same time is a simultaneous submission. Sending those same four stories, one after another, to a single press that takes multiple submissions is not.
Writers use simsubs because response times are long. Editors described on Writing Forums break down a typical small press pipeline at roughly six weeks from submission to decision letter, with unpaid first readers working the queue before an editor even sees the piece. Serial submission turns that into a year or more per story. Simsubs are how you keep more than one finished story in circulation while the mail is slow.
What Do Publishers Mean by No Simultaneous Submissions?
Exclusive consideration is a promise about first refusal, not about ownership. The editor is asking for time to read and decide without spending volunteer or staff hours on a piece that has already sold somewhere else.
When a magazine lists your story before you have withdrawn it, you normally have two bad options. Many small presses will ask for the run of payment back or simply not publish the piece. Others will hold it, which is worse, because the reader who spent time on it never sees the story.
The policy itself is usually a sentence in the guidelines, something close to: we do not accept simultaneous submissions, or work currently under consideration elsewhere. Read it as covering every venue, including flash fiction outlets, anthologies and contests that have separate terms.
What to do when the guidelines say nothing
Silence is not permission. Writers argue about this constantly and nobody has produced a universal ruling, so treat an unmentioned policy as a question rather than an invitation. One email before you send costs a day and settles it in writing.
Ask something plain: I am considering submitting this story to several venues. Does that work with your process, and if you were to accept it, how would you like to be told so I can withdraw elsewhere? An editor who answers clearly has told you what you need to know. An editor who never answers is telling you something else.
Why some journals refuse simsubs
The editor-side case is about labour, not suspicion. The editorial breakdown published on Writing Forums describes journals receiving hundreds of stories a month from unpaid volunteers, with each piece moving through a first-reader queue, an editor queue, a two-editor read, a meeting and then a letter. A story that sold on day two cost all of that for nothing.
Editors also keep records. The same account describes journals logging whether a writer’s previous piece was a simultaneous submission, and quietly sorting that writer’s later work lower. That is not petty. It is a rational response to being told your time does not matter.
The fair counterpoint is that disclosure changes the calculation. Editors writing publicly have said that a simsub noted in the cover letter speeds their decision, because it tells them the piece might sell. You are not asking them to change the policy; you are telling them how much time they actually have.
How Do Simultaneous Submissions Work in Practice?
A safe simultaneous submission runs on five steps, and four of them happen before you press send.
- Build a market list in tiers. Put your first choice at the top. Tiering matters more than volume, because the venue you most want may be the one you cannot afford to lose to a slow competitor.
- Read every guideline on the day you submit. Policies change, and a market that allowed simsubs two years ago may not now. Note the word count, the formatting rules and the simsub line in one place.
- Format and name the file properly. Standard manuscript format, a plain file name, and no identifying information if the market asks for a blind submission.
- Disclose the simsub in the cover letter. One sentence, near the end, no apology attached.
- Withdraw everywhere, immediately, on acceptance. Same day, from every venue still holding the piece.
What the disclosure line looks like
Something along these lines is enough: This story is also under consideration at other venues. If you would like to publish it, please let me know by [date] and I will withdraw it elsewhere immediately.
That sentence does two jobs. It answers the question before the editor has to ask it, and it gives you a date you can put in your log. Left out, disclosure reads like an apology, and editors dislike apologising for something that is normal in short fiction.
What to do about reprints and online posting
A story published in a journal, posted on your own blog, or read at an open mic is a reprint in most guidelines, and reprints usually disqualify a piece from receiving an offer. If the publication allows reprints, the guidelines will say so and will tell you which ones. Read that line carefully, because some venues allow reprints but never simultaneously with another venue.
The alternative: circulate several stories instead
The advice that keeps coming back on Writing Forums is not that you should never simsub. It is that a writer with ten finished stories can send one to each of ten venues and never touch a simsub at all. The failure is usually supply rather than strategy: most writers are sitting on one finished piece and several half-finished ones.
Both approaches are defensible. Mixing them works well for new crime writers, who often have a small body of finished noir pieces and a longer list of presses they would like to see.
How Many Fiction Markets Can a Writer Submit to at Once?
There is no universal number, and anyone who gives you a firm figure is guessing. Four or five is the cap that comes up most often in forum threads, and it is a reasonable working limit for a single piece.
The limit exists for a practical reason. Every extra venue is a withdrawal you might have to send, a cover letter that needs disclosing, and a log entry that can be wrong. Four or five is the point where you can still hold the whole picture in your head.
Response times change the arithmetic. A venue that answers in three weeks barely registers. A venue that takes four months means each wave of submissions takes half a year to clear, which is the argument for sending a second wave while the first is out. Threads on r/WritingHub describe exactly this, and also describe the strain: several months of waiting while finished work sits idle.
What Should You Do When Two Publishers Respond?
Responses arrive in three kinds, and each one has a clear next move.
- A form rejection. Nothing to do. Record it, move on.
- A personal rejection with notes. Read the notes, file them with the story, and decide whether to revise before resubmitting anywhere.
- An offer or an acceptance. Stop everything and withdraw.
Withdrawing in a way editors respect
Keep it to a few lines: the story title, the editor’s name, the date you submitted, the fact that you are withdrawing it because it has been accepted elsewhere, and a thank-you for their time. No apology, no explanation of which market won unless you feel like sharing, no request for feedback you did not ask for.
Send it the same day you accept. Forums are full of writers who describe withdrawing after a celebration, after a contract, sometimes after weeks, and each of them reports the same consequence. Editors remember late. The story you sold is worth less than the next one they take seriously from you.
If two acceptances land on the same day
This is the scenario writers raise most and nobody answers cleanly. The procedure that protects you is boring: decide your preference order in advance, before any offer arrives, and write it in your log.
When the two offers arrive, tell the second editor the same day, by email, that the story has been accepted elsewhere and that you are withdrawing. If your preference order was written down beforehand, you are not choosing under pressure, and you are not leaving anyone hanging while you deliberate.
If both presses ask for exclusivity before they will decide, tell them that in your query, not after. An offer contingent on clearing your other options is a negotiation, and you cannot negotiate with a condition you never disclosed.
How Do You Track Multiple Fiction Submissions?
A submission log is the whole safety system. Without one, a withdrawal misses somebody, and a missed withdrawal is what turns a legitimate simsub into a complaint.
A spreadsheet works, and so does a notebook. What matters is that each row has the same fields, whatever tool you use.
- Story title and word count
- Venue name and the exact guideline requirements you followed
- Whether the venue accepts simultaneous submissions, in its own words
- Date sent, and the response time that venue quotes
- Date you are willing to wait before following up
- Current status, updated the day it changes
- Withdrawal date, with a copy of the email you sent
Two habits make the log reliable. Update it the day something changes rather than at the end of the week, because the withdrawal window is measured in hours when two offers collide. And re-read your log before sending anything, since a market whose guidelines you read eight months ago may have changed.
The etiquette around following up is unremarkable: wait for the response time the venue states, then send one short, polite note, then stop. Do not chase a rejection you have already decided is final.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the etiquette for simultaneous submissions?
Three rules cover almost everything: only send the piece to venues whose guidelines permit simultaneous submissions, say so plainly in the cover letter, and withdraw from every other venue the same day you accept. If a venue’s guidelines are silent, ask before you send rather than assuming. Polite disclosure costs you nothing and usually speeds up a decision.
Are simultaneous submissions ethical for fiction writers?
Yes, in short fiction, where they are close to standard practice. The ethics turn on disclosure and prompt withdrawal. A writer who tells editors the piece is out elsewhere and withdraws the day it sells is behaving exactly as the marketplace expects. A writer who sends to a venue that forbids them, then sells the story elsewhere and says nothing, is the case that gets remembered.
Do literary agents accept simultaneous queries?
Rarely. Most agents who take queries work exclusively, and offering simultaneous submission to one signals you are not invested in the project. Some agents explicitly ask for exclusive submission for a period, usually several months, after which you are free to query elsewhere. Novel publishers almost always require exclusive submission. The simsub-friendly part of the industry is magazine and indie press short fiction.
How do I withdraw a story from a magazine?
Email the editor you submitted to, not a general address. Name the story, give the submission date, say you are withdrawing because it has been accepted elsewhere, and thank them for their time. Send it the same day you accept, and keep a copy in your log. Skip the apology and the long explanation. Editors are simply trying to fill a page, and your withdrawal saves them the trouble.
What happens if two magazines accept the same story?
You have to withdraw one of them, immediately, so decide your preference order before any offer arrives and write it in your log. When both acceptances land, honour the preference you recorded and email the other editor the same day. If the two offers came with conflicting exclusivity conditions, tell each editor about the other offer in your query stage rather than after. Promptness matters more than the choice you make.
Conclusion
Start with the unglamorous work. Build your market list in tiers, read each guideline on the day you submit, and set up a log with your preference order in it before anything leaves your outbox.
Simultaneous submissions explained for fiction writers comes down to three habits: check the policy, disclose it, withdraw the same day. Get those right and you can keep several finished stories in circulation at once without spending anything on your reputation. Guidance shifts as markets change, so treat this as a working reference for 2026 and re-read the guidelines every time regardless.
