Submitting a Bunch of Stories At Once

[Amos Gunner]

Here's a hypothetical:

Let's say one has stockpiled one's work over the years and has, say, a dozen short stories and twice as many flash pieces on hand that are of "polished as can be, one's fullest effort, tip toppiest shelf, good chance of getting published" quality. We're talking years of effort.

Now, let's say one wants to unleash everything on the world at once.

What major problems, if any, would the writer in this situation face?

[Mutive]

The main problem I see is running out of places (or at least top notch places to submit them).

Let's say that you're writing speculative fiction. (I say this as I know a little about the markets.) There are maybe a dozen SFWA qualifying publications that exist right now that are taking short story submissions. Some of your stories may not qualify for all of these (especially if you, say, write fantasy). Since most do not take multiple submissions, you'd either be forced to sit on a few, or you'd be stuck submitting to second tier markets despite that a first tier market might have purchased that particular story.

Other than that, no downside that I know of. To the best of my knowledge, Analog would not be offended that you had different story published in the same month in Asimov's. (Or Fantasy and Science Fiction.) Of course, if you did this, you'd be one skilled writer indeed!

[Myrealana]

Read the submission rules for your target publications and make sure you follow their multiple submission/simultaneous submission guidelines. Also, make sure you keep track of what you've submitted to who and when.

Other than that, I don't see a problem.

[MJNL]

As long as you keep track of where everything is and pay close attention to guidelines, you should be ok. I suggest either setting up an excel spread sheet for tracking, or using something available on line like http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.co...r/Default.aspx . I typically have 15+ submissions out at all times and have never run into any massive problems. Organization is key.

[MumblingSage]

Back when Duotrope was still free I'd suggest you join it to help keep track of what you've submitted and where.
Even now, if it's worth $50 to you to keep your business in order (or have a rich relative/friend who can gift a subscription to you) I'd go for it.
But if nothing else, a good Word Table or Excel spreadsheet will help you make sure you don't accidentally multi-submit, simultaneous-submit, or send a story to the same market twice. If managing a dozen stories at a time feels like too much for you, do them in batches--six sent out one week, six a week or two later. You might want to set a minimum goal for yourself, too--say, no less than ten active submissions at a time.
On the bright side, you now have the chance to get acceptance letters in bunches, too!
-Sage, who does the same thing

[MJNL]

Just FYI, the Submissions Grinder, which I linked to above, is a free tracker and every bit as good in that regard as Duotrope.

[MatthewWuertz]

Yes, the main issue is simply submitting the stories. I've never had that many stories to manage, let alone submit at one time. Just make a plan for where you want to submit each piece and then take the time to submit each correctly, according to the submission rules for each market. Most markets will not allow multiple submissions, so you'll have to spread them around. That is, if you're wanting to submit them all at about the same time.

Other than that, go for it. How exciting!

[Gaia Revane]

There's nothing to really worry about except running out of places for them, if you want to submit to all of the top tier markets at once. Of course, you may get rejected from some of them, so you can easily swap around the stories that didn't get accepted and send them to a different market each time.

Keep track of what you sent to whom, though, and when: I did what you're about to do a year ago and sent off a rapid barrage of short stories all at once, and I accidentally sent the same publication two different stories. Didn't go over well