How to know if a publisher is legit?

I'm sure many of you get offers by some random publishers here and there offering to publish your works. I've had three offers so far and I'm not sure if they're legit or not.

Is there any way to make sure I'm getting a decent deal?

Legit publishers tend to not chase authors. Nor do they usually accept works that have been published elsewhere for free from unknown authors. (Or even by experienced authors.)

That's not to say whether the offers you've gotten are legit or not. Just that most publishers don't do it that way.

Other clues...

Legit publishing companies do NOT require the author to advance ANY money for ANYTHING. This includes cover art, printing costs, shipping, handling, reading, reviewing, and so on. Nor should you have to have a budget for promotional purposes. You also shouldn't have to DO the promotional work yourself.

See if they have a web site. Check it out. If not then forget it.

If they do then see what other authors they are publishing. Try to contact one or more to see what they think of the publisher.

There have been a few legit companies floating around Lit for years. I've never delt with any so I can't give you names.

You need to check if a publisher publishes the kind of thing that you write you write. You need to find out if they pay (I submitted a coup0loe of stories to a site and they never paid.)

R. Richard said:

You need to check if a publisher publishes the kind of thing that you write you write. You need to find out if they pay (I submitted a coup0loe of stories to a site and they never paid.)

Click to expand...

Yep. Check and see if any other authors here publish through them and ask them. I did that with one publisher and the answer was yes.

Another website that published my stuff paid me up front. They very kindly returned me all rights when they ceased business. Got paid though.

Just check them out. If they exist and they pay, well, you takes the money....

Should be easy enough to track down info. A reputable publisher will have a large digital footprint for advertising and distribution. If you can’t easily find that footprint, then this publisher might not be able to do a thing for you, even if they’re legit.

Mine's been great, but I researched them first.