Simultaneous Submission
Quick answer: A simultaneous submission is the same work sent to several magazines at once. Learn the rules, the etiquette, and how to withdraw a poem properly.
A simultaneous submission is the practice of sending the same poem, or batch of poems, to more than one magazine or press at the same time. Most literary venues now allow it, provided you notify every other venue immediately if the work is accepted somewhere. The alternative, exclusive submission, would have poets waiting six months per magazine per poem, which at typical acceptance rates could stretch a single poem's search for a home across a decade.
You will meet this term in nearly every set of submission guidelines, phrased as simultaneous submissions accepted or, less often, no simultaneous submissions. Reading that line, and respecting it, is one of the basic courtesies that keeps the small world of poetry publishing running on trust.
How It Works in Practice
Suppose you send the same three poems to four magazines in January. In March, one accepts a poem. Your job, that day, is to log in to the other three venues' portals, or email their editors, and withdraw that single poem while leaving the rest of the batch under consideration. Most portals such as Submittable allow partial withdrawal through a note to the editors.
A tiny original example makes the arithmetic vivid: one poem, four magazines, a two percent acceptance rate at each. Simultaneous submission multiplies your chances in a given season fourfold while costing editors nothing, so long as the withdrawal always happens promptly.
When It Is Not Allowed
A minority of magazines, and many contests, require exclusivity. Contest exclusivity exists for a plain reason: a judged shortlist collapses if the winning poem vanishes mid-judging. Where a venue forbids simultaneous submissions, that poem is spoken for until they respond, so poets tend to reserve exclusive venues for work they can afford to park, or for magazines with famously fast replies.
Breaking an exclusivity rule can get a poet quietly blacklisted at a venue. Editors talk to each other more than submitters imagine.
Keeping Yourself Honest
The whole system runs on your record-keeping. A simple spreadsheet with one row per poem per venue, plus a withdrawn column, prevents the nightmare scenario of two magazines both announcing the same poem. Set a rule with yourself: acceptances trigger withdrawals within twenty-four hours, no exceptions. Editors forgive almost anything except discovering a poem they accepted was already promised elsewhere.
What poets can take from this
- Check every venue's policy line before including it in a simultaneous round.
- Withdraw an accepted poem from all other venues within a day of the acceptance.
- Withdraw individual poems rather than whole submissions when portals allow it.
- Reserve no-simultaneous venues for poems you are content to leave parked for months.
- Note contest exclusivity windows in your tracker, since they usually cover the whole judging period.
Try it yourself
Write a short poem about the same letter being read in four different houses at once, then use it as the test piece for your first properly tracked simultaneous submission round.
Questions
What does simultaneous submission mean?
It means sending the same work to multiple magazines or presses at the same time. Most venues allow it on the condition that you withdraw the work everywhere else as soon as one accepts it.
What happens if two magazines accept the same poem?
You must decline one, which is awkward and damages trust if it happened because you failed to withdraw. Prompt withdrawal after the first acceptance is how you make sure this never occurs.
Are simultaneous submissions allowed in poetry contests?
Often not, or only until the shortlist stage, because judging falls apart if entries disappear. Always read the contest rules; exclusivity there usually lasts until results are announced.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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