Chris asked: 'If I have submitted a piece to a publisher, but then have found another publisher worth sending to that accepts SS, is it ok to send it to them without telling the original publisher (especially if the original publisher does not accept SS)? And you are saying not to tell the second publisher it is SS, but what if as part of their guidelines they request specifically to be notified. It's all pretty important stuff, as protecting your name out there in the industry amongst publishers, I believe, is the number one priority.'�

It's a good and fair question. So, we'll start at the bottom:

Yes, our reputation is important. But what makes a good name? As writers, our fame and fortune are based primarily on our output. If you write a good story, and get the reputation for writing good stories, is anyone in the publishing industry going to be put off by the fact that you are also doing business to the best of your ability? Would having a reputation for making multiple submissions make all that much of a difference?

The answer's fairly obvious ' publishers need good and reliable writers even more than writers need publishers. POD and e-zines are proving just that, even though there are a lot of POD and e-zines that are not worth reading. Publishers/editors do provide writers with a service, and deserve to make money for doing so. But writers need to be business people every bit as much.

That's the whole essence: WRITING IS A BUSINESS!

More, it's OUR business. We succeed in it by getting as many readers as possible, preferably readers who pay for the privilege of reading our stuff. I'm not saying that successful writers make lots of money, as with J.K. Rowling, or Dan Brown, or'�. But we should be able to at least make a living at it, and we need to tackle that side of things with as much business acuity as we can.

When we write, we produce something. That something has a market value. We do our searches through the lists of publishers and editors (and agents) to find the market that suits our product. It might only be worth (from our point of view) two or five or ten contributor copies, but that's a return for the effort. It might be that the publisher can give us more exposure in the reading public, and that's a return too. They just might not have a dollar value.

So, when we write, we are fully justified in getting as much as we can (in value) for our efforts. Rather along the lines of Ayn Rand's heroes saying that every person deserves to gain from the fruits of their own labour and creativity.

Which brings us to the main part of your question:

Is it honest and honourable behaviour to NOT tell the subsequent market place that you have already submitted the piece elsewhere?

It's between you and your own conscience. I'd say, if they really need to know that you have submitted elsewhere, then they should be told. But the important part is 'IF THEY REALLY NEED TO KNOW'�.. Most often, they don't.
If it really mattered to them, then they would expedite the process when they receive a simultaneous submission, and I've seen no evidence that they do. Your piece goes through the same processes as those that are not simultaneous submissions, and they don't give you an go/nogo answer any faster than normal. At worst, they use your SSing as a club to negotiate your pay DOWN, which is bad business on your part.

If it really mattered, publishers would make it a point to ensure you knew the disposition of your piece in a matter of days, not months.

If SSing was the regular way of doing things, then we'd finish up in an auction situation for every worthwhile piece, and really get closer to real market value, not the minimum that publishers can get away with paying us.

So, should you be totally above board with your simultaneous submissions?

Let your conscience be your guide.

And make sure that every piece you submit has the best chance to be accepted in the shortest time possible!

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