PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
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UPDATE: 25 submissions received. I'll do a breakdown of them in a day or two, but still wide open by type.
Thanks to all that have sent in their article submissions. Things really picked up with the Store Blog post, that's for sure!
Still....this is a long way off from the 100+ submissions we received for each of the last 2-3 issues.
Keep 'em coming! 27 days left.
Tim
Question—I have a three-item submission that hits the 750 word mark. I'm considering adding threeish more items to bring it up to the 1500 word mark, since I thought of one particular item I'd really like to add in. If I do this, will the submission be considered as either a 750-word submission or a 1500-word submission? I ask because I figure a 1500-word submission is a bit less likely to be accepted just due to its length, and I'd hate to reduce the likelihood of being accepted through this. :P
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Question—I have a three-item submission that hits the 750 word mark. I'm considering adding threeish more items to bring it up to the 1500 word mark, since I thought of one particular item I'd really like to add in. If I do this, will the submission be considered as either a 750-word submission or a 1500-word submission? I ask because I figure a 1500-word submission is a bit less likely to be accepted just due to its length, and I'd hate to reduce the likelihood of being accepted through this. :P
For items, it's not uncommon for us to cherrry-pick. A 1500-word submission of magic items will be considered a 1500-word submission (in terms of your 3-submission limit), but we may choose to keep some items and reject others. That is, of course, unless the writer prefers an "all or nothing" approach.
A collection of tightly-themed items may get its own article, while a group of loosely connected ones might be put with other submissions into a Heroes' Hoard-type article.
Gauging interest.
Since Paizo made Tim's gathering of fans officially theirs, I've run Bestiary Bash at PaizoCon. It offers the chance to play monsters with a little bit of class. (the first one is archived and not linkable)
I have worked out a lot of kinks to make it a viable tournament and yet.... Do a lot of people play monsters with class already? Do people run tournaments already?
I have other submission options, but Bestiary Bash just seems a good fit for this. Would this article/game interest you?
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Article 1 is at 1577 words. I am weeping surrounded by puddles of blood and gobbets of gore from all the stuff I've already cut. Gonna come back for more wanton slaughter later to bring it down to 1500. :)
Article 2 is 1/3rd done and around 500 words. Looking good so far.
Article 3 doesn't exist, except in my head. It might not happen.
And then the notion of a swarm of evil hivemind wasps that paralyze humanoids, cause them to grow cysts that they use as hives, and from which their larvae nuzzle up to the nervous system and jerk the humanoid body around like a meat puppet, while the swarm uses this unwitting host as an ambulatory hive, came to me when I was trying to sleep, some poor slob shambling around, carrying a medium to heavy encumbrance worth of tumor-cysts full of tiny little parasites that are using his body to move around under cover of baggy clothing, keeping him alive (and horribly conscious) only because they need him to turn random things they make him eat into tasty blood to nourish their young. Gah. No more sleep for awhile...
Question—I have a three-item submission that hits the 750 word mark. I'm considering adding threeish more items to bring it up to the 1500 word mark, since I thought of one particular item I'd really like to add in. If I do this, will the submission be considered as either a 750-word submission or a 1500-word submission? I ask because I figure a 1500-word submission is a bit less likely to be accepted just due to its length, and I'd hate to reduce the likelihood of being accepted through this. :PFor items, it's not uncommon for us to cherrry-pick. A 1500-word submission of magic items will be considered a 1500-word submission (in terms of your 3-submission limit), but we may choose to keep some items and reject others. That is, of course, unless the writer prefers an "all or nothing" approach.
A collection of tightly-themed items may get its own article, while a group of loosely connected ones might be put with other submissions into a Heroes' Hoard-type article.
Oh, sorry, I was using "item" in the pointlessly ambiguous manner. It's actually a collection of bardic masterpieces. Hopefully the custom holds true.
Hi. For a submission aiming at 750 words, what would be the maximum acceptable word count? Many thanks
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Hi. For a submission aiming at 750 words, what would be the maximum acceptable word count? Many thanks
Hi, generaltwig.
Kalindlara is correct about the submission guidelines. We put that in there as a bit of a buffer, but when a publisher sets word count limits, you should take that number as the maximum.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with publishing, publishers use word count limits on articles to help them determine page counts for the finished product. Going over the established word count, even by a little, can have a significant impact on the layout of the entire product. It's good to get into the practice of hitting that word count, especially if you hope to do any freelance writing in the future.
Publishers count on having their writers optimize the use of the wordspace. Hitting that word count exactly, while including the most important material in the text, is the ultimate goal. It's also one of the many purposes of going through multiple editing passes on your work. You can trim down by cutting out unnecessary words or phrases and rewording things so that they mean the same thing while using fewer words. As a last resort, you may have to cut something that doesn't *have* to be in there, even though you really love it. Some call that "killing our darlings."
The need to make multiple editing passes is another reason not to wait until right up to the deadline to close up the "creative" phase of your work. If you're still adding material at the 11th hour, you're far less likely to submit a polished piece that gets the best use of the word count you have.
As the June 30th deadline approaches, we're starting to see more submissions come in. I look forward to reading all the fun stuff that you folks come up with! Good luck to everyone!
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And two down.
I was dreaming up suggestions for artwork to accompany them and then remembered that if I was an artist working for free, I'd want to find my own inspiration and not be 'suggested' to draw something the writer wants to see like some sort of unpaid minion!
Hey, Set. If you have suggestions for art, feel free to include them, but I strongly suggest including them in a comment in the file, rather than using up your article word count or placing it in an e-mail. Words you put into comments don't figure into a Word document's calculations for word count, but having them *in* the file keeps things nice and neat.
Tim actually sends out art assignments to our volunteer artists, just the way Paizo and other publishers do. We see ourselves as a gateway to paid work for artists, just as we do for writers. Having to work with an art order for a published piece is a vital part of that professional development.
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Tim actually sends out art assignments to our volunteer artists, just the way Paizo and other publishers do. We see ourselves as a gateway to paid work for artists, just as we do for writers. Having to work with an art order for a published piece is a vital part of that professional development.
Oh cool! I wasn't sure if the volunteer artists just got a copy of the article and could search for something inspiring to depict!
I suppose, with the various legalities and corner-cases of what sort of picture might be dubious (too gory, too sexy, too close to another company's IP depictions of the critter, instead of the Paizo depiction of the critter, such as with dragons or ankhegs or trolls or whatever) it makes sense that Tim would want to clarify what is to be drawn, instead of get a bunch of random submissions that he has to analyze and possibly reject!
I already pulled the lever on submitting, and don't see the need to spam Tim's inbox, so I'll let it ride this time, but I'll be sure to toss out some ideas for next issues submission(s).
I also am belatedly realizing that I have no idea what a 'comment in the file' means. Like, add it as an Endnote or something?
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Tim actually sends out art assignments to our volunteer artists, just the way Paizo and other publishers do. We see ourselves as a gateway to paid work for artists, just as we do for writers. Having to work with an art order for a published piece is a vital part of that professional development.Oh cool! I wasn't sure if the volunteer artists just got a copy of the article and could search for something inspiring to depict!
I suppose, with the various legalities and corner-cases of what sort of picture might be dubious (too gory, too sexy, too close to another company's IP depictions of the critter, instead of the Paizo depiction of the critter, such as with dragons or ankhegs or trolls or whatever) it makes sense that Tim would want to clarify what is to be drawn, instead of get a bunch of random submissions that he has to analyze and possibly reject!
I already pulled the lever on submitting, and don't see the need to spam Tim's inbox, so I'll let it ride this time, but I'll be sure to toss out some ideas for next issues submission(s).
That's cool. If your submissions get in, we might come back and ask what your suggestions were, but Tim has a pretty good eye for art direction and usually has a sense of what would work best with an article. That's his bailiwick, so I don't want to speak for him.
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PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
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Tim actually sends out art assignments to our volunteer artists, just the way Paizo and other publishers do. We see ourselves as a gateway to paid work for artists, just as we do for writers. Having to work with an art order for a published piece is a vital part of that professional development.Oh cool! I wasn't sure if the volunteer artists just got a copy of the article and could search for something inspiring to depict!
I suppose, with the various legalities and corner-cases of what sort of picture might be dubious (too gory, too sexy, too close to another company's IP depictions of the critter, instead of the Paizo depiction of the critter, such as with dragons or ankhegs or trolls or whatever) it makes sense that Tim would want to clarify what is to be drawn, instead of get a bunch of random submissions that he has to analyze and possibly reject!
I already pulled the lever on submitting, and don't see the need to spam Tim's inbox, so I'll let it ride this time, but I'll be sure to toss out some ideas for next issues submission(s).
I also am belatedly realizing that I have no idea what a 'comment in the file' means. Like, add it as an Endnote or something?
I actually DO send the whole article to the artist, but with a brief description of what I see "in my mind's eye" when I read the article. I don't try to heavily dictate what the artist MUST draw, but I do want to help steer them there a little bit along the way.
I would welcome the idea for the art imagery with your articles. Just insert a comment via Word (in the options for Review). That said, I do develop an image of what I like to see as I read the article, so it MAY not be the same as yours. Just so you know.....
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PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
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UPDATE:
35 Submissions so far....and 15 days to go!
Adventures - 2 in development
Advice - 1
Bestiary - 9
Class - 8
Crunch - 3
Crunch-Magic Items - 0
Fiction - 7
Fluff/flavor - 4
Poetry - 2
Side Trek Seeds - 1
Weal or Woe - 0
As always, lots of Class options and monsters for the bestiary section. Fair amount of fiction already too...interesting.
So, more side trek seeds, Weal or Woe articles, more flavor articles (including Gazetteer articles on places!) to even things out. And magic items....definitely more of those.
I'd like to see this number of submissions at least double by month's end. ;-)
I'm wondering if mine templates article is in the Bestiary or in the Crunch category...
I'll see if I'll be able to write another submission before the deadline.
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UPDATE:
35 Submissions so far....and 15 days to go!
Adventures - 2 in development
Advice - 1
Bestiary - 9
Class - 8
Crunch - 3
Crunch-Magic Items - 0
Fiction - 7
Fluff/flavor - 4
Poetry - 2
Side Trek Seeds - 1
Weal or Woe - 0As always, lots of Class options and monsters for the bestiary section. Fair amount of fiction already too...interesting.
So, more side trek seeds, Weal or Woe articles, more flavor articles (including Gazetteer articles on places!) to even things out. And magic items....definitely more of those.
I'd like to see this number of submissions at least double by month's end. ;-)
All right, I know that this is a big, big favor to ask... but can someone give me a short rundown of what each of these categories entails?
To my great shame and discredit... I'm not actually that familiar with Wayfinder. ^_^
I've got a lot of (presumably) great ideas, including a few that I think match what the EiC is askingfor, but I'd like to know what I'm doing before I set fingers to keyboard...
Also, a specific question: are adventures bound by the 1,500-word limit? I've got a mythic dungeon adventure in the works for my own campaign, but the word count is well past that.
Thank you in advance!
There's some explanation of each category in the first post. :)
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Aye, aye. You should also download some of the older Wayfinder editions and read through them if you haven't already. Those will give you a good idea as to the styles of articles that were accepted in the past.
This will probably make me sound incredibly lazy, but I was trying to dodge that for the moment - my plan was to catch up once the deadline is past. ^_^
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PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
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Also, a specific question: are adventures bound by the 1,500-word limit? I've got a mythic dungeon adventure in the works for my own campaign, but the word count is well past that.
Thank you in advance!
Adventures typically get a 3000 or even 4500 word limit, BUT (very importantly) an adventure MUST be pre-approved by the Editor-in-Chief, me, beforehand. Because they take up so many pages, I can only take one of two per issue. So, we typically have potential authors make a pitch for the adventure, providing an outline for it. Some authors are kind of a sure thing (cough-Neil Spicer-cough), but we are always looking for the new talent that can pull off a good side trek in 4-6 pages.
Tim
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Also, a specific question: are adventures bound by the 1,500-word limit? I've got a mythic dungeon adventure in the works for my own campaign, but the word count is well past that.
Thank you in advance!
Adventures typically get a 3000 or even 4500 word limit, BUT (very importantly) an adventure MUST be pre-approved by the Editor-in-Chief, me, beforehand. Because they take up so many pages, I can only take one of two per issue. So, we typically have potential authors make a pitch for the adventure, providing an outline for it. Some authors are kind of a sure thing (cough-Neil Spicer-cough), but we are always looking for the new talent that can pull off a good side trek in 4-6 pages.
Tim
I see. I was thinking about seeing what you thought of this adventure once it was complete, although not as a submission - I'm already at...
Seventeen thousand words! No wonder it was taking so long!
Plus, it's off-theme - a mostly-human cult of Nurgal.
That being said, I'll see if I can come up with something. And of course, I have plenty of other ideas...
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Question - how do we feel about material made specifically to flesh out an existing AP? I have some thoughts on a certain group that haunts the shadows of Westcrown...
Should I give this concept deeper consideration?
I'll probably be back with more ideas to ask about. (I need validation. It's one of my issues. ^_^)
UPDATE:
35 Submissions so far....and 15 days to go!
Adventures - 2 in development
Advice - 1
Bestiary - 9
Class - 8
Crunch - 3
Crunch-Magic Items - 0
Fiction - 7
Fluff/flavor - 4
Poetry - 2
Side Trek Seeds - 1
Weal or Woe - 0As always, lots of Class options and monsters for the bestiary section. Fair amount of fiction already too...interesting.
So, more side trek seeds, Weal or Woe articles, more flavor articles (including Gazetteer articles on places!) to even things out. And magic items....definitely more of those.
I'd like to see this number of submissions at least double by month's end. ;-)
Hmmm. Mine should be class, fluff, and... class or crunch?
I REALLY hope to be in again this time...
If I manage to finish things before end of month my submission will be crunch (a bunch of monster-related feats, maybe with a sprinkling of talents and rage powers...), a monster (if I manage to cut it to right size, it keeps regrowing), and maybe a third thing if I get some additional idea. Maybe I get some monster-themed magic item this time.
Submitted a fiction, but have a weal/woe and magic items article almost finished.
If I get time, after moving cross-country (California to Ohio), and without pushing any further my other writing commitments, I will definitely throw together some Magic Items.
Looking at how much fiction is already submitted, I'll probably back-burner my story about sentient golem society and how they debate their use by other creatures and whether that makes them bad or good.
Quick question Paris/Tim. How do you feel about cursed items? I've got some great ideas for cursed items that creatures would make to impart their effects on adventurers.
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If I get time, after moving cross-country (California to Ohio), and without pushing any further my other writing commitments, I will definitely throw together some Magic Items.
Looking at how much fiction is already submitted, I'll probably back-burner my story about sentient golem society and how they debate their use by other creatures and whether that makes them bad or good.
Quick question Paris/Tim. How do you feel about cursed items? I've got some great ideas for cursed items that creatures would make to impart their effects on adventurers.
I, for one, would like to see more cursed items. ^_^
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PaizoCon Founder, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief
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Well... I was going to write about monsterous tactics in warfare... But I suppose I could try to write another Golarion Gazetteer article... But where would be most appropriate...
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Monstrous tactics sounds both interesting, and unique....we usually don't get articles utilizing stuff from Ultimate Campaign. I'd say run with that, if that's where your inspiration is right now.
My intent of posting submission updates is mainly because a lot of people have a hard time deciding what to write, and want more direction in where the needs are. Others just want to game the system (shocking, I know....gamers.....) and increase their chances of getting in the issue.
Early on, this usually isn't critical, as we never have too much of one type, but down towards the final week, the list starts to show the true areas that don't have very much in the way of submissions. The list never takes into account how many submissions are out there being written right now, waiting to be turned in....as we get closer to the end of the call, I will update the counts more often.
I am hoping to have my Weal/ woe finished this weekend.
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Quick question Paris/Tim. How do you feel about cursed items? I've got some great ideas for cursed items that creatures would make to impart their effects on adventurers.
Cursed items are a tricky thing to publish. In our opinion, cursed items are best used as story elements. They should serve a purpose in the tale you and your players are telling. When you're writing cursed items for publication—at least in Wayfinder—you need to be able to do at least one of two things:
1) Provide good, story-driven purposes for them. Tie them to the setting and give GMs and players something to work with that connects the item to a plot.
2) Make the reward worth the risk. The best cursed items are as devious as devils. They lure you in with the promise of great benefit, but the cost is very high. If the players find themselves struggling with the decision on whether to don that cursed ring, you've got a good cursed item. ("I could use this magic ring to save all of my friends from certain death, but doing so will curse me to a lifetime of ghoulish hunger." But since decisions like that would be based on the story, it leads you back to the first requirement.)
I'll admit that I think the idea of monsters making cursed items to inflict on adventurers makes a certain amount of diabolical sense. There may be enough story involved in that concept to make it work, so I'm not going to tell you not to write something like that.
Generally, though, published cursed items may be fun to read, but don't get used much in play. Putting cursed items in treasure hoards often makes the players feel cheated. Having someone don a ring or other item that they can't take off deprives them of an item slot and actually weakens the character.
If your gaming group likes that sort of play—it's a very Gygaxian thing—then I think it's usually better for the group to come up with ideas for what cursed items do.
So, the tl;dr version of this is: if you can write an article that provides a flavorful, story-driven approach to cursed items, it will have a better chance than one that simply gives stat blocks for a number of cursed items. No guarantees, of course.
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And then the notion of a swarm of evil hivemind wasps that paralyze humanoids, cause them to grow cysts that they use as hives, and from which their larvae nuzzle up to the nervous system and jerk the humanoid body around like a meat puppet, while the swarm uses this unwitting host as an ambulatory hive
I think I just read something like that in Jade Regent 2, I think it was called the Hellwasp Swarm. You might want to check that your idea is sufficiently different.
Well... I was going to write about monsterous tactics in warfare... But I suppose I could try to write another Golarion Gazetteer article... But where would be most appropriate...Whoa, whoa, whoa. Monstrous tactics sounds both interesting, and unique....we usually don't get articles utilizing stuff from Ultimate Campaign. I'd say run with that, if that's where your inspiration is right now.
My intent of posting submission updates is mainly because a lot of people have a hard time deciding what to write, and want more direction in where the needs are. Others just want to game the system (shocking, I know....gamers.....) and increase their chances of getting in the issue.
Early on, this usually isn't critical, as we never have too much of one type, but down towards the final week, the list starts to show the true areas that don't have very much in the way of submissions. The list never takes into account how many submissions are out there being written right now, waiting to be turned in....as we get closer to the end of the call, I will update the counts more often.
I agree, monster tactics sounds like a good one to do. If Michael doesn't come back and re-stake his claim then I will have to get down to business.
Gauging interest.
Is a tournament of monsters with class too Meta-gamish for Wayfinder?
Do a lot of people play monsters with class already?
Do people run tournaments too much already?
Would this article/game interest you?
*bump* Edited to shorten. I am not sure which category it goes into (crunch?).
In the meantime onto a Weal or Woe article :)
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Hey, Curaigh.
I'm not quite sure what that kind of article would look like, so I can't say for certain what category it would fall into. My advice would be that if you think you can make it a good article that works with Wayfinder's established style, then go ahead and submit it.
I'd like to put out that everyone kind of needs to follow the same advice. We're getting down to the end of the submission season, and we're getting lots of requests and queries about specific types of articles. I know that people want to help us fill in potential gaps and that people want to maximize their chances of getting in, but you really don't need to check with us about most of your ideas.
The truth is, if you like an idea and believe in it, you're doing to do a better job writing it, which will vastly improve its chances that we'll select it for the magazine. By extension, if you are writing an article that you're not quite as interested in, just because it falls into a category that we might not have many submissions for at the moment, your lack of passion will probably show in the quality of the work. Neither situation will guarantee selection or rejection, but in my opinion, you're always going to be better off writing about something that you know and love.
That takes some courage. Rejection sucks. Every published writer goes through it. But when you finally do get selected and you see your work published, you'll feel even better knowing that it was something you really wanted to create.
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Alright, I was too shy to put up my list originally... but I'm getting better. ^_^
So, cards on the table:
Article 1: a particularly evangelistic kyton philosophy. All flavor; no new game rules or full stat blocks. Focuses on flavor/use in campaigns. Written, in editing.
Article 2: hags and covens. Crunch-focused; new hexes, feats, and a witch archetype (for hag-raised changelings). Written, in editing. Debating cutting some of the weaker content for some magic items.
Article 3: an account of a delve into a Jistkan foundry, and dealing with the undead and golems there. Focused on new magic items, many related to golems or ancient Jistka. Partially written, debating how to frame content for monster-centric theme. Might scrap for now.
I'd love to do something with medusae, or maybe erinyes. Does anyone have any suggestions, or something they'd especially like to see?
Alright, I was too shy to put up my list originally... but I'm getting better. ^_^
So, cards on the table:
Article 1: a particularly evangelistic kyton philosophy. All flavor; no new game rules or full stat blocks. Focuses on flavor/use in campaigns. Written, in editing.
Article 2: hags and covens. Crunch-focused; new hexes, feats, and a witch archetype (for hag-raised changelings). Written, in editing. Debating cutting some of the weaker content for some magic items.
Article 3: an account of a delve into a Jistkan foundry, and dealing with the undead and golems there. Focused on new magic items, many related to golems or ancient Jistka. Partially written, debating how to frame content for monster-centric theme. Might scrap for now.
I'd love to do something with medusae, or maybe erinyes. Does anyone have any suggestions, or something they'd especially like to see?
I believe your supposed to e-mail these to an e-mail on the first page. Them submission guidelines get me EVERYTIME.
Actually, now that I think about this.
I'm wondering if I have actually made a submission to this article of the WayFinder...
Is there a way to check to see if I have submitted anything?
Curse my faulty memory.
Alright, I was too shy to put up my list originally... but I'm getting better. ^_^
So, cards on the table:
Article 1: a particularly evangelistic kyton philosophy. All flavor; no new game rules or full stat blocks. Focuses on flavor/use in campaigns. Written, in editing.
Article 2: hags and covens. Crunch-focused; new hexes, feats, and a witch archetype (for hag-raised changelings). Written, in editing. Debating cutting some of the weaker content for some magic items.
Article 3: an account of a delve into a Jistkan foundry, and dealing with the undead and golems there. Focused on new magic items, many related to golems or ancient Jistka. Partially written, debating how to frame content for monster-centric theme. Might scrap for now.
I'd love to do something with medusae, or maybe erinyes. Does anyone have any suggestions, or something they'd especially like to see?
I believe your supposed to e-mail these to an e-mail on the first page. Them submission guidelines get me EVERYTIME.
Huh... Wow... I'm a jerk, I apologize. I should re-read this threat a lot more. Kalindlara, I do apologize. I was honestly trying to help. :_( Forgive me.