Welcome to Mysteries to Die For Season 9

Mysteries to Die For (M2D4) is soliciting up to 25 original stories for Season 9 podcast and anthologies. The podcast will drop bi-weekly January – December 2026. All stories will be performed by TG and Jack Wolff. Prior to recording, the story will be edited for podcastability (focus on listener experience). Stories will be copyedited (focus on grammar) and published as anthologies released in Spring and Fall 2026.

Download the call and read on for the basic information

Story Requirements

Complete, drafted stories must be submitted in the provided format and meet the following requirements:

• Story length: 4,000-8,000 words
• Story style: whodunnit mystery using your chosen STCKY weapon
• Story structure: chapter style, with each chapter having a title and the “big reveal” in the last chapter. While this is not traditional for short stories, it is our format for podcast and print
• Story template: download the template here

Stories that are not in the required format will be returned.

Stories that are not whodunnits or fail to meet the structure requirements will be rejected.

Author Options

Authors have full artistic reign in the following areas:

• Subgenre. While the story must be a whodunnir mystery, all subgenres are welcome. Procedurals, PI, cozies, sci-fi, romance, steam punk, paranormal, horror, whatever. It’s all good.
• Setting. Here, there, anywhere. No limits. The more interesting the better.
• Time period. Past, present, future. No limits. Again, the more diverse, the better.
• Language. There is no restriction on language with podcasting. Explicit is fucking ok. Note: provide a phonetic key for non-standard words, especially if you use French. TG butchers French. Ҫa va?
• Use of characters from your other stories. As long as you own the rights, we’re good. Play in your world.
• A note on storytelling for single-voice podcasts: it is critical that listeners know at all times which character is speaking. The visual cue of a new paragraph that indicates speaker changes in print is not available to the listener. Consequently, authors are challenged to use a mix of said tags, speaker emotions, speaker body movement, calling other characters by name, and other tools to indicate a change in speaker for listeners…in a way that is also engaging for readers. This is truly a writer’s challenge. And a necessity.

Submittal Requirements

Submittals of the full drafts are due by 11:59 pm eastern on October 31, 2025. Submittals are to be emailed to Tina@tgwolff.com. Subject line: M2D4 S9 YOUR TITLE. In the body of the email, provide the following:

• Title of the story
• Your legal name and pen name, if applicable
• Selected STCKY means of murder
• Synopsis of the story
• Who did it and why
• Was AI used in the development of the story

Notification of acceptance will be delivered on or before November 30, 2025.

Authors are encouraged to reach out with synopses, early drafts, or questions. Submittal prior to the deadline is appreciated 😉.

Authors new to Mysteries to Die For are encouraged to listen to an episode. Note the “Deliberation” section, which is present in both the podcast and anthology, summarizing the suspects and the clues.

Artificial Intelligence

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is for creating content is highly discouraged. Authors are required to disclose the use of AI for creating the story content. Contracts will include documentation of the use of AI as disclosed by the author. Stories using AI may be excluded from printing in the anthologies. The decision to exclude from the anthology is at the sole discretion of TG Wolff and Jack Wolff.

Payment, Ownership & Rights

If accepted, the author will receive $25 (US), e-book copy (.pub and .pdf) and one (1) print copy of the anthology in exchange for the exclusive rights to use the story until December 31, 2027. This is 1-year from end of Season 9 podcast. After that date, M2D4 rights to the story become non-exclusive.

The author will be exclusively featured on one episode of Mysteries to Die For, which will include:

• Distribution of the episode to domestic and international markets via Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, and other podcast platforms
• A 80 word pre-roll advertisement to promote your backlist, your next release, etc.
• Direction of the audience to the author social media and/or websites.
• Episode promotion via Facebook and Instagram
• Episode posting on m2d4podcast.com
• Author picture, bio, link to your website, and your episode on our author page

Jack Wolff will create a musical bassline based on the story and provided content. Jack Wolff and Mysteries to Die For retain sole rights to the music, with expiration per standard music industry standards. The author has no rights to the music.

Story Editing and Finalization

The order of the stories is at the sole discretion of TG and Jack Wolff. Content edits will be provided to authors in the order they are scheduled. Authors should expect two rounds with an emphasis on:

• Use of selected STCKY weapon
• Sufficient suspects (3-5 suspects recommended)
• Presentation of clues prior to Deliberation
• Logic murder and the resolution

Fair Warning: Faulty logic is our pet peeve. TG will pick, whine, and bitch about it. Jack has been known to rant about it on the podcast. Writer be warned, lock your logic down.

Two anthologies will be published corresponding to the first half of the podcast season (episodes 1-12) and the second half (episodes 13-25). One round of copy edits will be provided during the anthology development. The story order of the podcast and anthology will be the same.

To finalize the episode, authors are expected to provide

• Author bio (less than 100 words)
• Pre-roll advertisement (less than 80 words)
• Author website URL
• Social media handles for Facebook and Instagram