OnlineDM
Adventurer
I know that lots of people are thinking of submitting material to Dungeon or Dragon Magazine now that the submission window is open (October 1 through November 30), so I thought I'd share my experiences with my submission.
Full details, including the link to the version of the adventure I submitted and the submission and rejection emails, are on my blog. The adventure itself is available here.
I submitted an adventure pitch to Dungeon Magazine. I sent my email an hour after the submission window opened on October 1, and I received a rejection letter from Chris Perkins on Monday morning, the first business day after the window opened.
I really appreciated the quick response on my submission. I also appreciated that Chris talked about WHY he was passing, rather than just saying no.
The lessons I learned are:
1. Feel free to write a full draft of the piece you're submitting in advance, but don't expect it to help you get your submission accepted. They have a lot of submissions to go through, and they only have time to read the pitch itself, not your full draft.
2. For adventures at least, focus on creativity rather than execution. I think my adventure is quite good, with interesting combats and puzzles. However, the plot is fairly mundane - collect the MacGuffins, stop the bad guy. The plot is what makes them decide to accept or reject the pitch, not the details.
3. Do your research. If you submit something that's similar to a recently-published piece, you're going to be turned down. My submission suffered in part because an upcoming adventure has a similar villain. I couldn't have known that, of course, but if it had been similar to a recent adventure's villain, it also would have been rejected.
4. Don't be afraid of rejection. In my case, I received a very nice, professional, helpful email. Even though they decided not to publish my adventure, I was glad I submitted it.
Full details, including the link to the version of the adventure I submitted and the submission and rejection emails, are on my blog. The adventure itself is available here.
I submitted an adventure pitch to Dungeon Magazine. I sent my email an hour after the submission window opened on October 1, and I received a rejection letter from Chris Perkins on Monday morning, the first business day after the window opened.
I really appreciated the quick response on my submission. I also appreciated that Chris talked about WHY he was passing, rather than just saying no.
The lessons I learned are:
1. Feel free to write a full draft of the piece you're submitting in advance, but don't expect it to help you get your submission accepted. They have a lot of submissions to go through, and they only have time to read the pitch itself, not your full draft.
2. For adventures at least, focus on creativity rather than execution. I think my adventure is quite good, with interesting combats and puzzles. However, the plot is fairly mundane - collect the MacGuffins, stop the bad guy. The plot is what makes them decide to accept or reject the pitch, not the details.
3. Do your research. If you submit something that's similar to a recently-published piece, you're going to be turned down. My submission suffered in part because an upcoming adventure has a similar villain. I couldn't have known that, of course, but if it had been similar to a recent adventure's villain, it also would have been rejected.
4. Don't be afraid of rejection. In my case, I received a very nice, professional, helpful email. Even though they decided not to publish my adventure, I was glad I submitted it.
