Be my guest
The Eldritch Echoes podcast is actively looking for guest contributors. If you’d like to contribute a reading or story to the podcast, please read the following information before submitting an inquiry!
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Literal true crime, tragedies, etc. are not what we’re doing here. Everything must be fictional. Of course, nothing can be against YouTube TOS either.
The true crime ban extends to works that are based on modern day true crime, e.g. recent or actively open cases. I understand that obviously, crime has influenced a lot of fiction, horror or otherwise, but it’s just not “the vibe” here.
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I don’t work with minors
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It’s more about whether your voice and VTuber model is a good fit for the podcast. Non-VTubers are welcome, but I ask that you still spookify your reading for immersion.
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There is no financial compensation available for guest narrators or guest authors
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For example: guest narrators who use a PNG for a background need to have the rights to use that PNG. Guest authors can’t contribute a story based on somebody else’s IP, e.g. fanfiction.
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Further instructions on audio recordings are provided further down this page. For consistency across episodes, there are certain guidelines I ask you follow: no sound effects, no background music. If you use a game like Minecraft as your setting for the reading, please mute all game sounds, thanks!
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The podcast is primarily focused on public domain horror literature and poetry, predominantly from around the late 1800s to early 1900s. As long as something is spooky, scary, eldritch, weird, haunted, or something, it’s probably a fit. But, for example, a video essay on first-person shooter games of the 1990s would likely not be a fit.
Guest Narrator Instructions
Story Selection:
Right now, I ask that the following be met:
The story needs to not already be covered on the channel (the works of H.P. Lovecraft and The King in Yellow are already being narrated by me, for instance)
The story needs to be public domain
The story needs to fit the ‘vibe’ of the podcast
The ideal story length is 10-25 minutes. Longer is ideal. Long poems are fine. If a work has multiple chapters but is still a short story, I ask that you either commit to reading the entire thing or find a group to read the story with in parts.
Recording Instructions:
If you are already an experienced longform video creator, you already know what to do and how to edit a video and you can ignore the parts about leaving dead air for me to use for editing. The rest still applies to everyone though.
1920 x 1080 pixel canvas
Please use some sort of background, ideally relaxing, without a ton of flashing lights, but matching the tone of the story. If you need help finding a background, please send me a DM on Discord! I have lots of resources and can find/make you a background for your story.
Open the browser to the public domain story text
Go back to your recording software
Click “start recording”
Wait 30 seconds in total silence, no drinking, coughing, heavy breathing.
Click to the browser with the text.
Wait about ten seconds.
Say the title of the story and the author name. Do not say your own name, publication date, etc. I keep this standardized across all stories.
Start reading. Do not add commentary, jokes etc. Doing voices is great, but please don’t go overboard because the tone is supposed to be relaxing. This is an audiobook channel, not a commentary channel. If you have comments, please post them in the video comments section or send them to me to include in the video description!
Be careful not to make too much noise with the scroll wheel or arrow keys as you move down the page.
When you are done with the story, wait another ten seconds before clicking out of the browser and clicking “stop recording.”
Recording FAQ:
“What if I need to do multiple takes? What if I cough, mess up a word, need to have water?”
Then you’re a normal person like me. I have to do multiple takes too! I take breaks to drink water too! I just have to make sure that it’s not in the audio.
Split the reading into manageable segments. Record each segment using the above instructions. Send me the video in segments and I’ll compile it. For listener immersion, try to do a minimum of 5 minutes of reading per take. Let’s say you do a 25 minute reading and it’s perfect — until you mess up on minute 24. Obviously, just re-record the last, say, 2 minutes, so I can edit it in. It just can’t be like, a new take every 30 seconds.
“Why do you need so much dead air before and after the reading?”
I use the dead air for noise cancellation in Audacity. The dead air between clicks means I can edit the clicks out of the audio more smoothly.
“What can I do about a recording if all I have is a PNGTuber avatar?”
If you are a PNGTuber, I ask that you have some sort of dynamic element in your background to add visual interest. One great suggestion by a guest contributor: making a background in a video like Minecraft or The Sims and having that running in the background while you read. I have lots of resources and can help find/make you a background for your story. I recommend the Josu Relax channel on YouTube. They have a lot of public domain background videos.
File Instructions:
Please submit the file as an .mp4 file via Google Drive
Please give me a link to your Twitter and YouTube so I can tag you properly in related posts (some people have multiple accounts, hence why I want to be sure I am tagging the accounts you want promoted!)
Promotional Instructions:
When I upload your video to my YouTube channel, I’ll have the option of adding you as a video contributor so you can see the video stats, get a credit, etc. To do this, I have to upload the video first and get a special link. I’ll send you the link via Discord. If you would prefer not to use YouTube’s contributor/collaborator system, let me know.
You don’t have to do anything else. I am leaving this here because it’s an FAQ but you literally don’t have to do anything. Retweets, etc. are obviously appreciated, but if you just want to drop a story and move on, that’s totally cool too.