Simultaneous submissions: Bait for Dozens of Fish (Magazines)

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After getting a mass of rejection letters in one week, it felt like the world was coming to an end. Three came in one day. I had to go cry. My writing buddies were all getting accepted left and right, I was truly happy for them--but what about me? What was wrong with my stories?

Suddenly, it all came clear. NOTHING was wrong. I suddenly snapped. I grew furious. How dare the editors say my stories couldn't be published! How DARE they! I went mad, I went looking for magazines like never before. I cut out all the magazines that said they didn't accept simultaneous submissions--because that can be a one-way ticket to a long wait with a rejection letter at the end of it. By then, the deadlines for the other magazines have closed.

The night of the day that I snapped, I received an acceptance letter. A few weeks later I got another one, and the next day, another one. There were rejection letters in between, but I had hope because I had sent the stories out to multiple magazines. One was bound to get a bite. Some magazines, or fish, won't bite, but others will. If you drop the bait for lots of fish, one will have a taste for it.

Sometimes, you just have to explode.



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