Submissions – The Wicked Library

Important Note:

Season 12 Submissions are open! This season's theme is Ghost Stories, Paranormal Events, & Mysterious Happenings. Stories between 2,500-3,500 words are being accepted; we are NOT accepting longer tales. All stories must be in 1st person w/ minimal character dialogue by those other than the main character.

Want to hear your own story on The Wicked Library? Please read the rules and requirements carefully to ensure your best chance of getting your story accepted.

Please Note: Seasons are long, with a limited number of episodes. If we select your story to be turned into audio, we'll notify you ASAP, but it could be several months before it is actually narrated, produced, scored, and added to the schedule. We'll do our best to estimate your air date, but the show is a living thing and sometimes we have to shift things around due to production schedules, voice actor availability, and the universe in general.

All stories are shared first with our supporters on Patreon, but since our goal remains promoting the work of new authors and getting those authors new fans from to our full audience, we later combine these stories into multiple story episodes and share them with the full audience.

Here are the rules for submission:

1. What we look for: Well written horror fiction with a word count of 2,500 - 3,500 words - in manuscript format. If it's not double spaced, in the proper format, and does not include your contact info, it will not be selected to be read. The number one reason we reject is improper formatting, so please take a moment to review. We strongly prefer first person stories. Stories should focus on character and creating a feeling of fear and unease. Consider the theme of the season for highest chance of acceptance.

A little short? Ask. If it's a great story, we might read it as part of an anthology episode if it really grabs the listener by the ears but we find the sweet spot to be between 2,000 - 3,500 words for production time, production cost, and airtime length.

2. Submit your best story. We don't select every story we receive, but we do pick the ones that best fit the audience and theme. We do feature a large variety of horror from traditional ghost stories to modern horror and a lot of things in between. We will accept up to two total (2) stories via the form below for consideration. Please don't submit more than 2 in a 6 month period without a request from us.

3. Rights: We execute contracts with our writers that limit the amount of time that we retain the rights to your story once we publish in in audio or written format which varies depending upon the type of story and episode. Generally, if we invite you to participate in a main episode we're looking for original fiction, however we do accept unsolicited previously published stories for some episodes. The Wicked Library's mission statement is to get authors, artists, and composers noticed by new fans. For this reason we ask that you not tell your fans to "skip to your story" if it's a multiple story episode.

IMPORTANT: If your story has been previously published, we need to be assured that the rights have been returned to the author - most publishing contracts do not allow a recording while still under rights. If your contract doesn't specify how audio rights are handled, contact the publisher and ask if we can read your story. Many publishers will agree, as it is free publicity for them and you.

4. Sharing: You agree to promote your episode to your friends, family and fans via social media and other means. The Wicked Library grows by word of mouth and your story is heard by thousands of listeners because of the authors who came before you. For this reason, we also ask that you not tell your fans to "skip to your story". We work with authors who have social media (facebook, twitter, etc.) to share and cross promote.

5. File format: It's worth a second mention. For ease of reading and production, please submit your story in manuscript format (the link is a sample of our accepted format) in one of the following file formats: doc, docx, or rtf. Manuscript Format is VERY IMPORTANT.

5. Contact Info: Equally important: Your story WILL BE separated from the submission form for reading. We MUST have your contact info in the top left of your story so we know who you are and how to tell you you've been accepted.

7. Submit your story for consideration via the submission form below.

Submission Form

After reading the rules above, you may use this form to submit your stories for consideration.
Name *
Email *

Your Stories

For ease of reading, please submit your story in manuscript format in one of the following file formats: doc, docx, or rtf. At our editor's request, we no longer accept pdf due to the inability to easily edit this format. PLEASE BE SURE YOUR CONTACT INFO IS ON YOUR STORY AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE SO WE CAN CONTACT YOU.
Submission Type *
Please indicate the type of submission. Most stories will fall under the "Unsolicited - Open Call" option unless you're answering a call for stories for one of our specials, or you've been directly invited to submit by one of our editors. If you were directly invited, please indicate the name of the editor who invited you in the comments section.Unsolicited - Open Call SubmissionI was directly invited by an Editor
Story 1 *
Story 1 Synopsis *
A brief description (under 140 words) of your story. If your story is selected, this will be the "teaser" we post to get listeners interested in hearing your tale. It also helps our editors know what to expect when they get ready to read your story for consideration.
Story 1 Characters *
IMPORTANT: Our very STRONG preference is towards first person narratives. Typically, we have a single voice actor tell your story and handle all speaking roles. Please keep this in mind when submitting your story, so you're not expecting a full cast of voices. While we have experimented with having multiple voices in stories, and while we love the final result, the cost and production work involved has made this prohibitive, since we are a very small team. At present, we're focused on finding one voice from our roster of talent who can best tell your story, so single person tales are our favorites to convert to audio. That being said, we do occasionally consider stories with more than one character if the story is superb and the other characters and their dialogue is minimal. NOTE: If the age, ethnicity, accent, or gender identity of the storyteller is important to the tale, please indicate this information so we can cast appropriately. We work hard to ensure the right voice for your story including LBGTQIA+ character representation from our diverse cast.
Story 2 (optional)
Story 2 Synopsis
A brief description (under 140 words) of your story. If your story is selected, this will be the "teaser" we post to get listeners interested in hearing your tale. It also helps our editors know what to expect when they get ready to read your story for consideration.
Story 2 Characters
IMPORTANT: Our very STRONG preference is towards first person narratives. Typically, we have a single voice actor tell your story and handle all speaking roles. Please keep this in mind when submitting your story, so you're not expecting a full cast of voices. While we have experimented with having multiple voices in stories, and while we love the final result, the cost and production work involved has made this prohibitive, since we are a very small team. At present, we're focused on finding one voice from our roster of talent who can best tell your story, so single person tales are our favorites to convert to audio. That being said, we do occasionally consider stories with more than one character if the story is superb and the other characters and their dialogue is minimal. NOTE: If the age, ethnicity, accent, or gender voice of the storyteller is important to the tale, please indicate this information so we can cast appropriately.
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