Strong submission guidelines are the cornerstone of being a published author. If you know which publications are receptive and paying, you’re ahead of the writing race. However, good guidelines can be difficult to source, and they’re individual to every author. Here’s how to sift through the pile and find the golden guidelines.

Searching for Pages and Guidelines

Search for guidelines using different engines: DuckDuckGo, Bing, and Google can each produce individual results.  I sold “Ouij-e: Summoning Spirits Online” to Fate & Fortune Magazine – but only after switching to DuckDuckGo for my searches.

Bonus tip: turn off AI Search and Personalized Results via search engine settings, or use incognito mode.

Add keywords to your search matching your niche (e.g. “submission guidelines technology” or “write for us music magazine”) and add keywords like “pay” or “rate” to look for ones more likely to list their pay. Searching for niche “pagan” markets connected me to The Wild Hunt’s guidelines, and I sold “Are Massive Multiplayer Online Rituals the Future?” and soon after submitted my first piece to the quarterly Witches Magazine.

Markets that don’t list their requirements are much more likely to say: “We have no need for writers,” or “We don’t have a writing budget.” Public guidelines and “write for us” pages produce better results than cold pitching markets without open guidelines.

Use Lists and Databases

Feel free to use lists of paying guidelines (like “9 Paying Horror Markets for Writers”). I discovered Great Bridge Links (“The Overlap Between Bridge & Backgammon”) and Gifts for Mystics through such a list, adding wonderful editors I’ve known for years.

Substack is another useful platform where creators can post their writing to a paid audience. Many Substack newsletters and publications will have submission guidelines for authors too (how to search Substack). Medium is similar, and led me to contribute an essay about my health to a newsletter. (“Spider Hands”)

However, always check the list’s post date. Many “lists” are top-ranking ones but outdated. Geek Native is listed as a paying market in many places, though has recently changed its guidelines.

Remember that editors are likely flooded by submissions once they’ve been added to a list of guidelines. Give it a couple weeks or more before following up.

“Fake” Guidelines and Buggy Websites

There are a few guidelines that just seem to sit there, but don’t respond to authors. That’s because they don’t represent real markets or publications.

“Fake” guidelines will have an obvious call for submissions but soon feel out of place. Like finding a writing post on a website filled with real estate ads, or pages that don’t link anywhere. Sometimes, the site looks right, but there’s no working contact form. Buggy websites, pages with dead links, or forms that never reply (or even send) are a dead giveaway for fake.

These guidelines can be a spammer’s lure to harvest information and email addresses.

Don’t always go straight for the guidelines page. Spend time on a website and see if there are recent posts and an authentic history for the publication you want to submit to.

Using Database Links

Listicles are useful, but continue searching for your own guidelines. Database websites and newsletters can also lead to finding guidelines. For example, there’s Freedom with Writing, Writers Weekly, Who Pays Writers, FundsforWriters, and Freelance Writing.

Authors can also hire an assistant researcher (via Fiverr, LinkedIn, or social media) to find markets. I’ve done customized submission research for other writers.

File and Collect Your Own

File and collect your own guidelines database. Deliberately look for guidelines, and bookmark ones found coincidentally. Make it a conscious exercise just like writing and set aside days or times for it.

Sort your guidelines, marking out their responsiveness, sales, and details like the word count and pay rate.

Over time authors develop their own individual list – and it will take time to naturally develop your own list of reliable, accepting publications and editors that you trust. That’s the pulse of constant publication: it’s not a fast process, but it carries sustainable results.

About the Author: Alex Coyne is a journalist, author and editor. He has written for a variety of publications and websites, with a radar calibrated for gothic, gonzo and the weird.