Research your author: do they have books (a book) out with a reputable publishing house? Do they have an author website? A Wikipedia page? They don’t need every one of these things, but they do need to “look” like a real writer.
The following applies only for online or literary magazine sources: Who runs the magazine? Is it affiliated with a university, or does Bob run the thing out of his parent’s basement? Go onto duotrope.com or Poets and Writers and determine what percentage of submissions they publish, make sure it’s a really small number (less than ten percent. More like 2 or 3.) Does the literary magazine where the story is published run competitions? Check out bios of other people submitters—do they seem like “real” writers—do they teach writing, hold a degree in it, have books or other reputable publications, have they won grants or awards? Does the website “look” good? If it were an academic source, would you feel confident citing it as a source for the most important paper you will ever write?
Where to look for writers:
Best American Short Stories
A complied anthology
Amazon.com suggestions (People who ordered this, also bought…)
Ask Garth at Shakespeare and company, look in the “short story” section
Ask anyone in the English department what they are reading/what they have liked
Post about it on facebook/tweet
What is the Rumpus reviewing? Jezebel? Slate? The New York Review of Books?
Find out who is blurbing your favorite authors? Find out who your favorite authors are best friends with/teach with/who is also represented by the same agents
Go to Fact and Fiction at the UC bookstore and browse/Barns and Noble/Fact and Fiction downtown/go to the Mansfield library and ask if Shawn Haggerty is working, and get a recommendation from her.
Anything in the New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Narrative, The Believer, McSweeney’s, The Iowa Review, The India Review, Glimmer Train, The Missouri Review, The Paris Review, Barcelona Review, Black Warrior Review
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