I'm nobody official, but I'm pretty sure I remember james sutter (the guy in charge of the pathfinder tales line) saying there is pretty much no chance of an unpublished author getting a shot to write a novel.
They can't call for submissions or they'd be deluged, plus as i understand things they don't read unsolicited work (a common publisher policy to avoid later claims of plagiarism from rejected authors). As such, the best strategy for you is to get published elsewhere and grab their attention that way. You're not going to be able to start with a gig writing a novel for pathfinder tales, but there are probably opportunities through the wayfinder fan magazine to get your work out there where it can be seen.
If your writing is suited to adventures and other more "game related" stuff, there's also the annual rpg superstars contest, plus (possibly) the pathfinder society.
As I said though, I'm nobody official. I couldn't find any useful threads on the topic, but James sutter's posts might be worth browsing through, perhaps. He's likely to have chimed in on the relevant discussions..
Write for a third party publisher or just work on getting short stories published in the many outlets available. Build up your resume first.
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Hey Dominic!
First off, good for you for going for a journalism/creative writing degree. I got BA in creative writing as well, and spent several years working primarily as a journalist before I got into publishing writing for gaming and fiction.
Unfortunately, though, I think you've just hit the stumbling block that all beginning writers fetch up against:
However, I am not going to devote my time to something that may net me zero reward in return.
You've just described the essence of being a fiction author. Writing fiction means *always* writing something that may net you zero reward, at least when you're just starting out. Even when you're halfway famous, there's never a guarantee that a given piece will see publication--rejection is a constant part of a writer's life, with the only hope being that as you get better, the people who reject you will get steadily more prestigious (and personal in their rejections). It's true that tie-in work like Pathfinder Tales (or Halo, or Star Wars, or whoever) offers a way around that--being contracted for a story before you even begin--but no editor with any sense is going to contract a first-time author for a book. It just doesn't make sense, especially considering how many proven, experienced authors with established fan bases are probably kicking down their doors trying to get a contract. So you need to build up your resume.
And there's only one way to do that: Write your own stories. Come up with your own characters and worlds, write about them, and try to sell them. If you keep at it, sooner or later someone will say yes. At that point, you're a published author! From there, the game is to try to sell stories or novels to better and better places. This isn't just about fiction, either--write for newspapers, magazines, really anywhere that'll pay you. Credits from paying markets are the first thing editors look for when deciding whether to take a chance on a new author--it's proof that someone else already decided you were worth money, and that helps separate you from the rest of the slush pile.
I know that can seem overwhelming or like a poor financial investment, and that's because it is. Pretty much the only way to get paid for writing without some element of risk is to be a staff reporter (covering the boring stuff as well as the fun stuff), a copy generator (woo, marketing!), or a tech writer ("Step 1: Check to make sure toaster is off and not actively submerged in water..."). If you want to write fun stuff like fiction and RPG material, you have to pay your dues.
But the good news is that, if you stick with it, you'll get there. If there's anything I've seen in this industry, it's that persistence is more important than anything--even talent. So start building those credits, and once you've sold a few stories, come drop me an email.
Good luck!
Check out http://www.pathfinderchronicler.net/ the official pathfinder fanfiction site. Many established PF authors and game designers participate there...
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There are a lot of short-story publications out there as well.
And your college probably has a student magazine of some sort; if it doesn't then you can always start one.
You might be writing for free but you can prove that someone going through a slush pile picked you over a bunch of other writers.
It may seem silly but blog writing isnt the worst way to get started and establish a fan base. I know a few writers that got started a bloggers and have gone on to somewhat successful writing careers.