How much would it cost to hire a rpg writer?

[Rothe]

....

PS IME people who get paid $s per word are more likely getting a lump sum based on the type rather than length of the article or are fulfilling a contract that works out to X per word, usually where what the magazine is really paying for is the research and legwork that goes into a relatively small article.

You are correct on the aspect that the $+ per word requires interviews and some legwork. This takes much more time than the actual writing. The article length is usually set pretty strictly to X words and you get the flat amount per word, sometimes more if the extra words are interesting. Payment is usually good in this area, rarely does anyone get more than 60 days out, payment due upon acceptance not publication.

 

[interwyrm]

I'll do it for $0.005 - $0.01 per word - but my writing experience is more in history papers, english essays, and my own gaming materials, as opposed to work of a professional nature.

Not that I'm telling you what to do... but you do realize that by offering 1/4 the going rate, you are undercutting other writers and contributing to lower pay for everyone, right?

I don't want to get into politics, so I'll just say this... you should seriously consider if taking a job for substandard wages is a good idea, both for you and for everyone.

Edit: Just reread the OP and realized that Turanil is not planning to make any money on this. That might make this less of an issue... but having a lot of free RPG material floating around also increases supply. I don't know a whole lot about the economics of these things, and I don't have a personal stake in it... it just seems to me like it could cause problems.

 

[Turanil]

Not that I'm telling you what to do... but you do realize that by offering 1/4 the going rate, you are undercutting other writers and contributing to lower pay for everyone, right?

I don't want to get into politics, so I'll just say this... you should seriously consider if taking a job for substandard wages is a good idea, both for you and for everyone.

Edit: Just reread the OP and realized that Turanil is not planning to make any money on this. That might make this less of an issue... but having a lot of free RPG material floating around also increases supply. I don't know a whole lot about the economics of these things, and I don't have a personal stake in it... it just seems to me like it could cause problems.

Well, in my mind this job offering was more like adding hobby plus some money. Something I did with my drawings when I made a couple of fantasy pics for a tenth of what I would have been paid in advertising agencies.

As for payment, and as suggested by another poster, my intent is to pay (using Paypal) whenever 1 or 2 pages at a time are submitted. This project is not in hurry too. This is purely for personnal / hobby purposes.

As far as giving yet more free stuff on the Internet? I don't think it will cause problems ever. There is already so much stuff out there, that it would just be like adding a glass of water into a lake. I expect a lot of people (as far as 1000 to 2000 persons) downloading it, as they download most RPG things, to vaguely read it, then store it on the hard-drive, and that's it. Now, I have great d20 supplements: Medieval Player's Manual, Legends of the Dark Ages, Legends of Excalibur, and Relics & Rituals: Excalibur. The problem with these supplements, is that they focus on game mechanics and are rather poor on setting info. I guess that my setting could be an opportunity to use these books...

 

[Whisper72]

Hmm... considering the total costs, don't know how many words you'd end up with, but when I wrote up my own campaign in Word once, it quickly added up to about 50,000 words, just fluff, no rules. Just to give an indication of the amount of words one could expect... hope that helps...

 

[Turanil]

Hmm... considering the total costs, don't know how many words you'd end up with, but when I wrote up my own campaign in Word once, it quickly added up to about 50,000 words, just fluff, no rules. Just to give an indication of the amount of words one could expect... hope that helps...

How many A4 pages 50,000 words do? At 2 cents per word I guess it's 1000$? Well, I think that I don't want to go beyond 1000$ (and only if I get all the professional work that clients promised, so I can afford it without too much of a pain). In any case, I already have much stuff written, but it needs to be put into a coherent whole and gaps filled.

 

[Stormborn]

How many A4 pages 50,000 words do? At 2 cents per word I guess it's 1000$? Well, I think that I don't want to go beyond 1000$ (and only if I get all the professional work that clients promised, so I can afford it without too much of a pain). In any case, I already have much stuff written, but it needs to be put into a coherent whole and gaps filled.

About 200 at a rate of roughly 250 words on a typed double spaced page.