Rank your journal/publisher preferences based on your publishing plan
Ensure that your manuscript is formatted correctly and follows the journal's guidelines
If you have co-authors, decide who will be in charge of copyright concerns
Keep a folder with your preprint, postprint, publishing contract, and final version
Read and negotiate your publishing contract
Use an author addendum and/or negotiate for more rights to your work.
Journals: Use the SPARC Author Addendum to retain more rights. If the publisher does not accept a SPARC addendum, try to negotiate for things that you want. Publishers often have multiple contract options.
Note: You are often not required to use the click through agreement. Write to your editor if you would like to submit an addendum or negotiate your agreement
Make sure to keep track of your manuscript provenance
Confirm your publisher's policy on the conditions under which you can share your work