Today I had another valuable reminder of the necessity of doing diligent research before submigging your writing, and of trusting your instincts. Becky Tuch, in her invaluable Lit Mag News newsletter and Substack, wrote about her research into C&R Press, which appears to have some shady business practices, along with Steel Toe Books, Fjords Review, PANK Magazine, American Poetry Journal, who all seem to be run by the same three people under a few different names. These publishers charge fees for submissions (not unheard of and not always a bad sign), take years to respond, and have been accused of offering dubious editing or other services.
I’ll admit that I’ve sent a manuscript to a C&R Press contest, though I’m glad to see that even Becky Tuch is only now finding out about some of their practices. When I submitted, back in 2020, I doubt I could have found out that they weren’t legit, but now that seems to be the consensus that is building. My first clue was that it took them over a year to respond to my submission and in the meantime, they kept sending me announcements of their next prize. On its own, that’s not enough to say they are definitely a scam, but it did give me pause, and I decided not to send again. Now I’m glad that I trusted my instincts, and didn’t waste any more time or money on them.
Becky Tuch cites comments on the Writer Beware blog for helping her tease out who was who at these presses and magazines and trace how they the publishers changed hands or the names of the players shifted. I recommend Writer Beware as a great resource for those who want to research publishers. Another good resource that Tuch mentions is Authors Publish, which has published a list of publishers that charge contest fees (which again, is not that unusual).
Try to keep up with industry news and search on any publisher you want to submit to, looking for potential issues. Even some of the lists of good publishers, like what you can find at CLMP or Poets & Writers, New Pages, or Reedsy can be wrong (they can’t know about everything). Ultimately, you may pay a contest fee or two (or more) for one you later realize wasn’t legit, but trust your instincts. If something looks fishy, it probably is. And even if it isn’t, you’ll be happier if you go with someone you have confidence in than if you take a risk on a deal that sounds too good to be true or where there are unexpected fees.
Kendall Dunkelberg 
C & R Press, I checked it out. Deep shady. Same owners recently at another press. Umm … they publish a book by Ed Falco, releated to Edie Falco, Mrs. Soprano. There is no evidence of use of their proposed budget for marketing.
Thanks for the research!
I’d mention two others that seem to be pretty problematic, Finishing Line Press and Main Street Rag Press, both of which use the “minimum presales” method of pushing writers to sell a certain number of copies before the book will be published and both of which publish dozens of titles a year by contacting the “finalists” of their contests (dozens of them) and offering publication if the writer is willing to sell those copies up front. Little but vanity publishing in disguise, IMHO.
Thanks, Jack. I’ve written about Finishing Line before, and I agree that the model of requiring pre-sales is problematic, even though I know some people who I respect who have published with them. I hadn’t heard the same about Main Street Rag and haven’t seen their contract, but is helpful to know that they may follow a similar model. I’m not at all surprised that there are other presses who operate this way. This is just one more reason to support the small presses that offer fair contracts to writers, and to go into any publishing experience with eyes wide open. Be wary of any fees or any requirements like pre-sales quotas.
I was considering submitting to C&R just this evening, but now I guess I won’t. [sigh] I’ll find a better use for that $30 submission fee.