I’ve ventured into the European marketplace this year, completely by accident. I came across a magazine for Asian women in England around February, sent the editor an LOI, and received an assignment pretty quickly.

A few months later, my editor at Elle India let me know that one of their European editions wanted to reprint one of my pieces. Easy enough.

Several weeks ago, an editor of a magazine in France found my website and have me a ready-made assignment. He was fabulous to work with, the pay was good, and I enjoyed the whole experience.

Then, about a week ago, I received note that Glamour had optioned one of my pieces (meaning they wanted to reprint it). The check is already on its way.

I’ve worked with European publications before, but this year is the first time when I’ve looked at them as a viable market. I know several people who work with the European media, and adding up their experiences and my own, I’ve found the following major differences between American and European publications.

1. European publications, typically, will not send you five-page contracts asking for all rights (in every media that exists today and that may be discovered in future), expect you to sign a contract saying that you’ll pay your own legal fees should some psycho choose to file a lawsuit, and come to think of it, pay theirs as well, and if they’ve forgotten to get a signed contract, send you an all-rights contract after it’s been published or hold your money hostage. In fact, in many parts of Europe, like in many parts of Asia, work is often done without a contract. E-mail is typically proof enough of the terms agreed upon.

2. As is common with publishers though, publications in Europe (and Asia and Africa) too will stall on payment. Without a contract, you might feel a little nervous about missing payments. I’ve never had an invoice go unpaid, but you’ll have to see if that’s something you can work with. Or you can send the editor an informal contract of your own laying out the terms of the deal. Payment on publication is common, and is usually non-negotiable.

3. The good news, however, is that a lot of European magazines do not have huge six-month lead times that most American publications do. Editors typically work only one month in advance.

4. The money? It can be very good. While popular publications can and do get away with paying pittance, mid-size newspapers and magazines pay much better than their American counterparts.

5. There are, of course, differences in the way things are done from country to country (and publication to publication), but if you’re going to break into this market, you need to know that things work very differently from the way they do in American publications.