SUNDAY MISCELLANY: SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
What's Sunday Miscellany?
Sunday Miscellany, now on air for over 50 years, runs throughout the year every Sunday morning at 9.10am on RTÉ Radio 1, Irish public radio. It is one of the top ten most listened-to programmes in Ireland, with an audience of over 300,000 according to the latest JNLR survey – and many more who listen overseas, online and on podcast.
The programme presents short essays and the occasional poem, read on air by their authors and interspersed with complementary music.
The vast majority of what you hear on the programme has been selected from open submission.
What are you looking for?
We accept original, unpublished essays, from new and established writers alike, on a wide range of subjects. Memory, or personal memoir, is a common theme, but we are also interested in reflections on contemporary events and ideas; essays with a historical, or geographic, literary or philosophical theme; comic essays; travel pieces, and more. You can listen to podcasts of previous programmes here
By "unpublished" we mean in any format, including online.
Essays should be 700 to 800 words long -- with an upper limit of 900 at the submission stage.
We also accept poems, which, again, should be unpublished, and self-contained (we prefer poems not to be part of a longer series), and usually of around a minute long.
Please note, we do not include fiction in the programme.
If my script is chosen, will I be asked to record it myself?
Yes: unless in exceptional circumstances, if we are considering your script for broadcast, we will ask you to come into studio to record it under direction. We usually record in our studios in Donnybrook in Dublin, but we have a number of regional studios around Ireland and we sometimes use international studios also.
Should I send audio, so you can hear how my voice sounds?
Not for now, but do let us know if you have any radio experience, or if there's any link online to you speaking, reading or performing. We're very happy to work with first-timers, though.
What format should I send my script in?
Please send scripts by email if you can! Writers sometimes think a hard copy submission will get more attention, but actually, these are harder for us to keep track of. Electronic submissions can be found in moments by a quick search, and are easy to edit.
That said, for anyone who has difficulty accessing email, we will continue to accept hard copy scripts (see postal address below).
For email submissions, the script should be attached as a file (Microsoft Word is ideal) and also the text copied into the body of your email.
Please send your scripts to sundaymiscellany@rte.ie with a cover note, providing: a title and one-line description of the script; an indication as to whether it’s suitable to a particular season or date; a line or two about yourself, and your postal address, email address, and phone number. It's in your own interests to put all these details in, in particular geographical location (so we know what studio you might be near) and most importantly, your phone number, as, if a recording slot comes up at short notice, we'll prioritise writers we can get hold of quickly.
It’s good to double space the text and make sure that a sentence doesn’t run over from one page to another, which will inevitably lead to page rustles in studio. A large font size is good too: point size 12 or 14.
You should include the word count, page numbers, and your name and contact details on the script itself as well as on the covering note.
The same applies to postal submissions, which should go to: Sunday Miscellany, RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.
May I send multiple submissions?
Yes, but a single email with a few submissions batched together (up to four essays or six poems) is preferable.
Should I enquire first if you are interested in my idea for a piece, or just send in a complete script?
You can check with us if a subject you plan to write about has been covered recently, but if you are a regular listener, you will probably know this already. In general terms, we make decisions based on complete scripts.
I'm far too busy to send scripts in on spec. I need to know you're interested before I waste my time writing something.
It's almost impossible to say for certain we're NOT interested without seeing your script. So, if you would like to be on this programme, a complete script on spec is how it works.
When will I hear back?
Shortly after we receive your script we will acknowledge it. After that, it’s important to take note that, because of the high number of scripts we receive every week, we will only get in touch again if we are considering recording it for broadcast. Scripts remain under consideration for six months. Postal submissions will not be returned.
A once-off payment is made to contributors for scripts recorded for the programme.
If your script is accepted for the programme and is broadcast, that recording becomes the outright property of RTÉ and can be included in podcasts and other repeat broadcasts on the decision of RTÉ without further payment being made to you.
Surely you could find the time to say no to the scripts you don't want, and not leave writers hanging?
With our current resources, this is the best system we can find. Scripts that would get a quick NO if we sent swift rejections for everything we can't place immediately, might find a home in a few months' time if left under consideration with us for longer. You are free to withdraw a piece at any point if we haven't selected it for broadcast-- for instance, if you want to place it elsewhere. Equally, you're free to send it in again if, for example, the season for it is approaching. It's best to resend the entire script and say something like, "just making sure you've seen this as it's a good time to use it. If I don't hear back in (eg) a week I'll move on."
If you don’t select my script for broadcast, will you provide feedback on it anyway, or reasons why it wasn’t chosen?
We’re unfortunately not in a position to do this either. We read every script with care and attention, but we need to devote the majority of our time to working on the material that will be broadcast, rather than responding individually about all the scripts we can’t use.
Will you edit my script?
Yes, the producer often edits the scripts for clarity and flow, in consultation with the writer. In general though, we will pass on scripts that we think require a significant amount of editing. This often is the case when writers send a script in that's far too long.
But I'll cut my far-too-long script if you're interested in it.
That doesn't work for us. If you possess the discipline to edit it to length, do that before you send it in. Remember, you're competing with writers who sent their scripts ready to go with no extra work involved.
If my script is selected, may I pick the music to accompany it?
The producer chooses the music, but suggestions are always welcome.
My script was broadcast on Sunday Miscellany. Am I now free to publish it elsewhere?
Yes, but please check with us ahead of publishing your piece elsewhere as to an appropriate credit. This is particularly important if you're planning a collection of pieces from this programme.
I'm sending in a piece for the first time: any advice?
Write with the radio listener in mind. Aim for clear, conversational language, even if the ideas are complex. Try not to cram it full of facts and names and details – decide on the core story you are telling and give it a bit of space. The listener has only your voice to guide them through your essay; do they know where they are at all points, or did you skip over something too quickly, losing them?
Make sure the script is in good shape not just in terms of length, spelling, grammar and punctuation (although that is an absolutely basic requirement), but also with regard to elegance of expression. Frisk it for unwieldiness, clunkiness, repetition, for round-the-houses ways of saying things. If you're not sure about this, get someone whose opinion you trust to read it before you submit it. Better still, read it aloud to them.
When you read it aloud, are you tripping over words in places? Have you punctuated it in such a way it’s easy to know where to breathe, or are you running out of breath or always tripping over some sentences? If so, rewrite those bits.
When you come into studio, you'll have plenty of time to record and re-record. Try to let go of the idea that you've messed up if you don't read it in one seamless, flawless go. This may be important to you, but it is really unimportant to us. If you remember that everyone has little stumbles or fluffs, and that we can stitch it all together quite easily, you will stay relaxed and happy which makes for a better recording.
Something else to think about: why this story and why now? Does this story mean something to you, and can you tell it in such a way that it will mean something to other people too? Is it, in some way or another, timely?
Finally, if it doesn't get selected here, don't be disheartened (or offended -- it happens). We receive dozens of excellent scripts every week, and can only broadcast a small number of them; but it's also true that we have a first-time contributor on air almost every week. Also: write something else! The writers you hear regularly on the programme send us many scripts on all sorts of subjects. And something that doesn't work for us will surely find a home in some other outlet, if it's a piece you have faith in.
Those contact details again:
sundaymiscellany@rte.ie or Sunday Miscellany, RTÉ Radio 1, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.