What We're Trying to Do Here
Transom.org is an experiment in channeling new work and voices to public radio through the Internet, and for discussing that work, and encouraging more. We've designed Transom.org as a performance space, an open editorial session, an audition stage, a library, and a hangout. Our purpose is to create a worthy Internet site and make public radio better.

Performance Space - Obvious enough. People submit work to be featured on the site. We choose the work we like best. Audiences drop by to listen to it.

Open Editorial Session - Special Guests are invited to comment on the work. Bulletin Boards encourage conversations between them, the producers, and everyone else.

Audition Stage - Work appearing on Transom.org will be auditioned by representatives of radio programs and networks here and abroad. They are scouting for talent, new work and ideas. We have agreements with most of these programs to support Transom.org by mentioning it on the air. If you're interested in getting on the radio, a good way to do it would be to create your best possible thing, and have it chosen to be showcased here.

A Library - Besides the audio work which we'll be archiving, we're offering other resources and links for people interested in radio production. Check the "Tools" section.

A Hangout - The bulletin boards give you a chance to chat with other producers, contribute your ideas, make suggestions for the site, ask questions....hang out.

Why We Think Transom is Needed

"The public broadcasting discussion about the Internet is very much focused on e-commerce, not about how we use the Internet to develop or reinforce a sense of community."
  - Respondent, CPB's "Future of Public Broadcasting" report

"Please tell me how I can get my work heard and how I can get it on to public radio."
  - Typical email received by established public radio producers

"We no longer have the time or manpower to encourage unsolicited work over the transom."
  - Editor at NPR

What We're Looking For
We're looking for great radio -- things that are less heard, different angles, new voices, new ways of telling, and any other good pieces that haven't found another way onto public radio. Editors evaluate material more by what it does than what it is. Some questions they'll consider:

• On the air, would it keep you by your radio until it's over?
• Is the maker someone of talent who should be encouraged?
• Does it push at the boundary of conventional radio in an exciting way?
• Will it provoke fruitful discussion online?

Submissions can be stories, essays, home recordings, sound portraits, interviews, found sound, non-fiction pieces, audio art, whatever, as long as it's good listening. Material may be submitted by anyone, anywhere -- by citizens with stories to tell, by radio producers trying new styles, by writers and artists wanting to experiment with radio. As long as it hasn't already aired nationally, we'll consider it.

How to Send Your Work
First, read our simple Submission Agreement. You need to agree to its terms. We can't accept submissions unless you do.

Our favorite option is a URL. Give us a web address where we can audition your work. For those of you who want to learn how to put your audio on the web, here is a step-by-step Real Audio Primer.

The more venerable option is by mail. Send your work on cassette, DAT, mini-disk, reel-to-reel, CD, cassette, etc. (Caveat: we will NOT be able to return your submission unless you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with full postage.)

Yet another option is to call our voice mail line and tell us your story or story idea there. Tell us everything we need to know in your message. We can't promise any kind of response, because we really focus on things we can HEAR at this site. We need an email address from you. We mean it. We're an Internet thing. Email is how we work.

The Process
We receive your submission and our editorial team listens to it, sometimes asking our advisors and Special Guests to help. They decide what work gets on the site. Simple.

What Happens if Your Work is Not Selected
First, we're sorry. We know what rejection is like. In fact, to prove it, here...you can listen to a radio piece about rejection. If you have sent us a file or hard audio version, you will receive an email response to your submission within a reasonable period of time, plus, we hope this site will offer other benefits besides the acceptance of your work which will help you with the tools and techniques of radio production. If you haven't sent us audio, but only an email or voicemail or a letter, we will try to respond, but, honestly, we may not have time. Consider a lack of timely response to be a respectful pass.

What Happens If Your Work *IS* Selected
This happens in one of two ways:

1) Your piece is finished and we take it as is, per the terms in the Acquisition Agreement, to place on the Transom site and for broadcast on a local radio show for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket on public radio stations WCAI and WNAN, where we live. This radio show will serve as a pilot for a possible national show someday. If that comes to be, we'll pay an extra acquisition fee for national broadcast, negotiated separately with you. Same with cassettes, CDs, etc. You retain all other rights to the work. It's yours, after all. Any further use of the work on other national programs will be between you and those programs. You can take a look at our acceptance agreement which we're developing it as we go. If your work is accepted here, we're happy to discuss the arrangement. This is new territory. Our goal is to be fair to artists and also help Transom.org succeed.

2) Your piece seems full of promise, but not ready yet for public scrutiny. In cases like this, we may offer to help in various ways... only rarely, though, because we don't have much money or manpower for this. If this does happen, it will likely have the effect of making the piece a co-production, though, so the agreement will be a modified version of the standard acceptance agreement, written to fairly recognize the collaboration. We'll talk.

Life After Transom
As our intention is to make public radio better, we have had talks with NPR programs like "All Things Considered," "Weekend Edition," and "Morning Edition" and PRI programs like "This American Life" and "Savvy Traveler" about adopting material from Transom.org that they think would sound good on their programs. They have agreed to mention Transom.org when they do, which will send more potential contributors to the site. We encourage this circle. It's the point.

Special Guests
We contract with Special Guests to come write about work here. We like this idea, because it 1) keeps the perspective changing so we're not stuck in one way of hearing, 2) lets us in on the thoughts of creative minds, and 3) fosters a critical and editorial dialog about radio work, a rare thing.

Bulletin Boards
Good ideas and helpful advice come from everywhere. We hope our bulletin boards will be such places. In addition to the bulletin board discussion for each piece, we also maintain a "Tools" section with lots of advice. We are especially interested in your postings of lasting value that we can archive on the site. Occasionally, we will award a Transom.org t-shirt to especially helpful users, and/or invite them to become Special Guests.

A Note to Acquirers
If you're a visitor from a radio show or audio site or magazine or some other place that's interested in acquiring work you find on Transom.org, well, that's good. Here's the deal. We can put you directly in touch with the producer of the work. They own it. Please note, though, that our agreement with producers requires that Transom.org be mentioned wherever the piece goes from here, so you need to honor that. (Our only other restrictions are on pieces Transom.org co-produces, but we can deal with that on a case-by-case basis.) Often, we can send out advance copies of pieces, so you'd have the chance to acquire rights in advance. Tell us if you're interested in this. In those cases, though, you'd still have to wait for the piece to premiere on Transom.org before you distribute it. So, go ahead, browse. Let us know what you think and how we can be more useful.

Who We Are
We are producers and writers and journalists and we have an inordinate fondness for public radio

Our "About Us" page has all the names. Here's the story: briefly... Atlantic Public Media administers Transom.org. APM is a non-profit organization based in Woods Hole, Massachusetts which has as its mission "to serve public broadcasting through training and mentorship, and through support for creative and experimental approaches to program production and distribution." APM is also the founding group for WCAI & WNAN, a new public radio service for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket under the management of WGBH-Boston.

The idea for Transom.org came from journalist and devoted public radio listener, Bill McKibben, arising from his wish to hear more interesting and diverse stories on the air. Bill's idea was championed by Jay Allison, Executive Director of APM, who liked it for the way it brings together the worlds of public radio and online community. Jay has been involved with both since the early days -- with NPR since the 1970s and as a host on the WELL and of AIR online conferencing since the 80s.

This project has received lead funding from the Florence and John Schumann Foundation.

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