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AMA (Thurs April 30): Wolfgang Baur (Kobold Press, TSR, DUNGEON Magazine, D&D 5E Tyranny of Dragons, Advanced Races Compendium)
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<blockquote data-quote="Monkey King" data-source="post: 6605813" data-attributes="member: 22474"><p>Three tips for unpublished authors and game designers? Sure, but I'm feeling a bit cyncial about the industry today, so:</p><p></p><p>1) Write write write (and don't quit your day job too early). Turn out a lot of prose. Speed keeps you fed; quality keeps you respected. Find a balance. Do the work.</p><p>2) Marry someone with health insurance. (It sounds like a joke, but I can assure you that many RPG designers suffer terribly from insufficient access to health care, and some go bankrupt.)</p><p>3) Read. See what other writers are doing. Emulate their style if it appeals. Dissect their mistakes to figure out where they went wrong. Notice yourself when you are reading: how did that encounter get you excited? Which sections do you skip? Become a sharp critic of other people's prose and mechanics. Then, put one of your own manuscripts aside for a week or two, and read with fresh eyes: turn that critical faculty on your own work.</p><p></p><p>The biggest differences between then and now in publishing? There's so many! The field has overturned completely.</p><p></p><p>1) RPG books are now almost always in full color, and still affordable! </p><p>2) Everything is available in digital form as well as print. And digital editions are super-cheap.</p><p>3) There's 10x as many titles being produced. The proportion of crap is exactly the same (per <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Sturgeon%27s_law" target="_blank">Sturgeon</a>).</p><p>4) The audience is more fragmented than it was then.</p><p>5) International awareness and translations are far more common now. French, German, and Swedish games make it into English, not just the other way around.</p><p>6) Smaller publishers have a better chance at survival.</p><p>7) Bigger publishers are more answerable to their fans than they once were, for good and for ill.</p><p>8) Overall, the art's gotten better (I know, some will disagree!)</p><p>9) Licensing worlds/books/movies has gone from occasional to the default. The golden age of RPG worldbuilding may be over.</p><p>10) TV and movies drive the cultural conversation more now, and books less.</p><p></p><p>Man, I didn't think I had 10 now-and-thens in me. Thanks for the challenge question!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Monkey King, post: 6605813, member: 22474"] Three tips for unpublished authors and game designers? Sure, but I'm feeling a bit cyncial about the industry today, so: 1) Write write write (and don't quit your day job too early). Turn out a lot of prose. Speed keeps you fed; quality keeps you respected. Find a balance. Do the work. 2) Marry someone with health insurance. (It sounds like a joke, but I can assure you that many RPG designers suffer terribly from insufficient access to health care, and some go bankrupt.) 3) Read. See what other writers are doing. Emulate their style if it appeals. Dissect their mistakes to figure out where they went wrong. Notice yourself when you are reading: how did that encounter get you excited? Which sections do you skip? Become a sharp critic of other people's prose and mechanics. Then, put one of your own manuscripts aside for a week or two, and read with fresh eyes: turn that critical faculty on your own work. The biggest differences between then and now in publishing? There's so many! The field has overturned completely. 1) RPG books are now almost always in full color, and still affordable! 2) Everything is available in digital form as well as print. And digital editions are super-cheap. 3) There's 10x as many titles being produced. The proportion of crap is exactly the same (per [URL="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Sturgeon%27s_law"]Sturgeon[/URL]). 4) The audience is more fragmented than it was then. 5) International awareness and translations are far more common now. French, German, and Swedish games make it into English, not just the other way around. 6) Smaller publishers have a better chance at survival. 7) Bigger publishers are more answerable to their fans than they once were, for good and for ill. 8) Overall, the art's gotten better (I know, some will disagree!) 9) Licensing worlds/books/movies has gone from occasional to the default. The golden age of RPG worldbuilding may be over. 10) TV and movies drive the cultural conversation more now, and books less. Man, I didn't think I had 10 now-and-thens in me. Thanks for the challenge question! [/QUOTE]
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AMA (Thurs April 30): Wolfgang Baur (Kobold Press, TSR, DUNGEON Magazine, D&D 5E Tyranny of Dragons, Advanced Races Compendium)
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