The Strange Horizons Fiction Podcast team needs your help!
We are resetting the fiction arm of the Strange Horizons Podcast, starting with recording a number of short stories from the last 18 months, and implementing a new workflow overall so the department can function smoothly - including bringing the poetry and reviews podcasts under one umbrella.
In order to facilitate this we are looking for guest narrators to read a few stories each and deliver finished recorded audio to the staff editors for post-production, as well as one or more producers to handle the administrative side of the podcast.
As with all SH staff roles, this is on a volunteer basis, and you’d be exempt from submitting your writing to SH during your volunteering period.
Podcast Producer(s)
The Fiction, Poetry, and Reviews Podcast teams are on the hunt for a producer (or several, depending on availability) to help with the administrative portion of the Strange Horizons podcast. We are looking for someone organised, with excellent communication skills, who can help us restructure our workflow into a sustainable model for the future.
A little bit of background:
Strange Horizons is always-on, publishing one short story and one poem nearly every single week, a reviews-only issue once a month, and quarterly special issues which feature multiple short stories, articles and/or poems.
Our previous model of operation required podcast episodes to be delivered on publication day, which was often untenable with last-minute edits being carried out even the week before a story was set to be published. This led to overwhelm and burnout for our small team, and as such we are looking to completely restructure how the podcast operates, into a separate arm of the magazine with its own release schedule and content calendar, providing more flexibility for the editors to create a truly unique audio fiction experience that listeners will love to engage with on a weekly basis.
Your responsibilities:
- Project manage our backlog episodes from 2021-23
- Develop a sustainable workflow/pipeline for the department alongside the editors, taking into account the regular weekly episodes of our short fiction and poetry, the monthly review podcast Critical Friends, as well as the special issues we release on a quarterly basis
- Manage the production calendar, ensuring backlog, regular, and special issue episodes are efficiently handled from inception to publication, and are balanced well within the podcast feed
- Transfer story data from the Fiction and Poetry teams’ Google docs onto our Airtable database, and keep information accurate and up-to-date
- Liaise with authors to create pronunciation guides for the narrators if required, or to get their recorded audio if they are reading their own story
- Create and maintain author pages for guest narrators on the SH website
- Coordinate any necessary pickups ahead of episodes releasing
What we’re looking for:
- Excellent communications skills
- A collaborative person who works well with others in an online setting
- Familiarity with Slack, Airtable, Google Suite and Dropbox is highly desired
- Some experience or familiarity with project management and content calendar management
- Experience with podcasting preferred but not essential
- A minimum commitment of 12 months.
- That being said, feel free to apply even if your time availability is limited; we will happily consider onboarding multiple people for this role, as this is a major project. The more helping hands, the better!
- As ever, SH encourages applications from non-US/UK residents, as well as queer, ND, disabled, and BIPOC folk.
How to apply:
To apply, fill out this form by the 31st July 2023 at 23:59 UTC+1. Please have your CV/resume handy as well as a brief statement of why you’d like to join the team.
For any questions about the role, your prospective responsibilities, etc, please contact fiction podcast editor Kat Kourbeti at podcast (at) strangehorizons dot com.
Guest Narrators
Responsibilities:
- Narrate a number of stories from 2021-23 (minimum of 5)
- Record (and potentially edit) your narration for the stories assigned to you
- Deliver your finished audio to the Fiction Podcast Editors
- Optionally, and particularly if you are not able to commit to recording multiple stories at this time, you can sign up to be added to our narrator database for future episodes
What we’re looking for:
Essential:
- Must enjoy speculative fiction (if you are not familiar with Strange Horizons, read some of our issues to get an idea of what we publish)
- Must have some experience of reading aloud or performing for an audience
- 6 month commitment - or 3-5 stories minimum
- Quality setup (external USB or XLR mic, pop filter, sound dampening)
- Good communication skills
Desirable:
- Proficiency in non-English languages, or the capability to pronounce words and phrases from other languages (a pronunciation guide will be provided with each story)
- We use a combination of email, Slack, Dropbox and Airtable to manage the podcast, so some familiarity would be beneficial
- Basic audio editing skills (you’d only need to edit the content of your audio, ie. cutting out mistakes and re-takes into a cohesive whole) using whatever audio programme you choose (Audacity, Adobe Audition, etc)
What you can expect:
- Join a roster of talented and diverse people from all over the world who love speculative fiction
- Good and clear communication about what we need from you and by when
- Robust guidelines on how to get the best recording and how to do a basic edit of your audio
- Grow your narration/voice-over skills
- Build your audio portfolio - ideal for people in (or looking to move into) voice acting, narration, or podcasting
How to apply:
To apply, fill out this form. We’ll need to assess a few factors, such as your audio setup, your reading and performance skills, and voice suitability. Be prepared to record a short audition clip of you reading a few paragraphs from your favourite Strange Horizons story.
For any questions about the role, your prospective responsibilities, etc, please contact fiction podcast editor Kat Kourbeti at podcast (at) strangehorizons dot com.