Simultaneous submissions scare me

I’m so used to playing by the rules and obeying authority that doing anything against them, even if it is the right thing, is scary. Andreas Schroeder, my fantastic instructor while I was in the Creative Writing Program at UBC, told me to send my work to multiple places, even if they advise writers not to.

“Fuck ’em,” he said brazenly. “They’ve been saying that for so long without a care for us writers who have to wait months to hear back — and it’s mostly a no — so fuck ’em. It’s only now that we’re starting to get a bit more control back. Just tell them your piece isn’t available anymore and they’ll get the hint.”

Despite his advice, I’ve never sent out a piece to multiple lit mags. Until today. After watching The Square and seeing people revolting against the status quo, the regime that oppressed them, it made me feel a little better about what I was doing. Though of course I could very well be rejected by both these publications and all this trouble and fear wouldn’t matter anyway. I realized that despite all the submissions I’ve had this year, I haven’t had a single acceptance. Yet? I hope.