I recently received a request from a publisher for my manuscript on the condition that I haven't submitted it to any other publishers. Well I have submitted it to several publishers but I didn't tell them that! I think that it's incredibly unfair of publishers to ask this of writers when they take months to get back to you and if they reject your manuscript you are then back to square one when you could have spent those months generating interest from other publishers / agents. Does anyone actually do this ie. only submit to one publisher when this is a condition, or is everyone else out there also lying through their teeth like me and telling publishers that they are the "only one"?
Have you actually submitted manuscripts or just query letters? I don't think it counts if its just queries. Also, tell this publishing company (if you are communicating with them) that you'll agree to the terms as long as they agree to get back to you in a very timely manner (a few weeks.) And while I agree with your viewpoint, be careful, because when publishing companies find out you pulled a stunt like this, you make them not want to publish anything you create in the future. More likely than not though, this won't be a problem even if you submit to multiple places because you'll be lucky if even one of them gets back to you.
I've submitted the full manuscript to two publishers who requested it, but I don't think it's suitable for either of these as they seem to publish romance novels with a lot of erotic content and mine doesn't fall into that category. I've also submitted chapters at the request of a couple of publishers, and there were a few that wanted the entire manuscript to be submitted with the initial query. I think you are right - I'll be very lucky if even one wants to go ahead with it, and if more than one is interested then let the bidding war begin! (dreaming)
You're actually doing pretty good then so far by the sounds of it. But yea, the reason this pisses me off (I will admit) is because we can't tell publishers or agents that we can only submit to them and therefore they can only read our manuscript and no others until they either reject it or accept it. If we have to focus on them, then they should be forced to focus on us. Wait to submit your manuscript to the two places who want the whole thing from the beginning until this person reviews it, but don't mention the other two and I think you'll be okay.
Too late as I've already submitted it to the two places who requested it first, so I guess the only thing to do is wait and hope that at least one will want to publish. If a miracle should occur and more than one is interested then I'll just have to deal with it when it happens. I can think of worse problems to have!
You can contact the other publishers and ask to withdraw your submission. They don't have to be the one to terminate any potential dealings (although I don't imagine many authors willingly say no to interested publishers).
Think I'll just take my chances and see what happens. I do feel a bit guilty but as it's my first manuscript I'll just plead ignorance if I get caught out.
Yes. Me. If the publisher did not accept simultaneous submissions, then I only submitted to that one and waited. It took me about five rejections and a year and a half, but I was finally published. I also received numerous requests for my manuscript from some other publishers. I had no idea how they knew about me. But after a little Googling, I learned they were self-publishing or vanity presses trying to get money from me.
it's always best to not lie... aside from the immorality of doing so, lies have a way of catching up with you and making you wish you hadn't... if an agent or publisher says they don't accept simsubs, don't send them one, period!
I agree, it's bad karma to lie and I (probably) won't do it again. I still find the restriction very unfair though, especially if the first publisher that contacts you doesn't allow multiple submissions and then your hands are tied...Although it technically isn't a lie if you send the manuscript out AFTER you've sent it to the one who doesn't accept multiple submissions!
Look at it from the publisher's point of view: what's to stop you from deciding that any given item in the publishing contract is "unfair", and therefore decide to blatantly ignore it? Why would they want to take that risk, when you send the message that you consider your word not to mean anything when your subjective and unstated opinion is that the agreement is "unfair"? How will they know what else you will decide is "unfair"?
Well, I guess the only fair thing to do is to avoid the publishers who take a long time getting back to you. DuoTrope lists the response times along with all the other publisher info on their web site. If it takes longer than expected, just tell the publisher you're no longer interested and send your work elsewhere.
Yea, except some writers deserve to be in the middle of a bidding war. I think this is part of the reason that writers are underpaid. No competition for publishers means they can pay us as little as they want when they sign a contract with us. A bidding war means that they feel they can get away with paying the author much more or they wouldn't be making the offers. Publishers want to be able to pay as little as possible. Not that its likely to happen, like you said, but just saying!
I agree with mammamaia. Starting off by being a dishonest person for a publisher to deal with is not exactly the best start to your career. If you don't like a restriction that a publisher has, you don't have to submit to that publisher.
