So you want to be a 3PP author

[Eric Hindley]

Another year of RPG Superstar is well under way. This seems like a good opportunity to put a bit of advice up.

Hi there! 2 time RPG Superstar contestant and freelancer Eric Hindley here. I understand that you want to write some stuff for Pathfinder. Great. Let me tell you how to do it (or at least some ways to do it). Maybe you made the top 32 (or the top 16!), maybe not, but hope is not lost.

You know about RPG Superstar, that’s a start. What you may not know is that plenty of companies run contests and open calls throughout the year. Have a look at the Pathfinder 3rd Party boards . Contests come up frequently. Write what they ask, and you can’t go wrong. Eventually you might find a contest that agrees with you. If you like the contest route (I do), keep trying until you get some recognition. For example, Kobold Press recently just finished the Monarch of the Monsters and Raging Swan Press just had an open call. I even have a (single) spell coming out in Deep Magic, submitted as a backer.

The next thing to do is write something you want to publish. It doesn’t matter what it is, or if it ever gets published. Put down all the things you know will be the best things you ever want to publish, and try to sell them. If they don’t, don’t despair. There’s still plenty of work for people who want to write something and can’t get it to sell. At the very least, you have a great resource to steal from piecemeal if it doesn’t sell as a whole.

Read everything you can. I recommend the Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design and Be Awesome at Freelance Game Design. Re-read the Pathfinder rulebooks, often. Go through the Bestiaries, making notes about obscure monsters you like, and why you like them. This could give you a spark for an adventure, a magic item, a spell, whatever.

Find out what you like in a product. Do you think the world needs more items? Spells? Write those. Look for chances to publish them. Send pitches to the various companies. The worst you can hear is “that’s not something we’re interested in”. Seriously, this business is too small to tell people to go away in super-harsh tones.

Finally, I’ll put up the call for Wayfinder. It doesn’t pay, but it is read by the Paizo staff. And Tim and the crew are great people that are a pleasure to work with. It likely has the highest chance of publication of anything you can do, and seeing your name on an article is a huge boost.

[Mike Kimmel]

Great post, Eric! I think a lot of people forget (or don't know) about the many opportunities to be recognized as a new talent outside of RPG Superstar.

I'd also recommend to any aspiring freelance game designers that you follow the blogs or Facebook fan pages of the various 3rd-party publishers you might like to write for. I got started writing for LPJ Design simply by paying attention to Louis Porter's blog and e-mailing him when he mentioned that another of his freelancers had quit. I had absolutely zero RPG credits to speak of, but he liked my writing sample and hired me anyway. So, pay attention to the publishers in the industry, both big and small.

[Eric Hindley]

Mike Kimmel wrote:

Great post, Eric! I think a lot of people forget (or don't know) about the many opportunities to be recognized as a new talent outside of RPG Superstar.

I'd also recommend to any aspiring freelance game designers that you follow the blogs or Facebook fan pages of the various 3rd-party publishers you might like to write for. I got started writing for LPJ Design simply by paying attention to Louis Porter's blog and e-mailing him when he mentioned that another of his freelancers had quit. I had absolutely zero RPG credits to speak of, but he liked my writing sample and hired me anyway. So, pay attention to the publishers in the industry, both big and small.

Yep, Louis Porter has had some great opportunities too. ;)

[John Bennett]

Mike Kimmel wrote:

I'd also recommend to any aspiring freelance game designers that you follow the blogs or Facebook fan pages of the various 3rd-party publishers you might like to write for.

This is great advice. To add to it, many of the 3PP companies are very active on the boards here and are very willing to engage in conversation about their products. Let them know your thoughts on a product- it may prove that you and that publisher see eye to eye on a topic and that you should work together.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

This is fantastic, Eric. I know after my 2012 run, I was really into doing more design work ... and had absolutely NO idea how to go about it. Last year, I began looking at the 3PP boards a lot more, and now I check almost daily. I've participated in several open calls, and really enjoyed everything I've done even when it hasn't been quite what the publisher was looking for. I've found everyone I've worked with to be really pleasant, and perfectly willing to answer questions as I begin trying to freelance professionally.

Also, check out Raging Swan's freelance advice. Very useful information for anyone hoping to freelance.

[Andrew Marlowe]

There is some great advice in this thread. If you're interested in freelance this is a fantastic resource. I can't make many more recommendations regarding finding submission opportunities. What I can say is, be mindful of how you present yourself. You can really do wonders for your career with a positive and polite first impression.

While being a jerk can go wrong for you fast. This is a small industry and word will get around so just be mindful whether your at a Convention, online or even at your local game store.

Best of luck to anyone else trying to make the jump from fan to author.

(Now I'm going to read some of the resources you guys posted that I hadn't seen before. Thanks.)

[Cheapy]

I would actually recommend not waiting until the various contests. That's pretty passive, and lots of others will be doing it.

What you want to do is firstly, practice.

Write stuff, post it to the homebrew forums. Take in the opinions of others (and most importantly, take criticism well). And once you feel more confident?

Get an idea. What do you want to work on for 100 hours and receive $75 for? Once you have that idea, sit on it. Wait a week. Still interested in it? Good, let's go.

Look at the various third party products out there, and get a good idea of what each publisher does. Then, figure out who has the closest releases to your idea, and send them an e-mail. Give them your idea, and then link to some of those homebrew posts of yours that show off your work. Once they agree to give you a shot, bust. your. petusch. off.

Or, wait to impress someone on the forums and have them approach you. But that's not very likely :)

[Brian Duckwitz]

Thanks Eric and everyone else for the great advice and fantastic links to resources. I read the Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design a few months back and found it very helpful, but I was unaware of many of these others.

Cheapy, I totally agree with your recommendation of not waiting around for contests. I've only relatively recently (the last six months or so) been dipping my toe into design, but I've heard others say to not give away ideas on messageboards "for free" as it were. Would you say your comments about posting to the homebrew forums are more of a confidence-building and skin-toughening step, or is that becoming a common route to get started?

[Cheapy]

I give ideas away for free all the time, and I've turned out pretty well, freelancing-wise :) Nothing huge, but I have a number of archetypes, new class features, etc up there.

A big portion of getting better, to me, was the homebrew forums. The reason for this was that I didn't have a good group of friends to bounce ideas off of and to see what worked and what didn't. And really, random internet strangers can't be beat for telling you how they really feel about your designs. And that can be amazingly useful! My favorite phrase for freelancing is that "Praise is wonderful, but criticism is useful." And you'll find no end of criticism on the homebrew forums...which is a good thing!

Just keeping it to yourself and showing off when requested is fine, but ... I dunno, the homebrew forums sort of have a special place in my heart.

[Garrick Williams]

I considered having 3PP material published, especially after last year's Superstar. I considered self publishing via digital distribution. Even if it didn't sell, it would at least be a portfolio piece. I'm also working on my own game, but I love Pathfinder so much that my brain feverishly keeps trying to figure out a way to adapt the campaign setting to Pathfinder rules.

All of this gets me so excited that I keep bouncing between multiple projects.

[Drejk]

Write, write, write. Be prepared to rewrite and redesign what you already wrote, either from own accord or from feedback received - it will give you necessary attitude and prepare you for future request to adjust your submission to editors' requests.

Write some more. Be prepared for harsh critique. Do not treat the critique as personal attack.

Cheapy wrote:

Or, wait to impress someone on the forums and have them approach you. But that's not very likely :)

It's not? Awwww, now I am feeling special... :P

[Garrick Williams]

Drejk wrote:

Write some more. Be prepared for harsh critique. Do not treat the critique as personal attack.

Harsh critique is a good thing. It means they care about the work enough to invest the time to talk about it. If your work fails to grab interest, then you have a problem.

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Yep, you'll find me down in homebrew. I provide a lot of critique, all honest, and all for free. If I'm not interested I don't say anything. Just ask Cheapy and Drejk. ;)

[Jacob W. Michaels]

If you're working on wondrous items, the other place for critiques is the 9 Blazing Months thread that starts in the Superstar forum every year after the contest. I think it's a smaller community than the Homebrew boards -- and geared toward Superstar more than publishing (though in the end those are the same things, I suppose) -- but it's a welcoming crew. I posted a couple monsters instead of items there this year and got some helpful feedback.

[Kiel Howell]

Andrew Marlowe wrote:

There is some great advice in this thread. If you're interested in freelance this is a fantastic resource. I can't make many more recommendations regarding finding submission opportunities. What I can say is, be mindful of how you present yourself. You can really do wonders for your career with a positive and polite first impression.

While being a jerk can go wrong for you fast. This is a small industry and word will get around so just be mindful whether your at a Convention, online or even at your local game store.

Best of luck to anyone else trying to make the jump from fan to author.

(Now I'm going to read some of the resources you guys posted that I hadn't seen before. Thanks.)

I want to second this. Even though hand written thank you's aren't in fashion and also not feasible in some cases, a PM or email with a sincere thank you is a great practice to get into.

In my life this simple practice has gotten my foot into multiple job opportunities and recently has gotten me potential opportunities in the 3PP space.

Also, read and provide critique in the various threads. If it is thorough and honest someone may notice and send you a message.

Hit the Blazing 9 thread and practice, someone may notice.

Never stop writing :)

[Eric Hindley]

With Superstar approaching, I am going to shamelessly bump this thread. All of the advice in here is great, whether you are in the competition, or just looking to break into the business.

Trust me.

[Mikko Kallio]

Thanks for sharing all this information. :) It so happens that I've interviewed over a dozen publishers and self-publishers. Each interview includes a few questions about hiring freelancers and tips for new freelancers.

Are you a freelance writer, artist or cartographer? Check out these links:

Adventure-A-Week | Dreamscarred Press | Flying Pincushion | Kobold Press | Legendary Games | Raging Swan | Rite Publishing | SagaRPG | Tricky Owlbear

Interested in publishing your own material? Have a look at these interviews:

Eric Morton Presents | Forest Guardian Press | Four Dollar Dungeons | Gamer Printshop | Mór Games

-Mikko / A Sword for Hire

[terraleon]

Adventure Quarterly is one way. Kobold Press likes small pieces for the web blog.

Steve at Rite is a wonderful guy to work with, and Wolfgang at Kobold is all class. I've also worked with Scott at ZSP and Jaye at Storm Bunny Studios-- both are fantastic.

-Ben

[Thanael]

I want to leave a link to this thread here, about places to get published.

[Eric Hindley]

On the cusp of the first round of eliminations, I'm going to bump this thread, and add a short sidebar.

If you want to work in this business, even infrequently, and you have made the top 32, you have some kind of spark. Maybe you couldn't make a great map. That happens. Maybe I'm talking to future contestants and the round has changed. That's cool too.

The important thing to do if you want to work in the RPG world is keep it up. Work for anyone you think is worth your time. Don't expect to get rich (especially right off the bat, but likely never). Write what you love. Own what you write (even if you didn't believe in it when you started). Go places and meet people. Hand stuff out if you can. It's a small world out there, and if you want to succeed, all you need to do is work!

On the other hand, if you made the Top 32 and fail to advance, stop for a moment and ask why? Are you ready to be a professional designer? Did you enter the contest on a lark? That's all fine, but some of the contestants here are really shooting for the big leagues. Are you there? (I wasn't...)

RPG Superstar is a foot in the door for everyone involved. Don't imagine that you need to win to eventually get the work you want. If you want to do this, just keep writing.

[Mark Thomas]

Very well said and just what I needed to hear.

[Eric Hindley]

Mark Thomas wrote:

Very well said and just what I needed to hear.

I speak from experience (and a history of not winning Superstar) ;)

[Wren Brown]

Eric Hindley wrote:

The important thing to do if you want to work in the RPG world is keep it up. Work for anyone you think is worth your time. Don't expect to get rich (especially right off the bat, but likely never). Write what you love. Own what you write (even if you didn't believe in it when you started). Go places and meet people. Hand stuff out if you can. It's a small world out there, and if you want to succeed, all you need to do is work!

For those who want follow Eric's excellent advice, check the 3PP forums here on Paizo.com for Open Calls and the like.

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Who knows there may be one going on even as you read this post.

[Oceanshieldwolf]

How dare you plant such information Russ!!!

[International Pun Registration]

Oceanshieldwolf wrote:

How dare you plant such information Russ!!!

We see what you did there. We have planted a seed symbolizing your statement in the International Arboretum of Plant Puns (tm).