Taking Submissions: Dark Hearts

Deadline: January 31st, 2025
Payment: Fiction: 3 cents per word, minimum ($5.50 minimum payout), Poetry: 25 cents per line. ($5.50 minimum payout)
Theme: Speculative stories and poems about women who are anti-heroes

Theme for 22nd anthology: Dark Hearts

Dark Hearts is a women-centered theme for which anyone can submit stories.
The anthology will feature speculative stories and poems about women who are anti-heroes. Send us your stories about shady ladies: women and female-presenting characters breaking the rules, defying social norms, and getting up to no good!

Genre: We accept science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and enjoy intelligent blends of the three. Stories and poetry outside these main genres’ will not be considered.

Editor loves: supportive female friendships. Women with a mastery of weapons or powers. Women in STEM or in disguise. Cyborgs. Hackers. Heists. Underdogs. Romance!

Sex, violence and swearing are fine, but execute thoughtfully.

We love creative interpretations of our themes, but require stories and poems to be a solid fit.

Eligibility: All writers; including those who are known or related to the editorial staff, may submit to Triangulation. New as well as established authors are welcome to submit.

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AI Policy: Parsec Ink does not accept AI or AI-assisted stories, poems, or artwork.

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Submission Requirements

Submissions Open: November 1st, 2024

Submissions Close: January 31st, 2025

Short Story Guidelines

Word Count: We will consider fiction up to 5,000 words, but the sweet spot is 3,000. There is no minimum. Stories over 5000 words will be rejected unread.
Reprints: no
Multiple submissions: no
Simultaneous submissions: yes
No fanfic

Poetry Guidelines

Word Count: No max or min length, but our preference is for poems under 100 lines.
Reprints: no
Multiple submissions: yes, up to 5 pages of poetry
Simultaneous submissions: yes
No fanfic

Manuscript Format

We accept manuscripts in the following formats: .doc or .docx (MS Word) .rtf (Rich Text Format).

For short stories, please use the Shunn Modern industry-standard manuscript format. No phone or address is necessary, but please include your email.

For poetry, please use the Shunn sample poetry MS format. No phone or address is necessary, but please include your email.

Include a short (one paragraph), third-person bio at the end of your story or poetry submission.

We reserve the right to reject a story if it does not adhere to our formatting guidelines.

Response Times

Final decisions are made by March 30.

We aim to read submissions as they are received. If a story doesn’t work for us, we will reject it. If we think the story has great potential but isn’t quite there yet, we may request a rewrite. The stories we love the most, we hold on to for further consideration and until we have our final lineup, at which time final acceptances are sent out.

Once a story is accepted, we may suggest some minor changes.

If Your Story Is Accepted

Prose Compensation: 3 cents per word, minimum ($5.50 minimum payout)

Poetry Compensation: 25 cents per line. ($5.50 minimum payout)

Payments are made via PayPal or check.

Rights: We purchase first 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

We use Submittable for all submissions. If this is your first time using Submittable, you will need to create a free account.

Good luck!

Jess Carver 2025 editor

Via: Parsec Ink.