Multiple Submissions

Lor47 · Jun 16, 2009

Hi Everyone!

So this is the situation, I sent out my picture book dummy to two very very big famous publishing houses, it's been a lil' over 5 months and I haven't heard back except I know they have it from status queries and it is "still under consideration". I made the mistake of not writing "multiple submission" on it, so to kind of quarantine my mistake I haven't sent it out anymore. Is there a point where it's ok to send it out more because it's been so long- I was thinking 6 months? When does their exclusive look naturally expire?

Thanks for any advice!
Lor

Puma · Jun 16, 2009

Unless they asked for an exclusive look, they don't have one. If they did ask for an exclusive and you've got two out ... and, you're definitely going to have to wait for responses.

Was your submission in response to requests generated by queries or did you just send it?

The publishing industry seems to move very slowly. If you send material to two publishers or agents and give them six months to respond, how many will you be able to contact in ten years?

Most people seem to send out queries in batches - ten or so at a time. After a couple months you send out ten or so more even if you haven't heard back from all your initial queries. If you look around these boards you'll see that many people have sent out well over 100 queries and are still waiting.

If you aren't aware of the Preditors and Editors website, it's a good place to look for potential publishers or agents - but be sure to follow the guidelines specified for submissions by both houses and agents. Hope this helps. Puma

icerose · Jun 16, 2009

Puma said:
Unless they asked for an exclusive look, they don't have one. If they did ask for an exclusive and you've got two out ... and, you're definitely going to have to wait for responses.

Was your submission in response to requests generated by queries or did you just send it?

The publishing industry seems to move very slowly. If you send material to two publishers or agents and give them six months to respond, how many will you be able to contact in ten years?

Most people seem to send out queries in batches - ten or so at a time. After a couple months you send out ten or so more even if you haven't heard back from all your initial queries. If you look around these boards you'll see that many people have sent out well over 100 queries and are still waiting.

If you aren't aware of the Preditors and Editors website, it's a good place to look for potential publishers or agents - but be sure to follow the guidelines specified for submissions by both houses and agents. Hope this helps. Puma

Uh not exactly. Most of the publishers that are open to submissions from authors state right on their guidelines not to do multiple submissions and often give you an idea of just how long it's going to take.

If it's past the time of their given time frame, send a follow up letter.

If not, you're free to send it out to agents, just don't send it out to publishers until you've heard back.

Lor47 · Jun 16, 2009

Thank you both!

Icerose- Yeahh that's what I thought too...It was past the time frame given so I sent status queries and they both said "it's still under consideration" and now it's been a couple more months and I'm getting antsy...I guess I'll keep waiting...Sending it to more agents sounds like a good idea, thanks!

scope · Jun 16, 2009

Do your research and make a list of the publishing houses to whom you want to submit you work. I've never been a fan of mentioning "multiple submission". I'm quite sure publishers know that we submit elsewhere, as do agents.

I'd stagger my submissions, but I wouldn't stop sending them out until a publisher made me want to do so. If there are 50 (?) picture book publishers, I'd probably send 8 or so every 4-6 weeks. If any publishers replied with personalized feedback which I thought was meaningful I'd rewrite as needed.

CaoPaux · Jun 16, 2009

Data point: The same ms to different agents/pubs is a simultaneous submission. A multiple submission is different mss. to the same agent/pub.

Lor47 · Jun 17, 2009

Oo good call caopaux, thanks.

Multiple Submissions

Lor47

Puma

Retired and loving it!

icerose

Lost in School Work

Lor47

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

Lor47