Flak Audio Guidelines
Flak Audio is designed to broaden the reach of articles published in Flak and to introduce original, audio-only content to Flak's listening audience. We're looking for pieces that aren't just interesting, but interesting to listen to. Articles that have been published previously in Flak can be adapted fairly easily. Original articles written for Flak Audio should be written specifically for a listening audience while following Flak's style guides for text articles.
In addition to articles, we're also looking for submissions of ambient sound snapshots to add color to the broadcast.
Some general guidelines:
Contact Tim, the Flak Audio editor, if you have a piece you want to pitch for Flak audio.
Flak Audio pieces shouldn't run for more than two to three minutes, which is about 400-600 written words. Keep in mind that writing specifically for a listening audience is different than writing for a reader. Keep your sentences short and simple. Avoid complexity and things like interrupting relative clauses, jargon and uncommon terms. Reading your piece out loud to listen to its flow is the single best thing you can do to make your piece sound good in audio.
In Flak text articles it's possible to add hyperlinks to additional and often obscure references. These don't work so well in audio. If you are game, we can consider adding a sound clip of some sort to your piece, if you provide it.
For all submissions, please tell us how to pronounce your name. If there are difficult-to-pronounce names or words in your piece, please let us know how to pronounce them, too. And, if you have a website or blog that you would like us to share with listeners, please tell us the URL.
Once a piece is approved to air, it will be recorded by a Flak Audio producer and edited into a Flak Audio broadcast. It is possible for you to do the recording of your piece and submit the audio file (in .WAV) to the Flak editor. This requires an audio setup and the skills to produce a quality recording. If you've got both, please talk with the Flak Audio editor and you can do it.
Published Flak Articles:
If an article you wrote has already been published on Flak and you'd like to have it run on Flak Audio, contact the Flak Audio editor to let us know. In its simplest form, your text may be read exactly as it was written. In all likelihood, some bit of adaptation will be necessary. We may need to edit for length, or simplify some sentence structures for the reader. If you are able to take the lead on adapting your piece for audio, you will get an extra gold star on the wall chart at Flak HQ.
Original Audio Articles
We're looking for original articles written specifically for a listening audience. These pieces should fit into one of the Flak categories and must be pitched to the appropriate editor: Features, Reviews (Music, Film, Web, TV, Books, Misc.), Opinion and Sports.
Also be sure to check out Flak's general Submission Guidelines. If you have an idea for an article to pitch to one of the Flak editors, consider pitching it as both a written article for the online mag and an edited audio piece for Flak Audio. That would make Flak very happy.
Audio Snapshots
We're looking for snippets of audio — one to fifteen seconds — that capture the essence of a scene. It could be the sound of traffic in Osaka at six in the morning, subway musicians jamming on a platform, a diner in Cleveland — anything, really, that puts the listener in a place at moment in time.
The recording must be your own and must not violate any copyright or privacy laws. We will not play that craaaaazy voice mail that your ex-girlfriend left you the day after you broke up with her, okay?
When you submit a sound recording, please include as much information as possible: what we are listening to, when, where and how it was recorded, any other useful or interesting information and, of course, your name. If possible, audio snapshots should be submitted as .WAV or .AIFF files.
