Pod-Together 2025 Rules

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Welcome to pod_together, a challenge where writers and podficcers create together—the writer creating text specifically intended for audio, and the podficcer creating the audio.

While we encourage participants to read the FAQ, here are the basic rules you need to know going in:

Basic Rules

Minimum Length: The minimum length is 1000 words or 10 minutes of audio. A project is only required to meet one of these minimums, and it can be met by either a single longer work or multiple shorter works.

Content and Tagging Rules: We have two content moderation rules, and one former rule that is now a strong suggestion. Please make sure you read them before signing up, and let us know any questions you have about them at any point during this round of Pod-Together!

Check-ins: There are 3 mandatory check-ins for those who were matched by mods (those who used Match Maker Sign-ups). Check-ins help you make sure you’re on track to meet your deadlines, give partners specific times to inform each other of progress, and also open up conversations so you can let us know how to best support you. In addition to checking in with mods at this time, participants are required to share their rough drafts/work in progress with their partner(s) at each check-in.

Extensions and Deadlines: Each participant can receive a maximum extension of 7 days past their deadline. If you request an extension, please tell us how long you would like that extension to be. Up to 3 days will be granted automatically to everyone, and extensions of up to 7 days will be granted automatically to those who used Group Sign Ups. For those who used Match Maker Sign Ups, if extensions of 4–7 days are needed, please include a plan for how you intend to finish within that time.

After requesting an extension, you should receive a confirmation from mods when the extension request has been received and approved. If you haven’t gotten a message confirming the date of your extension within 24 hours, please follow up.

Failing to meet the date of your extension counts as an automatic drop-out.

If you miss a deadline without requesting an extension, you will be sent a reminder email and be given a 48 hour grace period in which to meet the deadline. Failing to meet the deadline after the grace period counts as an automatic drop-out. In case of such an event, your partner will be offered a pinch hit and your project will no longer be part of the modded challenge. There are no long term consequences for dropping out! You are still welcome to complete your project and submit it as a Party Favor if you’d like.

Final Product: While this challenge primarily produces stories, as long as your submission is a collaboration with an audio component and all group members are happy, the form your submission takes is up to you. This means that meta, filk, or non-narrative poetry, for example, are possible end products.

Posting: All projects will be posted to AO3, so you will need an AO3 account. If you need help setting one up, feel free to reach out to the mod team at pod.together@gmail.com.

If the audio and text are in the same AO3 post, the audio should be at the top. If the audio and text are in separate posts, they should link to each other at the top.

Groups cannot use a text (or podfic) that has been previously posted, unless it is revised significantly enough to merit a new, separate post that will go up during pod_together reveals.

Reveals happen across the course of ten days, with a few podfics from the collection revealed each day. Mods will make and post a reveal schedule before the first day of reveals.

Hosting: Your podfic must be available for listening in both streaming and mp3 download formats. A streaming player directly on the AO3 post is highly recommended, but not required. Our posting instructions link to tutorials that we hope will help with this, and participants are also welcome to ask for support at any time on the Pod_Together Discord! Another option is that we can host your audio for you at paraka's website.

If you wish to remove your component of the project at a later date, you are free to do so, but you may not take down your partner’s work without their consent. For those hosting with paraka, if you ever want/need to have a file taken down, please email pod.together@gmail.com.

Remember: This should be an equal collaboration, although ultimately the writer gets the final say over the words of the work and the podficcer gets the final say over the audio.

Timeline

Monday June 2nd Sign-ups open.
Saturday June 14th Sign-ups close.
Sunday June 15th Assignments go out to everybody from Match Maker Sign-ups.
Monday June 16th through Friday June 20th Icebreaker week.
Sunday July 6th Check-in #1.
Sunday July 20th Check-in #2.
Wednesday July 23rd Early writing submission date.
Sunday July 27th All writing due.
Sunday August 10th Check-in #3; text must be posted to AO3 collection.
Wednesday August 20th Early podfic submission date.
Sunday August 24th All podfic due.
Thursday August 28th Reveals start.
Saturday September 6th Reveals end, Party Favors due.
Sunday September 7th Party Favors revealed.
Saturday September 13th through Sunday September 14th Weekend Jamfest listening and commenting event.

Notable changes previous years of this challenge

In the past, there was a question on the sign-up form asking if participants wanted to opt into email updates (meaning they receive an email copy of any post on the Dreamwidth comm). This year, players who want to opt into email updates will use a separate form for that, which we will link in the introductory email that we send out to groups.