Top 32: Your foot is in the door. Are you going to walk through?

[Vic Wertz]

This is an open letter to the Top 32.

One of you won the contest. Thirty-one of you didn't. Either way, your work is not over.

I hope that the reason each of you entered the contest is that you'd like to establish yourself (or perhaps further establish yourself) in the game industry.

The good news is that people like your ideas. The fact you made the Top 32 of RPG Superstar is proof of that, and though most of you are probably disappointed that you didn't win*, "not winning" doesn't change that fact. And even that entry you had in your final round—the one that has no doubt made you second-guess yourself a few times by now? People voted for that because they liked it.

So we've established you have talent. Lots of previous RPG Superstar non-winners are now working professionally in the industry, whether as freelancers or as actual employees of Paizo or other companies, and the only thing that stands between you and that future is you.

It's time to capitalize on what RPG Superstar has gained for you. First of all, folks like Owen K. C. Stephens, John Compton, and James Jacobs know some of your work, and might think of you when they need something. And if you submit something to us in an open call, your status as an RPG Superstar contestant will help separate you from the rest. I would hope that it would give weight at a lot of other companies in the industry, too—especially those publishing Pathfinder-compatible products. Your name is out there, and now is the time to get your work out there.

And just because you won, Monica Marlowe, don't think this post doesn't apply to you—it applies to you at least as much as anyone else. Some RPG Superstar winners have established themselves as successful writers who are going to continue getting a lot of work from Paizo and other publishers, and others have completed their winning assignment and then promptly disappeared. Which way it goes is *almost entirely* up to you. You have the biggest opportunity, and I hope you capitalize on it.

All of you: If you want this, do this. Now is the time.

*Ok, maybe Jason Keeley is less disappointed than most—but his work isn't over either!

[Monica Marlowe]

Don't worry about me, Vic :-) Despite my earlier mantra of "I really don't see myself as a game designer" it would appear that I have been bitten by the bug. I still have a lot of learning to do though and a couple of big projects to clear off my plate. I'm looking forward to getting my copy of my adventure O.O

[R Pickard]

This is an awesome reminder to get now especially as it's easy to go "it's over" and lose track of time and opportunities.

One thing I'd love to see more discussion of both in the Superstar thread and here among this community in general is some of the more practical aspects of how exactly to move forward. If you are already a freelancer when you enter this contest you might already know. If you aren't or are using this as a kick in the butt to get started, you might not. Couple things....

- Where/how to solicit work? I know some folks will want to reply, simply, "everywhere" and leave it at that, but that's both obvious and yet unhelpful. I have not, say, found a good master list of reliable third party publishers who accept freelance publications. How do you find out not just who takes freelance work, but moreover, who is a reliable and trustworthy employer? I do check the boards here, and the open call thread here is a great help--for those who use it. But it's hard to dig up a lot of details sometimes.

- How to be sure you've got the technical/legalities worked out? As much as Superstar purports itself to be in part a way to help new designers get started, there's a lot of technicalities that don't get discussed like -- depending on where you live, you may need a license to do paid freelance writing and editing (and can be charged a hefty fine if you do not get one but a company reports to the IRS that they paid you for such work). If you earn more than $400 in freelance income, you need to report that income on your taxes (and there are further technicalities on that from state to state). (And similar concerns I am sure globally.) And so on.

- Is there a place where you can put yourself out and say what you're looking for? Like, I'd love to say somewhere, "I am an experienced copy editor and just did some freelance editing for Paizo, and I am relatively new to game design but got as far as Top 8. I am good at checking statblocks, designing locations, and creating characters and organizations and archetypes. I prefer to receive assignments on specific matter than be asked to pitch any random thing. I prefer to work on universally-used materials than for specific settings, though can do the latter if you're willing to supply me the basics of what I need to know." (Okay, and I just said that, but no one's probably going to read that here.)

[Scott LaBarge]

The encouragement is appreciated, Vic! And at a minimum, you got me to check the Superstar forum for the first time in a bit to see what else has been happening there.

[Jacob W. Michaels]

I agree with R. The hardest part for me after my first Superstar run was knowing HOW to get started. Once I did -- and honestly it took me more than a year before I really figured out what I was doing (or at least figured out as much as I have) -- I've found work has come pretty steadily, but that start was the toughest part.

My best answer for her is in this forum. Check out the sticky thread that has a series of open calls. If you're interested, answer one of the pitches. I've found the 3PP forum to be very welcoming; if you have a question, people are happy to answer it. They/we love to talk about their/our products and the hobby and are very open to encouraging new folks.

Personally, I LOVE contests, which you can also find in that forum. Superstar is what got me involved with designing, and then I followed that up with Adventureaweek.com's Pathmaster contest (which I'm sorry they didn't do again the following year) and then Raging Swan's Broken Freelancers I contest, which is what really led me into some regular writing (with Raging Swan and from there with other 3PPs). Mikko Kallio (former Superstar contestant and judge) and I are running a contest for our upcoming Villain Codex right now that could be a great way to get for any of you to get started. It is in fact highly inspired (at least on my end) by Superstar's old Create a Villain rounds. You still have about another week to get up to three pitches in.

What else have I learned? Make personal contacts and become friendly with the gaming community. That ties back to the advice Superstar contestants are given to establish themselves on the boards and engage people (as much as you can when you can't talk about your designs much of the time).

Get on Facebook. I'll admit I was hesitant about this at first; I prefer to keep my FB to people I've met in person and don't post as much about gaming on it as some do, but a lot of publishers post about opportunities and products there.

If you can, go to Cons, especially PaizoCon and GenCon. I haven't had a chance yet to do so (and won't again this year) but making contacts in person seems to be a big help. Once people get to know you, they're of course more likely to think of you when they're looking for a writer (or editor or artist).

That's my best advice about getting started. I'm certainly not making it rich, but I'm not looking to (I think Owen's posted relatively recently about trying to do freelance RPG design as a primary career, so anyone interested can search for that). For me, this is mostly a way to have more fun with the hobby and maybe even get it to pay for itself...

A couple other thoughts:
- R noted she has not found a good master list of reliable third party publishers who accept freelance publications. As far as I know, there's nothing like that, and it certainly would be nice (though of course people will have different experiences in terms of reliability and easiness to work with). I'd love a list of what types of products companies are looking for, which could maybe be done as a sticky note in the 3PP board? I finally pitched a monster book that I'm looking forward to finishing, but it took me a long time to figure out where to publish that. There are a ton of 3PPs and it's tough sometimes to tell which are still active and are accepting unsolicited pitches.

- A similar list could be made for freelancers too, I suppose. Like R, I tend to prefer getting specific assignments, which is part of why I like contests so much.

- For the legal stuff, honestly, your best bet is probably to check with a local lawyer once when you get started (at least to find out if you need a license), since as you note it's going to depend on where you live. That said, I used an accountant for my (U.S.) taxes this year and was told I didn't need to worry about it as long as I made less than $600.

[Vic Wertz]

R Pickard, those are some really good questions.

I've created a thread to allow third-party publishers to answer your first question here.

As for the second question, the answers will vary for each company. (Paizo requires freelancers who reside in the state of Washington to have a business license.) And the state you live in may have requirements that other states do not; I'd suggest you check with a tax attorney or tax accountant in your state to find out what's required of you.

I really don't have a good answer for your third question, I'm afraid.

[Eric Hindley]

I'll start by linking this thread again.

I'll add a few things to the points above.

The 3PP open call thread is great, but make sure you peruse as much as you can on the entire 3PP board. I got my opportunities with Dreamscarred Press (and then Fat Goblin Games) by stumbling on a thread talking about how Ultimate Psionics was being delayed because of the sheer volume of content that needed to be written to hit stretch goals from their kickstarter. Plenty of opportunities just like that pop up over there.

Figure out what you like to write, and see who publishes that. Legendary Games puts out AP plug ins and mythic stuff, I'm pretty they aren't going to leap at your new campaign setting. Raging Swan does GM aids- usually smaller books that are light on crunch. They are unlikely to publish your new class. Most companies will read pitches, but try to make sure it matches what they tend to publish.

Related to that, try to write different things. Try writing spells, feats, monsters, magic items, NPCs, adventures, whatever. You never know what you'll find you have a knack for or what you'll enjoy. I tried for ages to write a complete, publishable adventure (and did it, see the Opened Mind by Dreamscarred Press), but I find I prefer to do monsters, or spells, or stuff like that. But I had to try it at least once, and now I know what to expect the next time I do it.

And one final point, know your limits. When you start, it's easy to yes to jobs. Know whether you can actually produce 5000 words of good content in a week, or two weeks, or a month. Figure out how long it takes you to write a monster. Know what your schedule for the rest of your life looks like. I work as a theatre technician. Most of he time, I have a fairly light schedule with plenty of time. But when a show is just getting started or wrapping up, I often do 60+ hour weeks. I'm mentally and physically exhausted in my spare time. This means that I fluxuate wildly from cranking out material to going weeks with almost nothing getting done. I I try to time my projects accordingly.

[R Pickard]

Awesome, thanks very much Jacob, Vic, and Eric! All very helpful info, and thanks for opening the thread, Vic.

[Mikko Kallio]

On my blog, I've interviewed quite many 3PPs, and one of the questions I always ask is "How do you find new freelancers to work for you?"

Link: Posts with "3PP interview" on A Sword for Hire. The most relevant posts are at the top. Some of the people are self-publishers, some are publishers who hire freelancers.

And yeah, go to PaizoCon, people! It's a rare opportunity to meet 3rd-party publishers and Paizo folks. And a rare opportunity to meet a living Finnish person. :-D Seriously, everyone who'll be at PaizoCon, come say "Hi!" if you see me.

[Curaigh]

I feel I know some of y'all, I barely know all y'others, but I can honestly say, when it comes to the RPGSS folks, I love all y'all. :)

Seriously, thanks Vic, R, Jacob, Eric, Miko & everyone else. Great info & conversation :)

[Thanael]

Creighton Broadhurst has a series of blogposts on Freelance advice.

He also has published the awesome Be Awesome at Freelance Game Design pdf.

Here's an old thread about places to get published .

In the end though you need to get familiar with the different 3PPs and their product lines and find/approach some that fit for you.

[Thanael]

Vic Wertz wrote:

R Pickard, those are some really good questions.

I've created a thread to allow third-party publishers to answer your first question here.

As for the second question, the answers will vary for each company. (Paizo requires freelancers who reside in the state of Washington to have a business license.) And the state you live in may have requirements that other states do not; I'd suggest you check with a tax attorney or tax accountant in your state to find out what's required of you.

I really don't have a good answer for your third question, I'm afraid.

R check the thread that Vic linked there are not only posts by 3pps but also by freelancers offering general work (like editing). Just post your offer there.

[Thanael]

Another article of interest: Enworld thread about freelancer rates paid. Note that Raging Swan Press recently did a Patreon to increase their rates.

[Wren Brown]

Great thread Vic! Thanks for starting it.

So since the end of RPG Superstar, I have dipped my toes in the waters of 3rd Party Publishing and released two short PDFs so far. I would love to hear feedback from anyone here, on what I have done so far, and am willing to share some free PDFs, just PM me.

Also if anyone would like to collaborate or has an idea for a short PDF they would like to write, I am open to doing just about any topic. Also I have learned enough (just enough to be dangerous) to do a decent layout in InDesign.

See my website, my facebook page, and my publisher page here on Paizo.com.

[Anthony Adam]

Russ Brown wrote:

Great thread Vic! Thanks for starting it.

So since the end of RPG Superstar, I have dipped my toes in the waters of 3rd Party Publishing and released two short PDFs so far.

That's awesome - well done you!

I am in the middle of a 40k word item at the moment, which is why I have been so ubah quiet recently, but it is always good to see new breakout stars doing well.

[Wren Brown]

Anthony Adam wrote:

That's awesome - well done you!

I am in the middle of a 40k word item at the moment, which is why I have been so ubah quiet recently, but it is always good to see new breakout stars doing well.

Thanks, Anthony!

I sent you a PM about your AP project.

[Matt Morris]

Thanks for the encouragement, Vic!

I've got something coming out in Wayfinder and a few irons in the fire for this summer.