Deadline: February 28th, 2022
Payment: 3¢ per word
Theme: Stories that explore the possibility of creating sustainable energy with alternative technologies and/or social change.

Triangulation: Energy – Call for Submissions and Guidelines

Beginning December 1, 2021, the annual Triangulation anthology will accept submissions for Triangulation: Energy. We continue to tackle environmental issues as we did with Triangulation: Dark Skies (light pollution), Triangulation: Extinction (loss of biodiversity), and Triangulation: Habitats (sustainable habitation). The theme this year will be energy, sustainable energy. We’re looking for outstanding fantasy, science fiction, weird fiction, and speculative horror–from both new and established writers.

Editors:

• John Thompson, Co-editor Triangulation: Habitats, Assistant Editor, Triangulation: Extinction.
• Storm Walden, Assistant Editor, Triangulation: Habitats.

This year we’re looking for stories that explore the possibility of creating sustainable energy with alternative technologies and/or social change. Economical fusion energy has been ten years away for sixty years. Hydroelectric is location dependant. Solar and wind have seen leaps and bounds in technology but by themselves can’t provide the steady flow the grid requires to distribute the load. Yet.

As soon as we learned to control fire, anywhere from one to two million years ago depending on who you ask, we’ve been harnessing that energy to cook food, shape stone, keep warm, keep the sabertooth away, and move stuff around the planet.

Ever since then, we’ve been merrily burning everything combustible to utilize its stored energy while pouring heat and waste particles into the atmosphere. Forests of wood, mountains of coal, lakes of natural gas, and seas of petroleum have gone up. We delve deeper, raze mountains, we race to consume the Earth’s resources at a rate that is changing our environment. We need to find a new balance, either through technology, or social change, or a combination of both.

What else is on the horizon?

Will great Bussard scoops collect hydrogen isotopes from the gas giants for export back to Earth and her colonies? Will we discover a means or source to harvest antimatter at a scale that can make matter-antimatter reactors economically feasible? Will the governments of the world mandate that all new construction must include photovoltaic and photothermal paneling?

Can we recognize hereto unknown forms of energy? Can we harvest energy from black holes? Several methods have been proposed. Zero-point energy is out there, waiting to be understood and perhaps tapped. Will the Fae come out of hiding and teach humanity how to manipulate and harness mana and ley lines and other arcane energies?

What are the expected—and potentially unexpected—ramifications of these developments?

What about sustainability? If we can harvest the energy from black holes, harness zero-point energy, is it essentially unlimited? What’s your take?

As a species, we’ve understood the power of steam to turn wheels for 2,000 years but we couldn’t harness steam to move things until metallurgy and engineering evolved to the point we could build reliable engines—just over 300 years ago. Can we make the next great leap in time?

Or do we need to lower our expectations and live with less?

Submission Requirements

Submissions Open: December 1, 2021

Submissions Close: February 28, 2022

Word Count: We consider fiction up to 5,000 words, but the sweet spot is 3,000. There is no minimum word count. Stories over 5000 words will be rejected unread.

Genre: We accept science fiction, fantasy, and horror–and enjoy intelligent blends of the three. Stories without a speculative element will not be considered.

We do not accept unsolicited reprints, multiple submissions, or simultaneous submissions. If we reject a story before the end of the reading period, feel free to send another.

We love creative interpretations of our themes, but we do require the stories to be a solid fit.

We run mature content only if we like the story and find the mature content to be integral to it.

Please, no hate-ist stories (or any other -ist), stories with suicide, religious proselytizing or excessive, unwarranted violence.

We do not accept fanfic.

Please send a short bio in the cover letter of your submission. We ignore that until and unless we buy your story.

Poetry Guidelines: No minimum or maximum number of lines, but poems of more than 100 lines will have to be extraordinary to find a place in the anthology. Same Submittable link as prose submissions.

Manuscript Format: Please use industry-standard manuscript format. (For example, https://www.sfwa.org/2005/01/04/manuscript-format/) We’re not testing you or trying to make you jump through hoops, but we do want a manuscript that is easy for us to read. We reserve the right to reject a story because it does not adhere to our formatting guidelines.

We accept manuscripts in the following formats:

.doc or .docx (MS Word)

.rtf (Rich Text Format — generic document format that most word processors can create)

How We Choose

We are a meritocracy. New authors are as welcome as those with a laundry list of accomplishments. But it’s going to be the story that wins us over. Grab us by the lapels, drag us onto that plane, take us for the ride of our lives… but get us back on the ground safely and home in time for dinner.

We aim to read submissions as they are received. If a story doesn’t work for us, we reject it. If we think the story has great potential but isn’t quite there yet, we request a rewrite. The ones we love the most, we hold on to for further consideration. Next, the stories fight it out amongst themselves until we have our final lineup. At which time, final acceptances are sent out. It’s sort of like Enter the Dragon, but without the nunchucks. When a story is accepted, the changes we suggest will typically be minor and/or cosmetic.

Response: Final decisions are made by April 30.

Eligibility: All writers, including those who are known or related to the editorial staff, can submit to Triangulation. That doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily get in, but we are happy to consider their work.

If Your Story Is Accepted

Prose Compensation: We pay 3¢ per word. Payment will be either via PayPal or check. $5 minimum payout.

Poetry Compensation: We pay 25 cents per line. Payment will be either via PayPal or check. $5 minimum payout.

Rights: We purchase North American serial rights, Spanish language rights, audio and electronic rights for the downloadable version(s). All subsidiary rights are released upon publication.

How to Submit

Electronic submissions make our lives easier. Please upload your story via Submittable. If this is your first time using Submittable, you will need to create an account with them. Don’t worry, it’s free.

Good luck!

John Thompson and Storm Waldon (editors)

Via: Parasec Ink.