is OPEN through September 1, 2026
Come play with us in the realm of mythical, supernatural, and legendary creatures. Fantastic creatures have long been the focal point for human storytelling. Mysteries to Die For continues that tradition by bringing incredible creatures into the mystery genre with … (drum roll) …
Season 10: Tales from the Bestiary
Mysteries to Die For (M2D4) is a story telling podcast with a companion anthology that structures mysteries to give the audience a chance to beat the detective to the solution. Reminiscent of the Ellery Queen radio show, whodunnit style mysteries are told up to the critical point, at which the hosts and audience enter into a deliberation to find the culprit. Then comes the big reveal. Each M2D4 season has a theme that is core to the stories – the more interesting the better. We highly recommend listening to episodes to understand our format.
General 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 this season’s theme
- 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
- Suspects: 3-6 suspects credible
Season Requirements
Season 10 plays in the realm of mythical, supernatural, and legendary creatures. Fantastic creatures have long been the focal point for human storytelling. Mysteries to Die For continues that tradition by incorporating incredible creatures into the mystery genre. Creature can be one of lore or legend, Wikipedia is provided as a source for inspiration. Authors can create their own creatures in the style of classical beasts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_by_type
The creatures can be your hero, your detective, your victims, or your bad guy. They can be the reason good people go wrong or the backstory to a location. The important thing is they are CRITICAL to your story. We are looking for more than a cameo appearance.
General 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 for 1-year from end of that podcast season. After that date, our rights to the story become non-exclusive and the author may seek publication elsewhere.
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, Instagram, YouTube
- Episode posting on m2d4podcast.com
- Author picture, bio, link to your website, and your episode on our author page
Artificial Intelligence
Story content creation is to be completely human generated. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is limited to research, editing and polishing. Authors are required to disclose the use of AI for creating the story content. Contracts will include documentation of the self-disclosed use of AI. Stories using AI for content creation 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.
Submittal Requirements
Submittal of the full first drafts are due by September 1st, 2026 to Tina@tgwolff.com and Jckwlff@gmail.com
Subject line: M2D4 S10 YOUR TITLE. In the body of the email, provide the following:
- Title of the story
- Your legal name and pen name, if applicable
- Selected mythical creature or creatures
- The role the creature plays in the story
- Means of murder
- Synopsis of the story
- Who did it and why
Authors are encouraged to reach out with synopses, early drafts, or questions. Submittal prior to the deadline is appreciated 😉. Notification of acceptance will be delivered on or before October 1st. If accepted, the notification will include the targeted drop period and timetable for finalizing the story. 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.
Mysteries To Die For 