Write for SparkSiren

Our Guidelines For Successful Submissions

by June Tara

About Us

SparkSiren empowers women to curate their life through story. As such, we publish thought-provoking essays that analyze female protagonists in both fiction and non-fiction books; focusing on their choices, character journeys, and themes.

These discussions are aimed at being dynamic, provocative, and emotionally intelligent. I love a well-thought out piece that stimulates thought.

Goals

For the Reader

• Empower women through storytelling.
• Foster dynamic and emotionally intelligent discussions about female protagonists. We accept provocative points of view, so long as the opinions are well justified and critically approached.

For the Writer

• Highlight and empower female writers.
• Showcase women’s stories and perspectives.

What We Publish

• Essays and opinion pieces linked to a fiction or non-fiction book that centers a female lead.
• Articles that provide unique perspectives on female protagonists and their choices.
• Honest thoughts, justified through personal experience or research.

The Editing Process

After you submit your essay, three things could happen, and we will notify you:

Accepted:

If your submission needs minor changes or no changes, it will be posted to the publication within a few days.

Accepted As A Work In Progress:

If your submission shows potential, June will be in contact and make suggestions on how the writing could better fit the needs of the publications.

Rejected:

If your submission needs extensive editing, has many spelling and grammatical errors, doesn’t follow our submission guidelines, and/or doesn’t adhere to Medium rules, please do a review of the work on your own. At that point SparkSiren will be looking to other submissions to be posted.

Submission Guidelines

What we look for when considering your submission:

1. Relevance: Ensure your article aligns with our themes of female protagonists and their choices in fiction and non-fiction books.
2. Please make sure that your submission is your own original work. We do not accept content that has already been submitted and posted elsewhere.
3. Maintain high standards of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. An easy Grammarly scan will help accomplish this well.
4. Generate a compelling and descriptive title, and subtitle, so that we know the overall message of your blog.
5. Structure your article with a clear structure using headings, subheadings, and bullet points.
6. Aim for a read time of 4–8 minutes when completing your work.
7. Include relevant images, videos, or graphics, ensuring you have the right to use them. Credit all photos appropriately.
8. Citations: Provide proper attribution for quotes, data, or ideas that are not your own. Post sources as links within the article, using the hyperlink tool.
9. No blogs containing affiliate links will be considered.

Formatting Guidelines

1. No more than 4–8 lines per paragraph to keep it easy on the reader’s eye.
2. Vary the length of your sentences fpr the most engaging reader experience.
3. Please remember to add a great title as well as a subheanding. It gives readers an overall idea of what you’re writing about.
4. Use at least one image, either your own images or images from Medium’s Splash tool. If they are your own, please remember to credit the image underneath.
5. Screenshots from Instagram, Twitter, or Threads will not be accepted imagery on this occasion.

Tagging

• Suggested Tags: Use at least one of the following: Feminism, Women, Equality, Identity, Society, Culture, Literature.
• Explore Page Tags: Include tags relevant to the Explore page to increase visibility.

Become a Writer for SparkSiren

• If you are interested, please add your medium handle in the comment section below. e.g. @JuneTara
• From there on I’ll review the writing you currently have on your page so long to see if you are a fit for the publication. It would be best if you had at least already three blog posts written within the last 6 months.
• Please keep in mind, that it may take 1–3 days to review your draft and add you as a writer.
• There will be times when I am not actively looking for writers, hoever this does not mean that we would not want you in the future! Please keep in touch, you never know.

By following these guidelines, you will help us maintain the quality and integrity of our publication while ensuring your work reaches the right audience.