YES you can - it depends on the individual pitch and target publication.
Obviously, if your idea is expertly crafted to meet the needs of a specific slot, then it'd be pretty ridiculous to send it elsewhere, without changing it.
Or if you are gagging to break a new market then you may want to concentrate on that first before going down a list of the best editors to send it to, one by one.
But you absolutely do not have to wait for the first one to come back before you offer it elswhere.
Some editors can get uppity about this, but if you know your markets you'll know when this is the case - and when it is a suitable plan of action. Like lots of things in freelance journalism, a feel for when this plan of action is the right thing to do, comes with experience.
For me, it depends on how timely the piece is and how strong a story it is.
When I pitch women's magazines, they are very very good in the main in coming back and will sometimes apologise that they haven't, asking "is this still available?"
You can send it out to several places, editors are quite unlikely to reply to all pitches but if you can ring and engage them in conversation then at least you can get a 'no' and move on.
You may even get a "yes" - who knows, there may be all sorts of reasons they haven't replied - the best being "Oh yes, I liked the look of that but I'm sorry I had to dash off into a meeting and didn't reply."
I pitched the education section of a couple of weeks back and rang and got a "nice idea but already been planned in, in another article." I immeditaely sent the pitch to another editor who said 'yes please and can I have it by 11am, please do it this way..."
The same piece could also be re-written for a magazine.
Of course if you do send it to various editors there's even a chance of more than one editor wanting it. There's nothing wrong with saying that you have sold it elsewhere - it's good to be in demand!
Some editors will be pissed off. Weigh up the risks. But if they replied in the first place then you wouldn't need a crystal ball to know they were interested. "Chasing" on the phone may prove fruitless.
The less "urgent" a pitch, the less likely I am to send it to more than one commissioning editor at the same time.
Then, if I don't hear back, rather than moving on to another editor, I may send a second email a few days later entitled: Seeking feedback on pitch: (Insert title here) and they have another chance to come back to me.
The most important thing is not to assume that they haven't replied because it's a 'no' - I have had several commissions after either ringing to discuss it or sending an email "reminder."
The editor may have been away. Or anything could have happened. Guess what they may even have been busy! [Linda]
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