(I hope this is the right forum for this.)
Contests. Open calls. Standard submissions (with or without query). On spec assignments. Taking writing resumes.
I started a thread under Paizo General about writing for PF, and the majority of the response pointed toward "write for a 3rd Party Publisher." Okay. I'll buy that.
So, who's hiring? I know many 3PPs are one-or-three man operations done as a labor of love, but some of you have to be open to submissions or be willing to give assignments. And I am certain that I am far from the only one on this board to be interested in such work.
So here's your chance. Let us know.
So who is this "us" you speak of?
Or is it the royal us?
(I hope this is the right forum for this.)
Contests. Open calls. Standard submissions (with or without query). On spec assignments. Taking writing resumes.
I started a thread under Paizo General about writing for PF, and the majority of the response pointed toward "write for a 3rd Party Publisher." Okay. I'll buy that.
So, who's hiring? I know many 3PPs are one-or-three man operations done as a labor of love, but some of you have to be open to submissions or be willing to give assignments. And I am certain that I am far from the only one on this board to be interested in such work.
So here's your chance. Let us know.
Tricky Owlbear is looking for smaller, player-focused pdfs. If you've got a good grasp of the rules and can write without me having to wonder if you used spellcheck, then send over a query. :)
Email: bret.boyd@trickyowlbear.com
Don't worry, 3PP don't bite!
Bret
Let's see to date I can highly recommend Headless Hydra and Gamer Ingenuity.
I also think LMPJr Design is hiring.
I'd say part of the process is YOU finding THEM. Do your research. Find a company you like. Find their contact info. Email them. You'd be amazed how that turns into opportunities. It also shows motivation, where a post here saying "come hire me" doesn't quite say the same.
I can't speak for all 3Ps, but I've been doing this a long time. And being a self-motivated go-getter usually pays dividends. And don't send cut and paste form letters: "hello, I am XYZ, I saw your website. I am interesting in doing work for you. please email me." Don't do that. Take the time to send an email that is crafted for the reader. I dont want you to write boilerplate BS for me as an author, so why would a boilerplate form letter solicitation attract my attention? Answer: it won't. [Strongbad]D...d...deleted![/Strongbad]
Seriously, you would be surprised the number of people I've given work to over the years with Necromancer Games that came from some real eye catching motivated emails. Most of us love the idea of helping people get a start. But you've got to do the work.
Clark
What Clark said. :)
We work with freelancers all of the time and are always looking for good people to work with.
But... we won't go looking for you, we've got a book a week to put out, plus we're getting back into print and we don't have the time.
If you wow us though, I'm sure we'll work together.
Hyrum.
Raging Swan Press
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What Clark said. :)
We work with freelancers all of the time and are always looking for good people to work with.
But... we won't go looking for you, we've got a book a week to put out, plus we're getting back into print and we don't have the time.
If you wow us though, I'm sure we'll work together.
Hyrum.
What Clark said, what Hyrum said. I'd also add that it is an excellent idea to know the company's lines before making a pitch. For example, I'd love to get submissions for the GM'S RESOURCES, PLAYER'S RESOURCES or TRIBES lines. I'd be unkeen to get submissions for things that don't fall into those categorises.
So here's your chance. Let us know.
I have to agree with what has been posted above. It might also be handy for you to have some way to contact you as that is not list and your profile is empty of information.
More seriously, the point of this post was to find out who among 3PPs actually wants to hear from potential freelancers. That's a first step.
I don't think there is one of us that doesn't want to hear from freelancers. I mean if you came to us with a fully edited, balanced, and playtested supplement and said "I would like you to publish it," I'd find it difficult to believe that any of us would say, "Hells no! Go elsewhere."
Pick the one who's existing product lines your idea would best fit in and then send a query letter.
Kobold Quarterly (magazine and blog) are always looking for new submissions.
Pick the one who's existing product lines your idea would best fit in and then send a query letter.
Just want to emphasize this.
As much as an argument can be made for diversification, Dreamscarred Press primarily only wants psionic-related submissions. We've done non-psionic stuff, but we know psionics best, it's where our comfort level is highest, and it's what our fans are looking for, so it's what we're most likely to greenlight.
Look for a company whose material most closely matches what you're trying to do and contact them.
The other thing to remember is, keep your day job. Most of Paizo's freelancers have a full time job in addition to their writing. Almost all of the 3PP do as well, from owners to writers. Rates in the 3PP market range from $0.01 to $0.05 per word. So a 1,000 word article might net you $10-$50. Expect near the lower end while you establish yourself.
That said, Kobold Quarterly has an open call for article submissions. They are an excellent starting place.
What Clark said. :)
We work with freelancers all of the time and are always looking for good people to work with.
But... we won't go looking for you, we've got a book a week to put out, plus we're getting back into print and we don't have the time.
If you wow us though, I'm sure we'll work together.
BINGO! LPJ Design is always looking for new people who want to work hard on creating interesting stuff. Just be able to meet deadlines and do great work and you will be an easy hire for us.
Silver Crescent Publishing
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Silver Crescent Publishing is always accepting submissions. We tend to focus on content dealing with our Realms of Twilight campaign setting, but we aren't dismissing other possibilities.
For those interested, feel free to send submissions to daniel@realmsoftwilight.net. But I have to second a sentiment mentioned earlier: Form letters are not a good idea.
And, yet, my cunning plan seems to have worked... ;)
More seriously, the point of this post was to find out who among 3PPs actually wants to hear from potential freelancers. That's a first step.
Not really, but ok :)
We ALL want to hear amazing pitches from excellent freelancers. So you haven't really learned anything. Any one of us would, I imagine, gladly talk to someone who impressed us.
What YOU need to do is convince us that YOU are an excellent freelancer with something we would be interested in. That's up to you.
Anyway, plenty here to consider. Thanks a bunch.
It was a good discussion to start. Thanks for doing that. And good luck to you.
who is good at taking an assignment and running with it
I'm sure many (if not all) of us are open to that as well. I know I have many ideas that I simply don't have time to develop. Send an email to which ever company you would like to write for and say that you are interested in writing for this product line or that style of product that the publisher already publishes.
For example, JBE is known for our Book of Beasts. So if you sent me an email saying that you're interested in monster work, I'm reasonably certain that I can find something for you to write. ;)
Generally, we just ask for writers to send us their developed ideas since that is what most writers would prefer. Most say that they have this idea and they want to write it. We publishers find it easier to be enablers in that way. So we well them to develop it and come back when its done. However if you're saying, "I'll write whatever it is you need me to write," we can find something for you (provided a writing sample is good).
Generally, we just ask for writers to send us their developed ideas since that is what most writers would prefer. Most say that they have this idea and they want to write it. We publishers find it easier to be enablers in that way. So we well them to develop it and come back when its done. However if you're saying, "I'll write whatever it is you need me to write," we can find something for you (provided a writing sample is good).
That's a great point.
Have a manuscript or a draft. Even with Necro in the past it was pretty rare for me to take a guy sight unseen with no portfolio of work and just say "do this for me." So your best bet is to work something up and send it in. Even if not totally complete. Say a couple monsters or a the seed of an adventure with a few encounters and a plan on how to detail it more.
With unproven writers, I need to see something, not just an idea. The world is full of people with ideas. I have a million. I dont need ideas, I need ideas in the heads of writers who then actually write.
More seriously, the point of this post was to find out who among 3PPs actually wants to hear from potential freelancers. That's a first step.I don't think there is one of us that doesn't want to hear from freelancers. I mean if you came to us with a fully edited, balanced, and playtested supplement and said "I would like you to publish it," I'd find it difficult to believe that any of us would say, "Hells no! Go elsewhere."
Pick the one who's existing product lines your idea would best fit in and then send a query letter.
Totally. Tripod Machine is basically "stuff I want to write," but if someone approached me with something good, and they really seemed to get it, I would not be sad at all to publish it. But it has to match something I'm already doing, or be something awesome that nobody is doing.
We ALL want to hear amazing pitches from excellent freelancers. So you haven't really learned anything. Any one of us would, I imagine, gladly talk to someone who impressed us.
What YOU need to do is convince us that YOU are an excellent freelancer with something we would be interested in. That's up to you.
Clark says it perfectly. As a publisher, WE are interested in quality proposals that are focused and not something that everyone else is doing. For example, we wouldn't really be looking for a supplement that is about gunslingers for Pathfinder unless it was something that expanded upon what it already there in Ultimate Combat (or the class from KQ) rather than try to replace it.
We are NOT looking for something that is "better than <insert your favorite game system> in every way." I can't even begin to tell you the number of times we have heard this and then were promptly proved the exact opposite by being given a manuscript that was poorly written, not spellchecked, and playtested only by the author's gaming group.
Having said that, if I haven't scared folks away, DragonWing Games is now looking for quality submissions and proposals from individuals who are very intimate with Pathfinder and its rules, can write cohesively and hit a deadline.
Email: Creech@dragonwing.net
--
Steve Creech
DragonWing Games
1) What's the preferred length of a writing sample?
For me it is 2,000 words. That will really show me what you are able to do.
2) Do you prefer a published sample that's a few (7! -- I'm old!) years old, or something "amateur" but new?
Both. What ever shows your talents in the best light.
a) If the former, do you want the text I wrote, the published text that appeared, or both?
Both.
b) if the latter, do you prefer something written specifically for you and your company/line, or a generic writing sample?
It is helpful is you know my company and the material you are submitting. But if you don't or make several mistakes about what you are writing that is an easy way to lose a job.
At the risk of being repetitious, I have to agree with the other esteemed publishers in this thread. Become familiar with the company you're contacting. We've received a number of inquiries since I posted previously here (and we appreciate it!) but they've not come bearing submissions, only a "I want to write so what do you need done" position.
While that's fine if I had an Open Call to fill, I don't. Again, I love the TOP love but I need writers with submissions ready. No need for a complete outline, just have an idea; something you're passionate about and you think hasn't been done yet (or at least can be done better).
I can only agree with the above. Send us a sample of what you've written and tell us what you want to write with us and WHY. If you do have a sample or concept you'd like to expand on, send it too.
Mail: dreamscarredpress@gmail.com
Patron projects can also be a good way to get some experience. Open Design just launched Dark Roads and Golden Hells and, through Zombie Sky Press, I'm currently launching Mysteries of the Dead Side. If those strike your fancy, jump on board and participate in the design.
Tangential question: If I were to send a submission, what are the rules about forum? I mean, is stuff that I posted on, say, these forums, to ask for opinions or ideas, acceptable? What about concepts that I take from another forumgoer, would asking for his permission and giving him credit be sufficient or is it something unpublishable?
Tangential question: If I were to send a submission, what are the rules about forum? I mean, is stuff that I posted on, say, these forums, to ask for opinions or ideas, acceptable? What about concepts that I take from another forumgoer, would asking for his permission and giving him credit be sufficient or is it something unpublishable?
Ideas are like air. Everyone breaths the same air. Using someone else's idea is common. Heck, Shakespeare did it all the time, but he is remembered for his execution, not for his originality. Ideas are worthless, execution is what counts.
If you didn't write it, don't submit it. End of story. However if someone says, "I have this great idea for this monster that vomits ice and then throws it," but you are the one that actually wrote up the monster, the writing is your. But to cover your own butt, I ask you this: how easy is it to change it enough to be a different monster? Say instead of vomiting ice, it vomits fire. Boom. Different monster and there's no problem. So if you get inspired by someone else's idea, modify it to make it your own.
After all this, I guess the simple answer to your question is to not write new material on the forums and then try to solicit it. If you're going to write new material to sell to a publisher, hold it back. I mean I give all my OGC to d20PFSRD for them to put on their website, but they get it after I've published the book. If I'm publishing new material, I'm publishing new material. I'm not looking to take what is already out there and reprint it (unless the product I'm making is specifically reprinted OGL material, if so that's a different story). For example: I pay a lower rate to an artist for new art then I do for art that is already on their website. Same thing.
Does this help?
For the first time i´m glad that our group´s Kingmaker-Forum is password-locked...and i didn´t post my flavour-short-stories here, right?
Thanks a lot, along with other assembled sages in this thread.
I´m reluctant to open another thread with my related, maybe peculiar question: What if i´m not available for hire?
Not really, but say mainly i want to see a certain post Kingmaker-AP published. So, i have this great idea what our characters could do to announce our Kingdom as players on a wider scale.
I thought to sent some of my short-stories along with said idea to Paizo, but i have a half-way well-paid job, a contract, so i can´t reply to a job offer in good conscience.
So who should i (could, after polishing?) sent a "stew" like that? Would it be unwise to sent it to Paizo as well as one or more Publishers or would this idea go around anyways to see who of you would be interested?
Thanks for any help
Yours truly
PS: Any interest in science fiction, by the way?
My Kaidan: a Japanese Ghost Story setting became an imprint under Rite Publishing, by me contacting Steve Russell and asking if he had interest in a concept I'd been developing for a few years. He looked at it, and asked if I'd consider going the way of a patron project - so that's how it all started and now I have the 3 adventures of the intro arc in my hand (picked them up at Gen Con).
Sometimes, however, being in the right place at the right time can get you freelance work, though I'd say that is much rarer of a situation, but it can happen.
Last month, Paizo needed some help with their Jade Regent AP, and contacted Steve about doing some monster design. They also wanted a gazetteer written which required the creation of a kickbutt map. Well Steve took on the monster request, Frank Carr was invited to do the Gazetteer, and my name came up to do the map.
Had I not been a 'staffer' at Rite Publishing already with Kaidan, I'm sure the opportunity would never have come my way. And now it looks like I'll be doing many maps for Paizo now and in the future. So publishers do sometimes look for talent, as I am a clear example, but that is most probably a very rare occurrence.
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PS: Any interest in science fiction, by the way?
I would say yes for us if we could develop Rpg content out of it as well.
Kobold Press
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My summary of the RPG Freelancing 101 seminar at Gen Con is up at the KQ blog.
Some practical advice from 4 successful freelancers, yours free.
My summary of the RPG Freelancing 101 seminar at Gen Con is up at the KQ blog.
Some practical advice from 4 successful freelancers, yours free.
You are a scholar and a gentleman sir.
I would say yes for us if we could develop Rpg content out of it as well.PS: Any interest in science fiction, by the way?
Well, sure. It started out as a background-story to a D30/Cyberpunk-Homebrew-RPG in the style of Star of the Guardians or rather MagForce7 that never took of. In the last 10 years this story has grown to encompass three generations of Freedomfighters over some 60 years.
I have a huge stack of hand-written shortstories scattered throughout a rough timeline, all of which would be playable.|
Silver Crescent Publishing
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Now that GenCon is over, I finally have a chance to weigh in on this topic again, though most of what I would say has already been said by the othe publishers here.
We told people at GenCon that Silver Crescent Publishing focused on material from the fantasy and fantasy romance genres. We don't just limit ourselves to game books, as we currently have two novel series in progress as well.
Though it is easier for us to determine if a particular concept is within the bounds of what we may be interested in publishing if it is associated with our Realms of TwilightCampaign Setting it isn't necessarily a requirement.
Dale also made a good point that if you can prove that your writing ability is up to the standards of 3PP, then it is completely possible that you may be given an assignment to work on in an effort to test the limits of your abilities.
Just remember, there are a lot of writers out there, but there are fewer that have the determination to contact publishers with their ideas. The next step, is to show us why we should work with you, and not the other freelancers that are submitting work to us.
On the Science Fiction tip, who'd like a fully developed, fleshed out, logically consistent and open-ended Science Fiction setting replete with curious AI's, believable aliens, cybernetics, giant robots, war, conflict, peace, exploration, enormous gravity-defying ancient world-building machines, and more wild and crazy space-pirate antics than you can shake a stick at?
(Part of my problem finding places to freelance with, you see, is the fact that I cut my teeth on the science fiction, cyberpunk, and mecha genres... I love fantasy, but until I can find a place to get my feet wet there, I'm still on the Science Fiction wagon...)
I talked about payrate on my blog today, and I am wondering what do new writers think their payrate should be?
Well, sure. It started out as a background-story to a D30/Cyberpunk-Homebrew-RPG in the style of Star of the Guardians or rather MagForce7 that never took of. In the last 10 years this story has grown to encompass three generations of Freedomfighters over some 60 years.
I have a huge stack of hand-written shortstories scattered throughout a rough timeline, all of which would be playable.
Just an idea:
If you are a potential freelancer and you post on industry boards, please remember that potential publishers read those boards. So make sure your posts have proper spelling and grammar. Sure, we all have typos in our posts. Posts aren't manuscripts, after all, and are often composed quickly. But just remember that you are representing yourself in your posts. Just something to keep in mind.
Clark
(yes, to be clear, what I am saying is your posts cause me concern so you might want to clean them up and focus on better writing, spelling, grammar, tense, agreement and other basics in the future; and if they cause me concern they cause others the same concern they just aren't saying it)
I´m reluctant to open another thread with my related, maybe peculiar question: What if i´m not available for hire?
Not really, but say mainly i want to see a certain post Kingmaker-AP published. So, i have this great idea what our characters could do to announce our Kingdom as players on a wider scale.
I thought to sent some of my short-stories along with said idea to Paizo, but i have a half-way well-paid job, a contract, so i can´t reply to a job offer in good conscience.
So who should i (could, after polishing?) sent a "stew" like that? Would it be unwise to sent it to Paizo as well as one or more Publishers or would this idea go around anyways to see who of you would be interested?Thanks for any help
Yours truly
PS: Any interest in science fiction, by the way?
Don't send just a bunch of stuff to Paizo. They won't care. That is the exact thing you should NOT do. Now I can't speak for Paizo, but generally professional publishers don't want some material dump with an email saying "hey isn't this cool?" Professional publishers reject that stuff unread and want nothing to do with those kinds of submissions. Why? Because it is exactly that guy that later claims you stole his great idea. That is NOT the kind of inquiry or submission you do to real publishers.
I thought to sent some of my short-stories along with said idea to Paizo, but i have a half-way well-paid job, a contract, so i can´t reply to a job offer in good conscience.
So who should i (could, after polishing?) sent a "stew" like that? Would it be unwise to sent it to Paizo as well as one or more Publishers or would this idea go around anyways to see who of you would be interested?
Believe me, that won't trigger a job offer so you don't have anything to worry about.
But to your main question, should you submit material if you can't do the work? Of course not.
"Hey but maybe my idea is just so awesome they will want someone else to work on it even if I can't!" That is the kind of misguided fan boy misconceptions this thread is hopefully dispelling.
There are no "great ideas." Or, properly stated, "great ideas are like bellybuttons--everyone has one." This is the game industry. EVERYONE is creative and full of great ideas. There is no intrinsic value to a great idea. The only value is a manuscript.
I´m actually blushing... Beg your pardon, wordslinger. I am well aware of my limitations. While i love writing and exspecially reading in english, it is not my motherlanguage and grammar and punctuation are not my strong points to begin with. To impatient to get on the "story", whatever it is, i have to admit.
Because it is exactly that guy that later claims you stole his great idea.
That is NOT the kind of inquiry or submission you do to real publishers.
I wouldn´t,really! Unless maybe playing the adventure sucked, so you have me there.
I won´t do this to a real publisher, promise. Not to any publisher. Swear.
I talked about payrate on my blog today, and I am wondering what do new writers think their payrate should be?
Standard rate for a new writer is $0.02/word, and I think that's entirely fair. Paying more for writing is good when they have the CV to back it up, but I don't know if paying more for writing is going to help when it's the editing that is the main problem. Even the best writing can come out like crap if the editor's not doing their job well.
I wouldn´t,really! Unless maybe playing the adventure sucked, so you have me there.I won´t do this to a real publisher, promise. Not to any publisher. Swear.
I believe you. But the publisher you submit to won't know that.