THINKING OF SETTING A MAG? WRITERS - WANT TO KNOW WHO'S LEGIT?

We're sure someone else has done this (& prob better) but we wanted to share some thoughts on setting up a mag & for writers, trying to spot those who are legit (though obvs there's no foolproof solution) (1/?)

So your dream is to set up a mag - go for it! First things first, set up a site & social media. Try to let ppl know who you are, what you want to publish & what you're about. It's good to have an ABOUT page on your site. Even if you don't want to include a pic, it's good (2/?)

to tell ppl your name, any good experience you have & if you've had anything published. Ensure everyone involved has a biog of some sort. Ppl like to know who they're submitting to. (3/?)

It might be good to have a bit about when you set up & why. This also adds some personality to you & your mag.

Next, clear pages on your site. Try to be direct & make it easy for ppl to find things. Try not to spread sub info across pages or have millions of pages. (4/?)

Be clear about sub guidelines (even if you're open to lots of genres/forms etc). You will have a preference on how files are supplied. This may change over time so just remember to update it. Ask ppl if you want a certain file type, or pieces on seperate pages (5/?)

and let them know exactly what you accept (e.g. are visual pieces okay? Do you want a JPEG?), be clear on word counts. If you can, give dates for sub deadlines too or let ppl know if you're currently closed to subs. (6/?)

If you only accept work from particular groups or from those of specific backgrounds, ensure you emphasise this too. Having good guidelines on the site means you can point back to them if anyone asks you to clarify or asks why you can't accept something. (7/?)

Be transparent about how you are funded. I.e. streetcake runs out of our pockets but we have a donation button. Any small donations we get means we pay slightly lower web fees or we can pay for any minor costs that arise. All PDFs of issues are entirely free & writers (8/?)

can always access them.

Our prize however, has been funded by ACE for 2 years. We use this money to pay ourselves for time spent on the prize, judge/mentor fees, advertising, overheads all for the prize. Any anthologies we sell help towards 10% for ACE but winners (9/?)

all get a copy of their work. This is built into our ACE application. We try to make it clear on the site that there's a difference between the general mag & the prize. We have also kept the prize fee at £1, which helps with our 10% again, but we offer free spots (10/?)

and we try to amplify this during the sub window. We don't want anyone to miss out due to lack of funds.

Now... communication. We have learned a lot in 12 years! Obvs, linking from your site to social media is good. Also linking from social media to your personal (11/?)

accounts might be good if you feel comfortable.

Re: emails, we have now set up an out of office. When we are open for subs, it serves as an acknowledgment and gives ppl an idea of response times. When we're closed, it alerts ppl & informs them when we may re-open. (12/?)

We didn't have this for a long time but it's been very beneficial & given us more time to do other things. We respond to any queries of course & personally respond to each submitter. We try to give brief feedback on as many as possible, especially if we have something (13/?)

we want to comment on. We sometimes ask if writers will consider an amend and resubmission.

We generally do not read things that do not follow guidelines, esp if way over word count.

Since we put names on the site, we appreciate a personalised email too but 'editors' (14/?)

will also do! We won't penalise you for your sub email. We like a 3rd person biog though so it's nice when that's included.

On the site, we ask for a biog with subs & also request that work be as final as poss when submitting. (15/?)

When we started, we didn't send out proofs. This is something we've begun to do. It's been great for speaking with writers more & fixing any errors prior to publication. We do emphasise that changes should be to fix errors & not simply changing your mind about something. (16/?)

As an experimental mag, we publish a lot of non-trad formatting/content so we ask for PDFs to safeguard the appearance of work. Word is fine for those that have simpler formatting.

We have also started adding T/Ws to our issues as a note. (17/?)

On the site, we add some small print too (that writer's own copyright but by submitting, they agree to be published on the site) & we also have a message stating we will reply ASAP but it may take up to 6 weeks. Now, does it take 6 weeks? Usually not but, as with (18/?)

most mags, streetcake is not our full-time job. So we respond as quickly as we can but we hope there's understanding on both sides. Being transparent about what you can do is normally better than pretending you can juggle it all! (19/?)

All of this stuff has taken us time to learn and we're still learning! Though we hope this helps someone at least.

And remember - ask your writing pals or ask Twitter about places. We would never be upset if someone asked about us because we're writers & we understand (20/?)

how important it is to trust where you're submitting to and believe they want the best for your work.

So let's create mags and send out work in safety!

Nikki & Trini

P.s. Never publish work without consent! We always wait for an email response saying YES before placing it in the issue. This just ensures everyone is happy.

Plus, withdrawals are fine, at any point, but preferably before publication!

Other mags, feel free to add things here!