How Do I Know if a Press or Magazine is Legitimate?
I've had someone ask me about how to know if a press or magazine is legit, since there are many great writers who want to submit their work but are not so much scared of rejection as they are that the press is a scam that'll take their work or extort the writer.
My big advice here is do research on the press, but that can be broad, especially if you look on the press' site and aren't sure what to look for, or if you don't know what the contract terms mean. (Or the press might not even have their contract online.)
There are many sources you can go to. I always google "(press name here) absolute write." Absolute Write is a writers' forum with a subforum specifically for checking out if a press, agent, or publisher is legit or what sorts of interactions other writers have experienced. This is often my first step before I submit anything, though it should be noted that a newer and smaller press may not be talked about yet. There is also Writer Beware headed by author Victoria Strauss and Preditors and Editors. You can also see if someone has spoken about the press on Reddit by typing "(press name here) reddit."
When it comes to the contract, I cannot claim to be an expert, but pay attention to rights, especially first rights and reprint rights. Make sure to see whether the press accepts previously published work if your work has been in another magazine, or know how long the press holds onto the rights of your work until they allow reprinting, such as another press publishing your work or, say, you putting it in your own anthology or chapbook/collection. For some, the presses or magazines just want acknowledgment that they first published the work and have no limit; others want you to wait for six months, or a year.
While these steps might not be super comprehensive, they have immensely helped me. Have you had any concerns while submitting your work to presses and magazines?
