How long to wait before submitting again to a market that just accepted

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Etola

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Is there a general rule of thumb for how long to wait before submitting another story to a market that has accepted another story of yours? Is it good to wait until after the first story has been published, or wait until you have a contract for the first story, or wait until you've been paid for the first one, etc.? In this case, it's a well-regarded market so I'm not worried about them falling through on paying me. Just wanted to know what a good benchmark would be.

Thanks!
 

blacbird

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No general rule that I'm aware of. I'm sure this depends on the preferences of the individual publication. How long did it take between submission and acceptance? How often do they publish? They probably won't want two stories by the same author in the same publication, but other than that i can't see any good reason not to submit something else to them whenever you feel it's ready.

caw
 

gettingby

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Your story isn't even out yet and you want to send them another one? I would wait a little while. After it's published you could send the editor an email about the publication's policy on this. Some places will list it in the submission guidelines. I have seen one place that says you have to wait three years. But, honestly, I have not been in your position. It's a great position to be in. Congratulations.
 

Jamesaritchie

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I've sold just about one hundred short stories, and I don't think I've encountered two magazines with exactly the same policy. Some magazines don't want to publish the same writer more than once per year, some don't care how often they publish a writer, as long as two stories under the same byline don't go in the same issue. Some don't mind having four stories by the same writer in the same issue, as long as each story has a different name in the byline.

Because if this, it always comes down to asking the editor. Editors do not mind answering such questions, and expect this one to pop up regularly. Just ask. It's always the best way of finding out what a specific editor wants and expects.
 
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