An essential guide for anyone who dreams of penning tomorrow's radio classics.

Writing Audio Drama is a comprehensive and intelligent guide to writing sound drama for broadcasting and online production. The book uses new and original research on the history of writing radio plays in the UK and USA to explore how this has informed and developed the art form for more than 100 years. Audio drama in the context of podcasting is now experiencing a global and exponential expansion. Through analysis of examples of past and present writing, the author explains how to originate and craft drama which can explore deeply psychological and intimate themes and achieve emotional, truthful, entertaining, and thought-provoking impact. Practical analysis of the key factors required to write successful audio drama is covered in chapters focusing on audio play beginnings and openings, sound story dialogue, sustaining the sound story, plotting for sound drama and the best ways of ending audio plays. Each chapter is supported by extensive companion online resources expanding and supporting the writers and subjects discussed and explored, and extensive information on how to access online many exemplar and model sound dramas referenced in the chapters. This textbook will be an important resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking modules and courses on radio drama, theatre and media drama, audio theatre, audio drama, scriptwriting, media writing.

Foreword by M. G. Leonard: 'It's rare to find a book that's as useful as it is inspiring ... essential reading.' The indispensable guide to writing for children and young adults, this Yearbook provides inspirational articles from successful writers and illustrators, as well as details on who to contact across the media. It provides practical advice on all stages of the writing process from getting started, writing for different markets and genres, through to submission to literary agents and publishers as well as on the financial and legal aspects of being a writer. Widely recognised as the essential support for authors and illustrators working across all forms: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screen and theatre, it is equally relevant to those wishing to self-publish as well as those seeking a traditional publisher-agent deal. New articles for 2022: Christopher Edge Plotting and pace in your middle-grade adventure L. D. Lapinski World-building in your fantasy fiction Anna Wilson Finding your voice and point of view Rachel Bladon The learning curve: writing for the children's educational market Jenny Bowman How to hire a freelance editor Sophie Clarke The life and works of a literary scout Rachel Rooney Writing poetry for children

Nukes ended most of society. Now all that’s left is taxes. No big deal or anything. Safe and sound inside a government bunker, Arthur is proud to be just another drone. But for an ambitious man (and excellent typist) such as Arthur, a promotion to supervisor is just around the corner. But his world is flipped when the brass makes him a census-taker instead. His task: to head out into the irradiated streets armed with paperwork and red tape. Assigned to him is a drug-addicted bodyguard, Rabia Duke, who could care less if they survive. The wastes bring much to fear. But even above radiation, roving gangs, and starvation, what the world should fear the most remains bureaucracy. A happy bureaucracy. Brazil by way of Mad Max, M.P. Fitzgerald’s A Happy Bureaucracy is a bleak and hilarious look at the wheels of a system that keep turning even when nothing else is left.Get your copy today!

Steal the Stars, a debut novel by Nat Cassidy, is based on the science fiction podcast from Tor Labs, written by Mac Rogers. Dakota “Dak” Prentiss guards the biggest secret in the world. They call it “Moss.” It’s your standard grey alien from innumerable abduction stories. It still sits at the controls of the spaceship it crash-landed eleven years ago. A secret military base was built around the crash site to study both Moss and the dangerous technology it brought to Earth. The day Matt Salem joins her security team, Dak’s whole world changes. It’s love at first sight—which is a problem, since they both signed ironclad contracts vowing not to fraternize with other military personnel. If they run, they’ll be hunted for what they know. Dak and Matt have only way to be together: do the impossible. Steal Moss and sell the secret of its existence. And they can’t afford a single mistake.

Throughout the world, the media is used in various ways to promote social awareness and initiate social development. Of all the available means of communication, radio is still the one with the maximum reach in most developing countries. This book, the first in a three-book series titled Communication for Behavior Change, offers extremely practical guidance on how to design, write, and produce radio dramas aimed at motivating social change. Written by a leading teacher and practitioner of Entertainment–Education, it is the only available book which provides complete and hands-on instructions for creating successful radio serial dramas for behavior change. The text is interspersed with examples which show how entertainment and education have been woven together to create awareness programs that are both popular and effective. Extracts from several successful scripts from many countries are also provided to demonstrate what has previously clicked with the audience.

Evolution helps us understand our humble place in the rich tapestry of life. But what do we know about the theory of evolution itself? In this captivating book based on his popular podcast, Rick Coste reveals how the theory of evolution came to be and how it explains the world around us. Before Charles Darwin, other luminaries planted the seeds of the theory that would one day make him famous. Evolution Talk begins by shining a spotlight on the writers, philosophers, and scientists who cultivated the concepts and speculations that blossomed into the theory of evolution by natural selection, from Aristotle’s big ideas to a young fossil hunter named Mary Anning, whose discovery of the first ichthyosaur skeleton changed everything. After exploring the contributions of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, Evolution Talk investigates the very beginnings of life itself. From its genesis in a primordial pond to the endless and beautiful forms which emerged to populate our once inhospitable and barren little planet. Along the way, adaptations such as altruism, sexual selection, and the development of brains further pushed life along its amazing path to where it is today. Finally, Coste concludes by taking a step back to ask questions about how we as humans fit in, such as “Are we unique?” and “Are we still evolving?” Breaking down complex concepts with easy-to-follow language and engaging examples, Evolution Talk will educate and entertain any reader looking to learn more about the greatest idea ever.

WHAT IS THE STORY GRID? The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what's not. The Story Grid breaks down the component parts of stories to identify the problems. And finding the problems in a story is almost as difficult as the writing of the story itself (maybe even more difficult). The Story Grid is a tool with many applications: 1. It will tell a writer if a Story ?works? or ?doesn't work. 2. It pinpoints story problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story'the Story) has failed. 3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story's problems. 4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer. 5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation.

For generations, fans and critics have characterized classic American radio drama as a “theater of the mind.” This book unpacks that characterization by recasting the radio play as an aesthetic object within its unique historical context. In Theater of the Mind, Neil Verma applies an array of critical methods to more than six thousand recordings to produce a vivid new account of radio drama from the Depression to the Cold War. In this sweeping exploration of dramatic conventions, Verma investigates legendary dramas by the likes of Norman Corwin, Lucille Fletcher, and Wyllis Cooper on key programs ranging from The Columbia Workshop, The Mercury Theater on the Air, and Cavalcade of America to Lights Out!, Suspense, and Dragnet to reveal how these programs promoted and evolved a series of models of the imagination. With close readings of individual sound effects and charts of broad trends among formats, Verma not only gives us a new account of the most flourishing form of genre fiction in the mid-twentieth century but also presents a powerful case for the central place of the aesthetics of sound in the history of modern experience.