A Quick Victory Lap: “SEALAB IV” on The NoSleep Podcast

TLDR: I wrote an entry for a Vocal challenge that flopped. But I knew it was good, so rather than let that initial failure condemn the story to eternity, I said “fuck that” and start publishing it as a reprint. Then one of the largest horror podcasts in the world said, “We’ll take it.”

I’ve had a string of wins in the short story world recently. Some of which I’ve written about here, but others still in development. Even so, I don’t always rush to Vocal to share the news. Mostly because I don’t want to be that guy who constantly brags about his wins.

So let that speak to how significant this milestone is for overcoming that trepidation.

Because I’ve laid out the backstory of how my underwater horror story “SEALAB IV” came to be in great detail before (see link below), allow me to speedrun it here:

• Vocal wanted a story set in an aquarium.
• I wrote a story where the aquarium was inverted and set it onboard a fictional continuation of the SEALAB experiments run by the United States Navy back in the 1960s, figuring that reversal of the concept and setting would help set it apart.
• Apparently, it did set it apart. Right into the “Pass” pile.
• And the story didn’t see much engagement, either. So a flop in both senses of the word when it comes to Vocal.
• But I knew I had something good. Something terrifying and fresh. So I got to work selling “SEALAB IV” to publications off platform.

You can read a whole lot more about those efforts and more about my inspiration for the story here:

Instead of talking about the reprint blitz as a whole, we’re going to spend the rest of this article talking about the crown jewel of that effort to date. Plus, why this particular publish credit validates everything I’ve always believed about this story and the relationship between Vocal and the larger publishing market.

Some Brief Background

I started out writing horror stories. It was my first serious publish credit when I sold “Land’s End Light” to Abyss & Apex. Which then paved the way for me to become a member of the Horror Writers Association at the “semi-pro” level (technically the “Affiliate Writer” level, but that’s what it means in plain English).

Still, thanks in large part to Vocal challenge prompts and other contests/open calls for submissions, I have branched out beyond horror in a dramatic way. To the point I’m now independently publishing a small cadre of action/adventure meets comedy books.

Which has prompted a slight bit of an identity crisis as I continue to renew my HWA membership year after year and pay the annual dues. Do I really identify as a horror writer at this point?

And while “SEALAB IV” isn’t exactly a freshly drafted story (originally published November 2022), what a validation of my dark fiction skills when one of the largest horror podcasts in the world says “Yes, we want to produce that.”

“Also, here’s $250 for your trouble.”

The NoSleep Podcast

Some of you have likely already heard of The NoSleep Podcast given its reach with 11,000+ ratings on Spotify alone. I personally got a sense for just how much it was treasured in the horror writing community when it continued to be named in contributor bio after contributor bio on fellow horror podcast Horror Hill (my personal preference—don’t tell NoSleep).

It’s won awards. It has a subreddit where fans discuss the latest episodes and their favorite authors. It’s been on the air since 2011. It’s got its own Wikipedia page.

So with a healthy amount of skepticism, I fired “SEALAB IV” off to them, figuring the odds were astronomically low given how high their standards were and how many other writers were doing the same, perhaps at the very same moment, given how high the payouts were.

But it doesn’t hurt to try. Every so often, things just work out.

You might imagine that was my most thrilling acceptance in a long while.

The Episode

Here’s another awesome thing about The NoSleep Podcast: they fully produce every story, including background noise/music, sound effects, and full casting for all characters. A production level that very few other podcasts can match, especially at the frequency they are releasing episodes.

And I just want to take a moment to appreciate one specific casting for my story:

That they can bring this many voice actors to bear on an individual story only goes to highlight the success they’ve had and the reach they’ve achieved that they can retain the technical and voice talent to continue this momentum.

Also, the fact that they can afford to pay $250 a story. If you’re unfamiliar with the publishing market, take it from me: that’s on the higher end of the pay scale.

And hell, they even made a custom thumbnail for the episode based on my story, as confirmed in the episode description (and come on, which other story would they be basing that on?):

I love it so much.

The Feedback

The NoSleep Podcast has a business model where they publish the first half of the episode for free, but only their subscribers get access to the full episode. Meaning “SEALAB IV” is in the back half for the premium tier.

So, feedback has been limited, but at least two of the redditors have listened to it and shared their thoughts (spoilers if you intend to read it/listen to it):

Honestly, mostly positive feedback from the original poster, and seeing another listener step up to clarify the first listener’s point of confusion was a massive win on its own. Most of the time, you publish a story in a magazine, story collection, or even a podcast and then never hear anything from anyone about it.

You can check out the full discussion here:

Fun fact: Former Vocalite Em Starr’s story “Moulder” was actually the opener. So you can see what folks thought about her story in that thread. More feedback since she was in the free half as the first story for that week’s episode.

Also not her first appearance on The NoSleep Podcast 🙂

Where Can I Check Out SEALAB IV?

As you already know by now, it is right here on Vocal:

Though if you prefer a print format, I would be remiss to not plug one of my favorite publishers (JayHenge Publishing) and one of my favorite themes for an anthology to date (living in the depths). Also, the bios of some of my fellow contributors for this one are straight up gob smacking, so it’s a kickass story collection all around:

Plus, the first “SEALAB IV” retrospective was prompted by the milestone of having this story performed on another podcast, Kaidankai. The first-ever performance of one of my stories on someone else’s podcast. And unlike The NoSleep Podcast, this one is not behind a paywall. Plus, it’s run by another independent creator, and we love to support independent here. So you can listen to that performance if you’re an audio fiend:

Of course, I should say The NoSleep Podcast would love for you to subscribe and listen to “SEALAB IV” that way. And to sweeten that deal—with no criticism toward Kaidankai since they are a one-person show—it is a whole other level of experience listening to their version. You can sign up here.

No referrals for me here; I just feel compelled to add this as an option at the very least given how massive of an opportunity this has been. So do with that as you will.

So What Have We Learned?

Extrinsic validation is nice. Part of why I’m so thrilled with this latest milestone in my writing career is the massive boost this gives me in the eyes of my fellow horror writers. That and the payout. No complaints there.

But none of this would have happened if I had not had faith in my story. And that started with the intrinsic value I felt when writing it. I knew it was something special.

Not least of which because it made me feel so uneasy when drafting it. In horror, that’s desirable.

So if you poured your heart and soul into something here on Vocal and it did not place in the challenge it was created for, that doesn’t have to be the end of the road for it.

Not if you believe in it enough to make the effort.

To that end, here’s a bit of advice I wrote up previously about the reprint market:

Never give up!