{"id":19,"date":"2026-10-06T20:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T20:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/?page_id=19"},"modified":"2026-10-06T20:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T20:12:26","slug":"submissions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/?page_id=19","title":{"rendered":"Submissions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">Submissions<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do YOU WRITE ROMANCE THAT HURTS SO GOOD?<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Velvet Vault is always on the hunt for South African authors bold enough to write dark romance that bleeds, bites, and burns. If your story explores obsession, vengeance, power, taboo desire, or love that crosses the line\u2014we want to read it.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We accept <strong>completed dark romance manuscripts<\/strong> or <strong>full anthology collections only<\/strong>.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>No fantasy without romance. No happily-ever-afters without scars.<\/strong><br>And no, we don\u2019t do sweet.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Submission guidelines<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please read the following carefully before submitting. Failure to follow the guidelines may result in your submission being disregarded.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who can submit<\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>South African authors only<\/strong><\/li><li>We only accept <strong>dark romance novels<\/strong> or <strong>complete anthologies<\/strong><\/li><li>Manuscripts must be <strong>completed<\/strong> at the time of submission<\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to submit<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Send your submission to:<br><a href=\"mailto:submissions@velvetvault.co.za\"><strong>submissions@velvetvault.co.za<\/strong><\/a><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to include<\/h3><ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Cover letter<\/strong><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Brief outline of your manuscript (genre, tropes, themes)<\/li><li>Target market (who is this book for?)<\/li><li>Your publishing history (if any)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Short author bio<\/strong><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few lines about who you are and what you write<\/p><\/li><li><strong>Completed manuscript<\/strong><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Preferred formats: Word document (.doc or .docx) or PDF<\/li><li>Font: <strong>12pt Times New Roman or Book Antiqua<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Double spaced<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>2cm margins all around<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Pages must be numbered<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>No author name in the header<\/strong>. Use your <strong>manuscript title<\/strong> instead<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Important notes<\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>We prefer <strong>electronic submissions only<\/strong>.<\/li><li>Please ensure your manuscript is neat, legible, and formatted for easy reading.<\/li><li>Manuscripts that do not meet our requirements may be rejected without review.<\/li><li>The assessment process may take <strong>up to four months<\/strong>, sometimes longer.<\/li><li>We are <strong>under no obligation to provide feedback<\/strong> for declined manuscripts.<\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional information<\/h2><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Content warning<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Triggering Content Is Welcome.<\/strong><br>All submissions must include a detailed list of potential trigger warnings. As a dark romance publisher, we embrace difficult, taboo, and emotionally intense themes, but we require transparency to protect our review team and ensure intentional storytelling.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What we do not accept<\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Poetry<\/li><li>Young Adult<\/li><li>Paranormal or fantasy romance without a strong dark core<\/li><li>Religious or inspirational fiction<\/li><li>Works under 50,000 words<\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Word count<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We recommend submissions be between <strong>50,000 \u2013 120,000 words<\/strong>. Shorter manuscripts may be considered if part of a collection or novella series.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Simultaneous submissions<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You may submit your manuscript to other publishers at the same time, but <strong>please let us know<\/strong> in your cover letter if it is a simultaneous submission. If accepted elsewhere, we ask that you notify us immediately.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rights<\/h3><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By submitting, you confirm that the manuscript is <strong>your original work<\/strong> and that you hold <strong>full publishing rights<\/strong> to it.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We\u2019re Not Here for Safe Love Stories.<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re here for passion that claws, kisses that destroy, and endings that linger like bruises. If your story fits the Velvet Vault brand, we can\u2019t wait to see what you\u2019ve created.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Submit. Seduce. Scar us.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Submissions Do YOU WRITE ROMANCE THAT HURTS SO GOOD? Velvet Vault is always on the hunt for South African authors bold enough to write dark romance that bleeds, bites, and burns. If your story explores obsession, vengeance, power, taboo desire, or love that crosses the line\u2014we want to read it. We accept completed dark romance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38,"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions\/38"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetvault.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}