Category: Audio

Taking Submissions: The Cast of Wonders: Banned Books Week (Early)

Submission Window: June 1st – 14th, 2023
Payment: 8 cents/word for originals, $100/short story or $20/flash piece for reprints
Theme: Guiding Sparks Between the Words: How Stories Illuminate the World Around Us

Every year in September, Cast of Wonders celebrates Banned Books Week, an annual international event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information.

Joining the editorial team for this year’s call is Cast of Wonders Associate Editor, Simon Pan. Thank you, Simon, for the wonderful theme this year!

Guiding Sparks Between the Words: How Stories Illuminate the World Around Us

In times of conflict, division and change, it is more important than ever to build bridges of understanding.  We most commonly encounter the stories of others through news articles or in classrooms, kept at a scholarly or journalistic distance and often biased to favour privileged perspectives. Our own truths may also remain unvoiced and unknown, misunderstood even by those around us.

When it comes to illuminating these truths, stories have a key part to play: they help us to learn and appreciate things from perspectives we might never otherwise consider, and allow us to reshape our own experiences within the transformative lens of fiction. When we share our stories, we guide sparks of kinship and understanding, using narrative and emotion to help others experience a small window into another’s reality.

For Banned Books Week 2023, we want to see stories of discovery, of learning, of misconceptions unraveled, and how stories can serve as a guiding light to help us understand a new perspective, or to teach us valuable lessons when all other methods fail us. What that something is…well, that is up to you!

At Cast of Wonders, we welcome stories that portray the full spectrum of human experience. We don’t challenge stories; we want stories to challenge us! Cast of Wonders looks for stories that evoke a sense of wonder, have deep emotional resonance, and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without gratuitous or explicit sex, violence, or pervasive obscene language.

Preference for this submission window is under 5,000 words with an absolute limit of 6,000 words. Flash submissions under 1.5k are also very welcome!

Submissions must adhere to Cast of Wonders guidelines.  Submissions will be accepted from June 1 to June 14 through our Moksha Portal – we can’t wait to read what you send in!

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Taking Submissions: The Drabblecast 2023 Weird West Edition

Deadline: May 26th, 2023
Payment: 6 cents per word for original, 3 cents per word for reprints
Theme: Weird West Stories
Note: Reprints allowed

Starting next week, April 26, the Drabblecast will be accepting submissions for a special Weird West event. We want weird west (emphasis on the WEIRD) stories 500-4000 words and pay $.06/word for original fiction and $.03/word for reprints.

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #100

Deadline: December 9th, 2023
Payment: 15GBP
Theme: The End

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 150k+ monthly listeners, then we want your stories!

If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 100) The End: deadline 9th December 2023

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #99

Deadline: November 11th, 2023
Payment: 15GBP
Theme: Infestation

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 150k+ monthly listeners, then we want your stories!

If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 99) Infestation: deadline 11th November 2023

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #98

Deadline: October 14th, 2023
Payment: 15GBP
Theme: Crime

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 150k+ monthly listeners, then we want your stories!

If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 98) Crime II: deadline 14th October 2023

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #97

Deadline: September 16th, 2023
Payment: 15GBP
Theme: Fame

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 150k+ monthly listeners, then we want your stories!

If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 97) Fame: deadline 16th September 2023

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #96

Deadline: August 19th, 2023
Payment: 15GBP
Theme: Masks

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 150k+ monthly listeners, then we want your stories!

If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 96) Masks II: deadline 19th August 2023

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #95

Deadline: July 22nd, 2023
Payment: 15GBP
Theme: Rituals

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 150k+ monthly listeners, then we want your stories!

If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 95) Rituals: deadline 22nd July 2023

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