There's a ridiculous anthology call making the rounds today. When I
started doing this thing in English, I had a few bad experiences with
anthologies and "editors" and learned a few lessons. If you're just
starting out, here are some tips for you:
1. Unless you can buy food
and pay rent with exposure, focus on paying anthologies. There are some
situations (like charity anthologies) where this rule can be ignored.
2. Anyone who asks you to pay to be in a book is a douche. Tell those people to go die in a tire fire. You spent time and effort writing, and should be treated like so.
3. Covers matter. A publisher who doesn't get you a decent cover doesn't care about your book/story.
4. You should never pay for a cover, proofreading, formatting/layout,
and editing. A real press takes care of all that for you.
5. If you read a submission call and find a handful of typos and misspelled words, forget about it and move on.
6. The only correct answer to an editor telling you that sometimes you
have to "pay to play when starting out" is "Well, sometimes you gotta
eat shit and die." Likewise, editors should help you make the story
better, but changes have to go through you before the anthology comes
out.
7. If you're in doubt, reach out to a pro. Ask questions.
Folks who've been around the block a few times aren't fans of asshats
taking advantage of those who are dying to see their name in print.
8. Remember that getting your work in a superb anthology is better than getting published in a dozen shitty ones.
9. Get a contract. Promises were made for religious stuff and to help dying folks go in peace.
10. A bunch of authors together in the same book = an anthology. A
single author = a collection. Think twice before working with folks who
get these mixed up. (Yeah, common usage beats dictionary any damn day.)
