Sometimes I start out looking to find a home for a specific piece of writing. Other times I simply start out by hunting for publications that fit my style, and then I write something according to their submission guidelines. Either way, I have some internet scavenging to do. In this blog post, I'm going to teach you how to look for potential publication opportunities, some things you should watch for when vetting them, and what information to write down about a publication opportunity you wish to pursue. Read on!
Tip 1: Identify Potential Opportunities
The first step is to enter some sort of keyword phrase into your search engine. Decide what you're hunting for. If you like writing flash fiction, you might enter something like flash fiction opportunities. If you like to write stories for children, you might search children's magazines open for submissions. These two phrases will certainly bring up results, but they are fairly vague in some ways. I loften tag on a date. When I am hunting down writing contests, I'll tag on the month and the year, but if I am looking for other kinds of submission opportunities, I usually only tag on the year. This should help weed out the outdated search results. Try searching flash fiction opportunities 2024, and you'll get very different results than if you simply search flash fiction opportunities, but both should bring up pretty decent results. Experiment with the keywords you search, changing a word here or there, and you'll find new opportunities galore.
Once you've entered a phrase into your search engine, hit search. Take a look at the list of results that have come up. I like to open all of the ones that catch my eye in new tabs. At this stage, I take a quick peek at the site to make sure it looks legitimate, then I head back to my search results and do the same thing with the next site that catches my eye.
Having so many tabs open can be very overwhelming, but for me it often speeds the vetting process. At this point, I know pretty quickly whether or not I'm interested in any given website, so I like to have another tab ready and waiting each time I close the last one. Feel free to simply vet one site at a time if that method works better for you. I do it both ways.
Once I've found a few sites/opportunities that catch my eye, I like to leave my search results tab open, because a lot of times I will finish going through my other tabs and then come back to it looking for more opportunities.
Have you opened a few potential opportunities? Yes? Perfect. Let's get started vetting them!
Tip 2: Find the Submission Guidelines
When vetting publications, the first thing you're going to do is find the site's submission guidelines. These can be found in a number of places. Check the site's navigational bar for a page titled "Submission Guidelines," "Contributor Guidelines," or other similar phrase. You may also check the "Contact" page, as well as the footer of the website. There may possibly be a link to submission guidelines under an "About" button. Those four places are where I typically look to find a publication' link to their submission guidelines.
BUT I STILL CAN'T FIND THE GUIDELINES!
Sometimes submission guidelines are dang near impossible to find. If this is the case, sometimes publications simply do not accept unsolicited submissions (pieces they didn't ask for).
Other times all you have to do is send a polite email asking for a copy of their guidelines. Check their "Contact Us" page to find the best way to contact them. If you can't find a contact page at the top of the website (sometimes it will be under "About Us"), try scrolling down and taking a quick look at the website footer. There may be a "Contact Us" page link, or contact information may be listed right there in the footer.
Personally, I wouldn't usually send an email unless I'd skipped ahead and completed Tip 3.5 first, as otherwise I may be wasting both their time and mine.
Tip 3: Scan the Guidelines for Red, Yellow, and Green Flags
The concept behind looking for red, yellow, and green flags is pretty simple: red means stop! If there's something in the submission guidelines that feels suspicious or wrong, that's a red flag. You should probably leave and go on to the next publication.
A yellow flag is something that makes you pause and wonder a little bit. A yellow flag for me is if the publication fails to outline what kinds of rights they'd like to acquire if they accept your piece for publication. Shoot them a polite email, see what they say. If their answer is super unclear or they skirt widely around the question, then you may now have a red flag. Sometimes you may need to ask another clarifying question. Use your judgement.
A green flag is something that makes you go, "Oh! I like that. This seems like a good place to submit." I like it when they say that young writers are welcome, or when the rights they'd like to acquire work well for both your purposes and theirs.
If you see any red flags, close the tab. Don't waste your time humming-and-hawwing over them when you could be spending that same time vetting another publication. I say this from experience. Doesn't mean I always follow my own advice, but I'd save a lot of time if I did.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT RED FLAGS I SHOULD BE WATCHING FOR?
Certainly. I imagine that some people are going to have different red flags than others, but I'll share the four flags I try to always look for.
Rights.
This is a big one for me. When I'm scanning submission guidelines, one of the first things I look for is what rights the publication wants if they accept my work. If they do not state what rights they're looking for, I'm going to count this as at least a yellow flag, maybe even a red one. I like to know exactly what kind of water I'm getting into, so I will often shoot them an email inquiring about this sort of thing. Sometimes they have a one-size-fits-all situation, and sometimes they'll negotiate rights on a case-by-case basis. If they're asking for full rights, all rights, or whatever you want to call them, that is a flaming red flag to me. I am inclined to say no thank you and move on. This will have to be a personal judgement call on your part, but remember if you give them full control over the piece, they can do whatever they want without asking your permission, and you can no longer do anything with the piece. Always read the fine print!
Content guidelines.
I check to see what genres they're looking for, and if I see one I don't like (often for moral reasons), I again say no thank you and close the tab. It's different if the genre I "don't like" is something I don't read just because it holds no interest for me. Again, make your own call on what genres you're comfortable being published alongside. For me, I like to share links to my online published work with you, my blog readers, so I'm going to steer clear of a place that publishes erotica, for your sake and mine. That genre goes against many of my beliefs, and I don't want to inadevertently lead you to that if you click on a link to see my latest happy-go-lucky fantasy story.
Inconsistencies.
If the publication says one thing at the top of the page, and then contradicts it further along, you should proceed with caution. For example, if they aren't being clear about the rights they would like to acquire if they accept your piece, and they keep changing what they are asking for, pay attention. This is another reason to read submission guidelines very, very carefully. Not only will it enable you to better send the kind of writing that particular publication is looking for, but it'll also help you catch any inconsistencies that pop up, because they almost certainly will if you do much submission opportunity hunting.
Is it free, or do they charge a submission fee?
(This can be a red or yellow flag, depending on the circumstances.)
If I find out that the publication I am considering charges a submission fee, chances that I am going to submit are pretty slim. I don't want to shell out money to get a chance at being published. I'm sorry, but I am more interested in making money off a submission as opposed to likely losing money off it. Just because you paid a fee doesn't necessarily mean you will have a higher chance of getting accepted.
There are many reasons publications will give you as to why they charge a fee. Some of them will say it's to weed out submitters who aren't actually serious. Others will tell you it's some sort of "reading fee." Fine. I'm still probably not going to submit, even if you do have legitimate reasons for charging. Fortunately, there are lots of free submission opportunities out there. I'd encourage you to try pursuing free opportunities first. If you do decide to pay a few of these "reading fees," go ahead. It's your choice, after all. Just don't let yourself get ripped off. Choose carefully.
Please note that I'm not referring to writing contests with fees. To me, that's a bit different in some ways.
Are you comfortable with what this publication has published previously?
If a publication has made it this far through the vetting process, there's one final thing I ask myself: Am I comfortable with what this publication has published previously? I ask myself this question last because I have gotten fairly efficient at plowing through all of the other requirements I have, and this step takes the longest. You've got to read some of the publication's content. If you're going to submit to this publication, you should do this anyway, to get a feel of the content they are searching for.
I usually begin with reading their most recent content, as it will give you a taste of what they are publishing now, rather than what they started out publishing, in case that happens to have changed over the years.
Tip 4: Record Positively Vetted Publications
If you find that you are comfortable with a publication's submission guidelines and previously published content, you're going to want to record information about them somehow. You can scribble down their name and web address in your writer's notebook, or create some sort of spreadsheet on your computer. It is good to have a decent list of potential submission opportunities, and I can't keep them all in my head. Currently I don't have the most organized way of keeping track of all the different publications I have positively vetted. Some are on random scraps of paper, and some are in a digital document. I'd recommend keeping them more organized than I do...
When recording a potential opportunity, there are a few things you'll want to type/write down.
Name of publication
Web address
Genres accepted
Reading period*
Pay rate**
*Sometimes publications will have what they call "reading periods." My understanding is that they are an attempt at limiting their slush pile. Publications don't always have reading periods, but if they do, you may find it benificial to record the reading period dates.
**Not all publications pay, and that's all right. They can still be beneficial to you by helping get your name out there. Sometimes they'll still send a contributor copy or something of the sort if they are unable to give you monetary compensation. Do make sure that places like this aren't simply making money off your back. If they're a free magazine or e-zine, they're probably not doing that, but if they're creating content that people have to pay for and are not compensating their writers, that should be a big red flag.
Wrapping Up
I really hope you've learned something valuable from this post. I've learned a lot while searching for potential publications that might like to publish my work. Hopefully some of these tips will help you avoid trouble while looking for good places submit your work. There is so much more I could say, but this should get you started. Really quick, I'll recap the things you've learned.
Tip 1: Identify Potential Opportunities
Enter appropriate keywords into your search engine
Open tabs one at a time (checking to make sure they are safe)
Tip 2: Find the Submission Guidelines
Check the site's navigational bar for a page titled "Submission Guidelines," "Contributor Guidelines," or other similar phrase.
Still can't find them? Check under "Contact Us," as well as in the website's footer. You may also like to check under their "About" page.
Haven't found them yet? Send a polite email (preferably after completing Tip 3.5).
Tip 3: Scan the Guidelines for Red, Yellow, and Green Flags
A green flag is something that makes you go, "Oh! I like that. This seems like a good place to submit."
A yellow flag is something that makes you pause and wonder a little bit. You'll want to proceed with caution.
A red flag is something that makes you go, "Nope. Nuh-uh. I'm leaving!" Common potential red flags I like to watch for are as follows:
- Rights
- Content Guidelines
- Inconsistencies
- Is it free, or do they charge a submission fee?Â
- Am I comfortable with what this publication has published previously?
Tip 4: Record Positively Vetted Publications
Remember to write down these pieces of information for each publication you are seriously considering submitting to.
Name of publication
Web address
Genres accepted
Reading period
Pay rate
There you go. Have fun and stay safe out there on the internet!
P.S. If you'd like to start hunting for writing contests as well, most of this article will apply, but I do have an article specifically covering hunting for writing contests.
P.P.S. If you're a young writer, it wouldn't hurt to run a potential publication by your parents to see if they think it is a good, safe opportunity for you to pursue.
Happy Writing!