Audio Sub Op

The People's Ink has an open call for submissions to be read for The Overcast podcast:

"We are interested in speculative fiction, whatever that means to you, be it Science Fiction, Fantasy, Alternate History, Steampunk, Magical Realism, or an as-yet-unnamed genre. Anything that looks at the world from an unexpected angle, we want to see it. We want to read stories that infuse us with extraordinary feelings, transport us to places we’ve never imagined, and fill our lives with characters that we love and loathe. We want to still be thinking about a story days after reading it. Be original. Be amazing.

We are based in Portland, Oregon, and the focus of our podcast is speculative fiction by authors hailing from, living in, or connected to the Pacific Northwest, as loosely defined by the bioregion of Cascadia. There is an exceptionally strong talent pool of speculative writers in Cascadia, and we want to celebrate and promote them to a larger audience. That said, we are not exclusive. We are open to submissions from anywhere. While we’d ideally like to feature Pacific Northwest authors in at least 3/4 of our podcasts, we first and foremost want to feature great stories. So no matter where you live, send us your stories. If they make us laugh, cry, or turn cartwheels of astonishment, preferably all at once, we will find a place for them in our podcast.

This is an audio format publication. We feel that stories of about 20 minutes in length are the sweet spot for podcasts. In preparing for our podcast, we’ve discovered that our average reading speed is approximately 100 words per minute. Which means that a 2,000 word story falls right in the sweet spot. We will consider submissions of anywhere from 1,000 – 5,000 words, but if it comes down to a choice between two stories of otherwise equal merit, we will generally choose the story that is closer to the sweet spot.

Reprints are welcome, so long as they have not been previously produced in an audio format.

Our authors are the heart and soul of our podcast. We are creators ourselves, and we strongly believe that all creators should be paid for their work to the best of our ability. As we are just starting out, the current limits of our ability are a semi-pro rate of $0.02 cents a word. We hope, however, that our podcast will quickly become a success beyond our wildest dreams and bring us fame, fortune, and the ability to pay pro rates. We’d also like a pony. A genetically modified pony with six legs that urinates a nice, rich stout.

Payment will be made through Paypal upon acceptance."

See the guidelines for more details, and if you have that kind of pony, maybe they'll stable it for you.

Rain on Demand

I am one of those weird people who love to fall asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm (probably because I grew up in the lightning capitol of the U.S.) With or without the thunder, nothing relaxes me faster than the sound of rain, too.

So you can imagine how happy I was to discover this neat site that allows you to listen to rain and some nature sounds in various degrees of intensity. Move your cursor up and the screen and the sounds become lighter; move it down and you get the full roar of a big thunderstorm. I've kept the window opened but minimized on my browser and listened to it through my headphones while I'm working on the blog or e-mail, and it's very soothing.

I found the link over at diddlydarnthatcrapisnifty, which has some other interesting anti-stress sound and art generator links up for grabs.

Nightbred Audio on Sale

Here's a look at the cover art for the audio edition of Nightbred, which along with all of Tantor's audio books is currently 50% off. It's also narrated by Johanna Parker, who did such an amazing job with the audio edition of Nightborn. According to the site this will start shipping on December 17th.

Audio Pre-Order Sale

Nightborn will be my first novel released in audio as well as print and e-book, and Tantor Audio has the CD and MP3 editions on sale for 50% off if you pre-order now. The story will be read by Johanna Parker, who has a lovely voice with amazing range, and who has narrated among many works the audio editions of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series as well as Stephanie Tyler's Shadow Force novels.

Mine is not the only title on sale; there are also other plenty of other audio books featured in the 50% off sale at Tantor's site, from nonfiction on Presidents & Heads of State, Cultural Heritage books in honor of Black History Month, and (just in time for Valentine's Day) lots of excellent romance novels.

I listen to audio books in the car whenever I'm on a road trip, but they're also great when I'm sewing or taking a break on the porch (I can't cook when I listen to books; I always end up burning something.) Audio editions also make great gifts for a commuter or someone who has to travel a lot for work, or simply wants something to listen to other than radio or television.

PBW in Audio

Although it's not technically my first audio book (I have three others out there that were made for can't-talk-about-it WFH jobs) Going to the Chapel was the first Christian fiction novel I wrote. As part of a planned WFH series, my story assignment was to hire and introduce a new minister to the community; other than and the set characters of the series, the rest was my idea.

In real life I worked for several ministers and churches, so when I tackled this story I was able to show characters based on the real deal as well as the actual process that goes on behind the scenes when a church is looking for a new head pastor. There are also the many practical and emotional transitions church members and leaders have to make when a long-term, much-loved pastor dies (which is the event that kicked off this series and required my assigned plot point.) The fact that they messed up my pseudonym during the intro and on the product is just one of those oops things that happens; Sherri Berger does a nice job of reading the story.

I promised to give away some copies as soon as I got in some extras, so in comments to this post name a job or experience you've had in real life that you think would make interesting reading (or if you're drawing a blank, just throw your name in the magic hat) by midnight EST today (Saturday, May 2, 2009.) I'll draw three names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners a signed* CD audio version of my Rebecca Kelly novel Going to the Chapel. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*Just FYI, I'll be signing the cover art insert for the CD case.

Poddering Around

The first thing I used to do when I set up a new computer was to rip out or unplug and throw away the speakers. The assorted internet bells/whistles as well as unsolicited music on web sites were annoying and distracting, and I covet peace and quiet. Computer programs tend to make a lot of jarring sounds, too. If I want that much racket, I'll serve my kids red Kool-aid and Double-Stuff Oreos and then give them Nerf guns.

With this new era of audio everything, I leave the speakers plugged in but turned off. I still haven't caved into buying an Ipod, and I'm not a big fan of podcasting, but I will listen to bits of one online now and then if the speaker and/or the subject interests me. The voice makes or breaks it for me, though, and there are authors who should not read their work because they don't have a proper speaking voice for it (I should know, I'm one of them.)

Mech Muse, one of the newest online SF/F e-zines, offers twelve hours of audio fiction to listen to online or download into your Ipod (login/registration appears to be free at the moment but the submission guidelines seem to indicate there are subscription fees involved.) Mech Muse is also looking for short stories and performers to read for them and offer authors royalties of 40% and advances up to $400.00. If you're into podcasting, definitely worth a look.

There are also audio file sites out there like American Public Media, which offers a full page of free podcasts, with a link to Audible's excerpts from Garrison Keillor's Lake Woebegone radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. Other podcasts include podcasts or links to talks about business, faith, finance, kitchen help, marketing, GK's Writer's Almanac and more. I think if you're going to get into podcasting, you should listen to a variety of them to get a feel for what makes a good podcast.

Related links:

If you'd like to try one of the online audio service sites, Audioblog (now called Hipcast) offers a 7-day free trial period to their service, which allows you to create videos, audios, podcasts and post them to your weblog.

The online community for podcasters, PodcastPickle.

Create, find and share podcasts over at PodOMatic.

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