Interested in submitting a story? Awesome! I want to help you grow your fan base. The way my podcast is set up, I never profit a penny off of your effort. I am not selling you a service, I don’t make money off your story, and I don’t ask for first publication rights. In fact, the only rights I ask for are those necessary to post your story on my channel, and I will remove said story if you ever desire. I have crafted this project in every way to make it a tool for you. What do I get out of it? I’m building a brand as a Narrator. What better way than to network with hundreds of up and coming authors? Besides, I honestly want to give back to the community. Audiobooks literally helped save my life.
I wanted to help level the playing field for struggling writers, so I created a Youtube-channel/Podcast where I narrate sci-fi and fantasy short stories and book excerpts. There are a number of other channels that do similar things, but my videos are tailored to be an advertisement for the author, not a revenue generator for me. At the end of each video, I talk about YOU, what projects you have going, how they can follow you, where they can read more of your writing, pretty much anything you want to share. I’ll even put a link to your publications in the description so they can buy your book right on the spot.
I get to hone my skills and build a reputation as a narrator, and you get a bit of money, a kickass promotional audiocast, and a video that you can use to help showcase your writing skills around the web. You can post both the podcast and the video straight to your website, embed it in emails, share it on whatever social media platform you want. I try to craft a little snapshot into the magic of your written world that will help you suck in new readers.
In addition to that, I try my best to showcase you to my own growing fan base. I post your story to my podcast, youtube, facebook, twitter, and my personal website and newsletter. I might not be huge yet, but I’m damn well going to get there. And as my audience grows so will your views. That is the great thing about ‘evergreen’ content, people always want to go back and listen to the older episodes. My hope is that a single video now could be netting you fans for years to come, straight from my fan base to yours.
How does it work?
You submit a story to me. I review it. If it meets my criteria and fits with what I need at the time, then it goes in the queue. Eventually, I transform your story into an audio recording that I post to all my various platforms. Each episode contains a spotlight for you, the author, showcasing any websites, projects, or publications you may have. I then spread this episode all over the web in hopes of drumming up some fans for you.
How do I submit a story?
So you’ve written a story and you would like Tall Tale TV to read it out loud. Wonderful! Head on over to the Submission Guidelines page to make sure it meets all criteria, and then pop over to the Submission Form to send it to me.
A quick overview though, I’m looking for sci-fi and fantasy. 6,000(ish) words or less. Stories get preference over book excerpts, and excerpts must resemble a story. If you have something that falls outside my guidelines, feel free to contact me about it. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve made an exception. I accept -all- forms of sci-fi and fantasy, not just wizards and space bots. Secondary rights are fine, and I don’t require any sort of exclusivity. My rights END with my rendition of your piece. I can’t sell it, I can’t even charge people to watch or listen to it. And if you ever want me to take it down, let me know.
Can I submit a story if it’s already published elsewhere?
Absolutely. I do not require first publication rights. In fact, if you have published it in any notable magazines or websites let me know so I can mention that in the video. The only stipulation I have is that you are not breaking any other contracts by submitting the story to me. You must have full legal rights to publish the story.
What rights does Tall Tale TV have over my story?
You grant me the right to use my rendition of your story for non-commercial uses. In this case, non-commercial means I will never charge anyone to watch or listen to your story. I do however generate ad revenue.
I will never post or publish your original text unless it is accompanied by my video/audio rendition. These would be cases like closed captioning or a video transcript, for example most of the stories on my website. If you don’t want me to post the text, let me know.
I do NOT have the right to sell your story. I will never sell rights to your original text, or my audio/video rendition to any third party.
I retain the right to post my audio/video rendition of your story on different platforms so long as 1) They retain the author’s name and information 2) Nobody has to pay to view or listen to it.
For the full legal document, you can read my Submission Agreement.
I changed my mind, I don’t want you to publish my story. -or- I changed my mind, please take my story down.
If you’ve changed your mind for any reason, contact me. If I haven’t published it yet I will be happy to pull you from the queue. If I have published it, let me know and I will take it down. Please just keep in mind that a 15-minute video probably took me 3-6 hours to create and promote online. The same stipulation can be said about altering your story. If you contact me before I record it, no worries. After the fact is a bit more tricky, but if I have time I can always try.
Do I get paid?
Yes! As of July, 2021 Tall Tale TV is now generating ad revenue, and I am passing it on to you. Check the submission form page for the current amount.
Can I sell the audiobook you made for me?
The short answer is no. Feel free to have someone else record it and you can sell that. If you really want to, feel free to contact me and I might be able to work out a deal. Our arrangement right now is that you are granting me the rights to use your story in my publication. I retain the rights to my creation, you retain the rights to yours.
This isn’t to say you can’t repost or distribute the video or audio. I actually encourage you to do so! But I require that you never charge people to view or listen to it without my permission. I prefer if you embed the links I provide you, as that helps me grow my channel which helps everyone else who submitted a story as well, but you are welcome to upload it to other platforms if you prefer.
Upon request, I will provide you with the audio and/or video files for your own use. Again, if you wish to monetize these in any way you will need to get permission from me. I do not want to incentivize people to use me for a quick buck, as that would draw people who would submit stories that they themselves did not write.
For more questions feel free to contact me. Otherwise, if you are interested, head over to my Submission Guidelines page or the Submission Form.
Thank you so much for considering me. Without your support, Tall Tale TV would be nothing!
