Poet's Workshop

photo by Gerry Williams

To Simsub, Or Not To Simsub? That Is the Question... by Terrie Leigh Relf ©2004 All rights reserved

What, you may ask, is a "simsub"?

The small pod that is released by a big submarine? The simulacra of a submission? A kinky sexual practice?

Well, perhaps, but it is also known as THE SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSION.

What does that mean?

It’s when you send out the same poem (or short story or article or novel, etc.) to more than one publication. Many publishers and/or editors say, "don’t do it!" Others say, "if you do it, don’t tell us", while still others say, "we know you’re going to do it, so the least you can do is let us know if it’s accepted elsewhere…"

I know a few editors and publishers who say, "ok, go ahead". There are also a few who if they find out will put you on a very special list…

You don’t want to be on that list. Trust me.

There are, of course, variations on the above. Why the hoopla?

Well, there’s several obvious reasons and a few that may not be as obvious. Consider the following gleaned from a few sources who preferred remaining anonymous (NOTE: I’ve taken the liberty of embellishing for entertainment value…):

1. If you didn’t intend it for us then why did you send it to us?

2. What? You’re pulling that poem I love most of all, the poem that I was going to publish, the poem that is already mocked-up and ready-for-print? How could you?!

3. This is the third time you’ve done this…Please don’t do it again.

4. It’s already gone-to-print.

5. Please tell us that this was accidental, that you really didn’t intend to create all this EXTRA WORK for us…

Five is a good odd number…I’ll stop there.

Have I ever simsubbed? Only by accident. Sometimes, my records aren’t as up-to-date as they could be. Ok, my records are in a maelstrom at the moment. I have too many disks with backups and yes, I’ve accidentally deleted a backup thinking I had another one…On it goes…

Why don’t I simsub? For one, I like to keep things moving. When I first began to submit my work, I would send out a poem or a short story, wait for weeks, sometimes months, for a response. It’s not that I didn’t write during these extended waiting periods, but I didn’t send out much else.

I don’t remember when it finally dawned on me. No doubt one of my many mentors took me aside, told me to "keep it flowing!"

Now, I probably have about 15-20 poems and about 4 short stories in circulation. Maybe more…(That record thing again) I write every day, so there’s always something new or revised to send out. I keep it fluid. Perhaps a solution to those who can’t fight the urge to simsub is to focus on creating several ready-to-mail-out poems at a time. Ok, so many publications ask for 3-5 at a time and you think you only have 3-to-5 "good ones"? You can learn to let the others go. I’m sure you’re being too hard on yourself. Even when your work is brilliant, you may still get rejected (Be sure to reread my interview with Catherine Wald of http://www.rejectioncollection.com if this is getting you down…).

I’m sure that this is nothing new to you, but the more work you have in orbit, the better odds you have for pinging a landing dock. Doesn’t the same "hold true" for many of life’s challenges?

Another point that bears repeating is that when a publication doesn’t mention simsubs, it’s not necessarily a green light to do so. I know I want to get in good with editors. I want them to like me. I want them to need me. I want to know what makes them happy because happy editors can really make a poet’s–or any other type of writer’s-- life that much better.

When you get-in-good with editors, they may not only publish you–but hire you to be an editor, too.

Then you get to say: ABSOLUTELY NO SIMSUBS!

Send your comments and questions to YT: terrie@writersmonthly.com!

Keep writing!

Send your comments and questions-and your poetry-to Terrie Leigh Relf at terrie@WritersMonthly.com

>>Back to top<<