Your initial temptation, especially if you're a newer writer, will be to excitedly sign the contract after a quick read and send it back off to the publisher, unchanged. Take a deep breath and realize that short story contracts, like novel contracts, are often written to the publisher's advantage, and not to the writer's. It's vitally important to read the contract carefully, understand what the individual clauses mean, and change any clauses which can be detrimental to you. It's in your best interest to have a contract with the publisher, so I would advise drawing up a contract yourself if you deal with the small press. This is an ideal situation, since you can draft your contract to be writer-friendly, and potentially avoid some of the pitfalls of the small press, as well.
All contracts are negotiable Memorize the phrase above.
Even if this is your first short story sale, you can make changes on your contract, and you should. You might think that making changes on your contract will anger the publisher and make him decide to not accept your story for publication. If this does happen, it's very rare, and most reputable publishers will not balk at the changes suggested in this article. In fact, they expect professional writers to negotiate, and it's a fact that most, if not all, pro writers negotiate their contracts to some degree or another. Even if you don't consider yourself a pro, you should be doing it as well.