Some thoughts on Eyros: The Professional Version
Okay, everyone. I've been giving some more thought to the idea raised earlier--specifically, that of writing up Eyros as an actual, professional-grade product, and then seeing if we can't find a PDF publisher to market it. We wouldn't want the project to get
too large, or
too detailed. First, really big PDFs don't sell that well, and second, there's only so much effort I (or, I'm sure, any of you) can devote to this. I'm picturing something not unlike the Ghelspad or Termana Gazetteers from Sword & Sorcery.
Thing is, if I'm going to head this up, I
must treat it like a professional development gig. Not only is that the only way to ensure that we wind up with a professional-quality product, but it's the only way I can handle it between other contracts and still maintain my sanity. I'll warn you, I'm a really nice guy, but I can be pretty strict when it comes to development duties.
And make no mistake, a professional product cannot be a collaboration of equals.
Someone has to be in charge. That's not hubris speaking; it's a simple truth, and one I've seen in action many times over. I'm delighted to listen to suggestions and requests, but at the end of the day, if I'm the developer on this, I have to be the final arbiter.
So, if I
am to be the developer of The Sovereign Dominion of Eyros PDF, let me tell you what I'm going to require.
First and foremost, I need volunteer authors. I can develop a product this size between and around other gigs, but I can't write it all myself. Any potential authors need to have more than good ideas; they have to be able to write decent prose. It doesn't all have to be brilliant or flowing--polishing the text is part of my task as developer--but it needs to be at least competent. A solid grasp of (American) English spelling, punctuation, and grammar is a must.
Authors will be assigned sections to write, of probably between 2,000 and 6,000 words each. If you want to know what that translates to in "real" book terms, most RPG companies average between 650 and 750 words per page in their published books.
There will be specific formatting guidelines to follow. Since I'll need to compile all the various files into a single document, they will all have to use the same formatting tags, the same fonts, the same spacing, etc. Don't worry, that's a
lot easier than it sounds, and I'll provide the necessary documentation to all writers.
While I'm happy to consider preferences where possible, I cannot guarantee that writers will be given their choice of which parts of the product to write. There's a lot of material to be parceled out, and I have to be the ultimate arbiter of who gets what. Every author will receive an outline of the book as a whole (which I will write up ahead of time), and then assigned specific sections to work on.
Writers will be expected to communicate with each other during the process. If you have a question about a specific city, you should e-mail the person writing about that specific city.
Above all, writers must take this
seriously, even though it's an unpaid gig (or at best lightly paid, depending on how things work out). This project can't happen if people aren't willing to buckle down and actually get their sections done. We may even need to impose deadlines (though I promise, they'll be reasonable). This project can't happen if writers can't take editing and criticism--and I
will send sections back for rewriting or reformatting if they need it. That's not a commentary on anyone's writing skill; it's just part and parcel of the job. I've been doing this professionally for over four years, and I still get redlines (often heavy ones) back from my own developers.
Similarly, be aware in advance that some of your text
will change during development and editing. I may reword sentences for clarity or flow (or simply to make sure the whole book has a single "voice"). I may slightly alter ideas, if I feel doing so makes them mesh better with other ideas already presented. And of course, I'll need to change a few ideas to correspond to the rules of the D20 license. Again, you shouldn't take that as a slight on your writing; it's simply part of the gig.
Obviously, the book will have to include all (or at least most) of the material found in this thread, and once a writer receives his assignment, he'll be expected to heavily familiarize himself with all relevant posts. But there's also going to be a lot of room for you to create yoru own stuff, to fill in the gaps that the thread hasn't yet addressed. Please try to make sure it matches the general flavor of what's been presented here. If you want to include a
really funky idea, ask first.
I see this book as being primarily flavor and description. We might include a
few rules and mechanics, but not too many.
I don't know if we're going to be able to do much in the way of art, other than the maps. If any aspiring artists want to volunteer some pieces, I'd be delighted to look at them, but only if everyone who does so promises they won't take offense if their work isn't accepted. I'm very picky about making sure the art feels appropriate to the text, and I'd rather have no art than art that doesn't feel right.
What I would like to do once we have a very rough first draft assembled, is to send a copy out to all the authors. Each author would then read over the entire document, both for proofreading purposes--the more eyes, the better, when it comes to catching mistakes--and to make sure nobody
strongly objects to the new material someone else has introduced.
If I sound at all dictatorial, I apologize. But as I said, this is what I would expect of my writers on any other gig I was developing, and I just can't do any differently here and still make this work. If the above hasn't scared everyone off--or convinced you all that you'd rather have a different project head/developer
--we can talk further. Start thinking about whether or not you'd be willing to put in the effort to be one of the project's actual authors.
(I wouldn't want to start this yet, though. Let's allow the thread to grow a little more.)