Ah, the power ballad. Put your lighters in the air, because these are the songs that move you to believe in the power of love.

Come to think of it, The Power of Love by Jennifer Rush is considered to be one of the best power ballads of all time.

So what’s the difference between a love song and a power ballad?

Love song focus on the theme of romance, heartbreak, or longing. They can be upbeat, bouncy, or slow. Examples of this would be Peabo Bryson’s “If Ever I’m In Your Arms Again”, Etta James’ “At Last” or The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody.”

Power ballads focus on delivery, intensity, and dynamics. They start softly and intimately, but gradually swell as the drums, sweeping strings, and the singer’s own vocal projection push the emotion into an explosive, theatrical finale. Great examples of this include Meatloaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”, Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Alone” by Heart.

Need help figuring out if your song choice applies? Be sure to check out the following links for inspiration:

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-power-ballads/
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/greatest-power-ballads/

So, let’s do an anthology!

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. We’re looking for short stories (3000-5000 words) of romance that are based on power ballads. It’s ok if you need to increase that word count a bit but nothing over 6,000 words, please.
2. Romance is the key here. Tell us a love story.
3. Sorry, but we firmly believe that every romance story needing a happy ending is absolute horsesh*t. Sometimes things just don’t work out for the couple. If your protagonists don’t end up together that’s totally fine, but then your story needs to follow the campfire rule: leave the couple better than the way you found them. It doesn’t have to be a downer ending, but the lessons learned need to leave them in a better place.
4. Stories can take place anywhere from the 1970s through today.
5. Don’t use actual lyrics from the songs unless you’ve obtained permission to do so! We won’t accept a story with actual lyrics unless you show proof you have permission to use them. We aren’t gonna shell out hundreds of bucks for usage. We don’t believe in love THAT much.
6. This is romance, not erotica. Save the naughty stuff for our other anthologies. Nothing above a PG-13 level here, please.
7. For the love of all that’s holy: no shapeshifters, vampires, aliens, fantasy, scifi or something that would make Chuck Tingle say “gee, I never thought of THAT before.” Real people, real situations.
8. LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC characters and authors very, very strongly encouraged. Be authentic!
9. All works must be original to this publication and cannot have been published or self-published previously.
10. We’re perfectly ok with simultaneous submissions to other publishers, but please let us know if you’d like your story withdrawn from consideration.

TECHNICAL GUIDELINES

1. Short story length (3000-5000 words). If you need to go longer, no more than 6000 words.
2. All submissions need to be in DOC, DOCX or Pages format. Everyone knows by now that we don’t care about fonts and spacing and all that other stuff.
3. All entries should be sent to Jay Hartman at jhartman@mistimedia.com with POWER in the subject heading. All entries will be acknowledged. Please note that Jay does not check email daily, so allow a few days for response. If you haven’t received acknowledgment after a week of submission, feel free to touch base through the Misti Media Facebook Messenger account.
4. All submissions need to be received no later than 11:59PST, October 31st, 2026. Decisions will be made by November30th, 2026. We will do our best to notify authors early if their work is not accepted, but they cannot be resubmitted. Estimated publication is late January 2026 in time for early Valentine’s Day buying..
5. This anthology will pay ongoing royalties, with all contributors splitting 50% of the net proceeds equally. All contributors will receive an ebook copy and one free print copy, with further author copies available at deep discounts.. Our anthology agreement gives us exclusive rights for six months from publication date, then non-exclusive rights thereafter, meaning that contributors are free to reuse their story in any manner they wish after the first six months of publication.
6. Original stories only, no reprints.
7. The anthology will be limited to no more than 12 stories.
8. This anthology will be published under our Miraflores Nights imprint.

Please direct all questions to anthology editor Jay Hartman at jhartman@mistimedia.com .