Anthology Green Flags

In addition to editing and publishing anthologies, I also submit to a lot of anthologies! So I’ve been around the block a few times, know a thing or two, and can offer practical tips for participating in the madness that is life on submission. 

With that in mind, I’d like to offer a list of “green flags” that I look for when I’m deciding to submit. I’ll never say you shouldn’t take an opportunity to submit if all of these aren’t present, but it definitely would give me pause.

1. Some form of remuneration

Notice I didn’t say “payment” here. While I do believe that in most cases, you should have the opportunity to be paid for your writing work, there are cases (charity anthologies, promotional opportunities) in which I will take some other form of remuneration (like an electronic copy) instead of cash money.

A brief note from the publishing side of things: I know most anthologies don’t pay a lot. The flip side of that is, most anthologies don’t make a lot—Undertaker Books hasn’t broken even on ANY of our anthologies (yet), and we think we do better than average in sales. So if you see a publisher only offering $5 or $10 for an acceptance, it’s probably budget related. Personally, it doesn’t bother me. I’d rather have an opportunity to submit and get my work out there than have it sitting on my computer’s hard drive.

2. A clear call

One of the easiest ways to tell if an anthologist knows what they’re doing is to look at the call. Is it clearly written, explaining what they want you to submit? Do they give you formatting instructions, word count limits, deadlines, and all the other information you need? This probably means they have their shit together and it will be a good experience.

3. A rough timeline

Life happens, as everyone knows, and as important as writing and publishing is, there will occasionally be things that take precedence and cause unexpected delays. But, at every step of the process, submitters should be notified of what to expect next (look for this by ________; if you haven’t heard from us by _______, please reach out; etc.). It shouldn’t be a case of sending your story into the ether and six months later getting a random email accepting it, then not hearing anything else for another three months, and so on.

4. A chance to respond to edits

Something I’m seeing more of is anthology organizers who pay professional editors, then send the book straight to the formatter without giving the authors a chance to accept or reject the edits.

I want to be careful how I say this, because some of the people I’ve seen doing this are dear friends of mine. But this isn’t something that should happen. 

Publishing in an anthology, especially one that doesn’t pay much, is essentially a marketing effort. The writer deserves the chance to check the editor’s work and make sure their own story still represents them the way they want. 

5. A contract

Every anthology, no matter how big or small, should have a contract between each author and the publisher. This should outline, among other things, use of rights, when the work is eligible for republication, what the payment is, when editorial acceptance is due, and anything else that reasonably might need to be discussed between the author and the publisher.
 
(A note to publishers—D.L. is happy to provide a copy of our anthology contract for you to use as a template/guide for making your own. Just email him at dl@undertakerbooks.com).

These are the five biggest things I look for, but I’m sure there are other “green flags” that you may look for as well. Feel free to share them and discuss in the comments!