The Second Page

What to Share

Stories submitted to The Second Page should be largely true, and involve your own experiences (though some artistic liberty can be appreciated). We welcome stories of all sizes (a few minutes up to half an hour). Recordings are preferred in WAV or AIF format, though MP3s are okay. Recordings should be read aloud by you or a friend, and should be prefaced with a five second recorded pause, to allow us to isolate noise in the background where you are recording.

If you would like to contribute, but cannot read your story or prefer to remain anonymous, let us know. We can include your work under another name, and record it ourselves.

How to Share

We're pretty accomodating with regard to sending/receiving your recordings. However, we recommend link sharing using a service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

To send a link to your recording, or if you have other questions, email us directly at either harris@chromamine.com for Harris or smh@seanmhanson.com for Seán. For sufficiently small files, you may wish to email us the file directly.

Tips on Recording

You don't need a professional microphone to record, though if you have one that's great. Here are some quick tips to help make your recording shine no matter your device:

• Know your hardware options. If you have a smart phone, there are a lot of voice memo and similar apps out there to turn your phone into a recording booth. If you have a webcam, your webcam likely has audio recording capability. If you have a laptop with a built in camera, you likely can use your laptop to record as well though you are more likely to pick up the sounds of your laptop's fans, etc.
• Record in a high-fidelity format. We accept MP3s, but saving your recording as a WAV or AIFF will help a lot in preserving the quality of your recording.
• Record in a quiet space. Even things like your fan, refrigerator, pet koala, can get picked up easily when recording.
• Calibrate your recording space using headphones. Listening to your microphone through your headphones lets you determine if you need to move to another environment, and whether or not your volume levels are appropriate.
• Don't sit directly in front of your microphone. If you do, your "P" and "B" sounds will likely be too loud. Setting your microphone at a small angle from in front of you can help cut this down.
• Muffle what's behind you. The microphone will pick up all sound that is directly behind you. While sitting a few feet from a wall or corner is best to cut down on background sound, muffling that area is even better. Draping a bedspread or quilt behind you can cut down a lot on small echoes in the room, focusing your voice more.
• Speak consistently. If your recording is consistent in volume, it will be easier to edit. Tell your story with an assertive volume; otherwise, when mixed, whispering will cause background sounds to be amplified.

Notes on Usage

All recording submitted remain property of their authors, but are released to our usage under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This retains you as the owner of the original content, requires all usage include attribution to you, and allows us to master your recordings and to distribute your recording as part of our podcast.

By submitting your recording, you agree to allow your recording to be used in an upcoming episode, including compilations or other recordings outside our scheduled episodes. You will be attributed fully during the podcast and in related materials, and if you need to protect your own privacy we can attribute your recording either anonymously or under a pen name.