INTERNATIONAL PODCAST MONTH (IPM)
Participant Information for 2022
WHAT IS IPM?
IPM is a collaborative event where podcasters come together to create unique episodes that are released throughout the month of September. There are many ways to participate!
PARTICIPANT INFO
Click the buttons below! We've got all the information participants need for International Podcast Month (IPM) 2022. Is this website difficult for you to read? You can read the master document that contains all of this information here.
OUR CORE PRINCIPLE
We remain committed to making and maintaining an inclusive, welcoming space for all people. To that end, racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and other related material is unwelcome. By participating in International Podcast Month, you agree to abide by our core principle.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
What has been written and created for this event belongs to the creators. IPM holds absolutely no ownership over any writings or audio creations. By giving us content, you are agreeing to allow us to post that content without charge on the IPM RSS feed, website, and social media. Creators will always be fully credited. If at any point a creator wishes their blog piece or episode removed from the site and/or RSS we will absolutely comply. Please note that if listeners have already downloaded content from the RSS feed or copied content from social media, there is no way for us to recover that content.
AUDIO CONTENT
As in past years, IPM features a collaboration of many diverse and inclusive podcasting folks on Audio Fiction Minisodes, Non-Fiction Episodes, and RPG Actual-Play One-Shots. The Non-Fiction and Audio Fiction episodes are special minisodes made by their creators and casts, while the RPG Actual-Play One-Shots are made up of a variety of creators across the podcasting medium who have gotten together just for their one episode (though whether or not they decide to continue their campaigns is up to them!).We also have a special mini-content type called "Coming Soon", where shows that plan to launch after IPM 2022 can submit a trailer for their show on the main IPM feed (i.e. Sep 2022 to Aug 2023 launch).Click the buttons below to read up on each audio content type in detail.
AUDIO DRAMA/FICTION MINISODES
WHAT IS AN AUDIO DRAMA/FICTION MINISODE?
An Audio Fiction/Drama Minisode is a scripted short form story or a glimpse into one or more characters' lives. Ideally, these minisodes follow stories that do not require prior knowledge of characters or plots for audience members to enjoy them. A minisode can be a standalone peek into what one podcast is like or a collaboration or crossover between two or more podcasts.
BASIC CRITERIA
Transcripts: As Audio Drama/Fiction tend to be scripted, transcripts will be required for all scripted minisodes. If you need help with these, the IPM Organizational Team has resources and help available.Oppressive Language: Please avoid racial slurs, homophobic language, ableist language (such as crazy or stupid), and any other forms of oppressive or harmful language. If you have a disability that makes changing language difficult, let us know and we will work with you to find a way to make this process accessible.
COMING SOON TRAILERS
WHAT IS A COMING SOON TRAILER?
Coming Soon Trailers are mini-features or trailers for shows of any genre launching between September 2021 and August 2022. These trailers should be shorter than five minutes in length.
BASIC CRITERIA
Transcripts: As Coming Soon trailers will be brief and likely scripted, transcripts will be required. If you need help with these, the International Podcast Month Organizational Team has resources and help available.Oppressive Language: Please avoid racial slurs, homophobic language, ableist language (such as crazy or stupid), and any other forms of oppressive or harmful language. If you have a disability that makes changing language difficult, let us know and we will work with you to find a way to make this process accessible.
NON-FICTION MINISODES
WHAT IS A NON-FICTION MINISODE?
A non-fiction minisode can be almost any non-story based episode. These can be interviews and/or conversations about baking, books, drinks, history, mythology, tv, movies, etc.
BASIC CRITERIA
Transcripts: These are highly recommended, but not required. If you need help with these, the IPM Organizational Team has resources and help available.Oppressive Language: Please avoid racial slurs, homophobic language, ableist language (such as crazy or stupid), and any other forms of oppressive or harmful language. If you have a disability that makes changing language difficult, let us know and we will work with you to find a way to make this process accessible.
RPG ACTUAL PLAY ONE-SHOTS
WHAT IS AN RPG ACTUAL PLAY ONE-SHOT?
An RPG Actual Play One-Shot is an episode where a group of folks play a tabletop roleplaying game. The story is one arc that goes from start to finish in that episode. These may be highly edited and produced with sound effects and music, or they may be lightly edited with no extra sound design.There are two ways to participate in these episodes: as a player or as a game master. This is the most complicated type of content to participate in, only because of the nature of how it works. If you want to GM, you submit to run a game of your choosing. If you want to play, you submit to play. Once the GMs are decided, a form will open up to players to rank the available games. You'll be assigned a game and cast to play with.
BASIC CRITERIA
Oppressive Language: Please avoid racial slurs, homophobic language, ableist language (such as crazy or stupid), and any other forms of oppressive or harmful language. If you have a disability that makes changing language difficult, let us know and we will work with you to find a way to make this process accessible.Problematic Stereotypes (especially regarding race): Players and GMs should work together to ensure no one is playing a character that represents a harmful stereotype. As an example: If a players wants to play a drow, we expect the DM to work with them to ensure they aren't using the "dark-skinned fantasy race = evil" trope.Session Zeros: All game groups should try to hold a pre-game discussion. This discussion provides an opportunity for players to get rules clarifications and/or discuss safety rules and boundaries in advance of the game.Safety Tools: All games are expected to have built-in safety mechanisms. This is for the safety of all players AND the game master. Options for the safety mechanism include Lines & Veils, the X-Card, or the Script Change tool. Resources for these tools will be provided.Transcripts: We want to be clear that transcripts are NOT REQUIRED for participation. Tabletop role-playing games are a lot of work to put together and many game masters do not have the time or energy to also do transcripts. That is okay. If there are folks who are up for working on transcripts, we have resources and support to do so.
WRITTEN CONTENT
Each year we aim to release daily written content throughout the entirety of September that focuses on the audio medium.
Note: the word limits for all written content are guidelines only. We aren't your high school English teachers and we won't be counting your words.
MINI-REVIEWS
A Mini-Review is a short review of a podcast written by someone who isn’t a core participant in that podcast.
Word Limit: 350-500 Words
BEHIND THE SCENES ARTICLE
These are short essays on the nitty gritty of podcasting. Sound design, Voice Acting, Casting, Writing, Reviewing, etc.
Word Limit: 500-1000 Words
POD-LOVE ARTICLE
A Pod-Love Article is a short essay on why you started podcasting, what you love about podcasting, what you love about listening to podcasts, why the community is important to you, or another subject in a similar vein.
Word Limit: 500-1000 Words
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES & DEADLINES
WRITTEN CONTENT
Deadline for Submission: August 1, 2022
AUDIO CONTENT
Deadline for Submission: August 1, 2022
Deadline for Transcripts: August 25, 2022
RESOURCES
Major thank you and full credit to Fay Onyx for hir creation of the below documents.
“I signed up to play in an IPM RPG One-Shot game. What now?”
We’re so glad that you’re participating as a player in an IPM game! Click on the box below that is outlined (titled Click Here for the Game Information). There you will find a summary of all available games along with the expected time of day (in UTC) that the game will be played in.You will be expected to pick your TOP THREE games that you’d want to play in. This is NOT a first-come-first-serve model. We will be matching players as best we can to the games and GMs.The edited games should be a maximum of two hours in length, however, this does not necessarily mean the play session will be two hours. The play session may be longer (or shorter).You should only pick games you are confident you are able to attend the listed approximate time frame. As an example, a game might list the expected play time window as "4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., UTC-7". The time zone reflects the GM's time zone. For more information on time zones and how to find yours, click here.You should have received information for specific game signup via email. If you didn't, email us at [email protected].
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I submit an episode I have already released?
No. The content you are releasing should be NEW content, OR content that your regular RSS feed has never released before (ie content that was previously exclusive to patrons).
I submitted a minisode… can I release it on my own RSS as well?
Absolutely, but we ask that you please give the minisode at least a week on the main IPM RSS feed before releasing it on your own podcast feed, and additionally request that you point people in the direction of all the other great content being released as well! We like to stand by our slogan of “Celebrating Creators, Sharing Listeners”.
How do I actually submit my episode?
Head on over to the Submission Guidelines section of this website.
What are the deadlines for application and all submissions?
Deadlines are important! They help us stay organized and keep things running smoothly. Here are all of the deadlines you need to be aware of.RPGs: Games should be played by July 1 so that editors have a full month to edit.
*All completed audio episodes: *August 1
All blog submissions: August 1
Transcripts for episodes (if applicable, see criteria for each episode type): August 25
What if I still have questions?
CONTACT US
Questions? Send us an email or a DM on Twitter!