d20 D&D publishing Should I?

[winky51]

Could have sworn I posted this earlier today.

Anyways. This is Al and I run the site D&D Adventures (www.dndadventure.com). It gets 2000-3000 visits a day, it is ranked VERY well in Google (1st pages) for many D&D key phrases. I feel this is a good marketing tool.

I write a lot of original material for the site and I was thinking of being my own publishers. My wife is an editor but neither of us are artists. The forum members enjoy my work and I have been playing for over 25 years. I feel I have lots of creative talent even if my writing skills are not top notch. I really enjoy writing adventures for D&D so why not take this fantastic marketing websites and use it to my advantage. So a couple quetions.

Yes I did pay $20 for the e-publisher package, very useful.

Should I go about it on my own or use a publisher?

What tools can I use to make my job easier? I find the most tedious part is making NPCs, Maps, Monsters. I searched for a few programs that assist (like an NPC maker) but I would like some suggestions.

I feel the story interaction and PC challenge are really the meat of writing a good adventure. Could that make up for the lack of graphics and fancy artwork? In other words good material over flashy looks.

One major project I worked on was this. Now of course the grammar is not the best nor the information presentation but at the time my site was for fun as a hobby.
http://www.dndadventure.com/dnda_campaigns.html

Thanks Al

 

[Prest0]

Think of it like woodworking. It's a hobby, the process of doing it is rewarding, and if you sell the results then you can make some cash. Enough to pay for all the nifty woodworking tools you "invested" in? Maaaaaybe. After a long while. Enough to eat out every once in a while or buy more stuff? Sure. But don't get into it with the expectation of making a lot of money. Just do it because you enjoy writing adventures. When you're done with the adventure, why not sell it?

As far as whether you're better off self-publishing or going with an established publisher, I'm a BIG proponant for going with an established publisher. They have the resources, the procedures, and the experience. Running a business, even a hobby business, can be a big headache. If you enjoy writing adventures, write adventures and let other people worry about marketing, accounting, art, and so on.

 

[winky51]

Ok

Can you give any suggestions for publiushers that possibly would take in a new writer?

Al

 

[Nellisir]

Can you give any suggestions for publiushers that possibly would take in a new writer?

Email the pdf publishers that put out the products you like the best and pitch your ideas to them.

 

[Morrus]

Can you give any suggestions for publiushers that possibly would take in a new writer?

There are many, many publishers out there.

I don't think you'll have a lot of luck with the major print publishers (most do not accept unsolicited submissions any more - it is worth looking, though), but many PDF publishers will likely be interested.

If you look at the EN World GameStore, you'll find loads of PDF publishers, links to their websites and their contact details. Check out their websites for any info on submissions - each will have their own guidleines.

At the least, you'll likely need a publish-worthy sample of your writing, so it's worth writing something up beforehand.

If you self-publish, you'll need to get your product available at the main online PDF retail outlets. EN World GameStore and RPGNow Edge will accept new publishers; DTRPG does, but I believe they want to see your stuff first; there are a couple of others, but those should be your main focus.

Don't rely on your own website to make your sales - you will need to market externally. That can be a pain, but it's worth doing. For d20 stuff, here at EN World is your main marketing venue; for non d20 stuff, think about RPGnet.

 

[winky51]

Ahhh

Ok I will go that route then and use my websites as an added marketing venue. The site makes good money as it is right now. I took the time to download all the adventures on WOTC to see how best to organize my writings.

When I go through a publisher what do I have to worry about?

Art?
Maps? (detailed nice and pretty or I can use simple tools like dungeons crafter and the publisher takes that as a base and does it nice?)
Software recommendations on generating NPCs and monster NPCs from many sources? (Campaign Suite?)
I find writing NPCs and monsters the most tedious part of writing, 3E statistics.

 

[Prest0]

Publishers are generally responsible for art and maps. If you do that much, then you're halfway to publishing it yourself and should consider imprinting. Imprinting means setting yourself up as a "studio" that produces a finished piece (writing/editing/art/maps/layout) but publishes through a bigger, well-known company to take advantage of their existing customer base. Generally imprinting means you get a much bigger cut of the pie since you've done most of the work. The downside is that you've done most of the work.

For your first few adventures, I'd focus on your strength, which hopefully is writing. Craft a well-written adventure and make sure it is carefully edited. Get a friend who really knows grammer to make it bleed red. Format your manuscript in a way that makes it easy to convert to layout. That means using Word's style sheets for Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and normal at the very minimum. If a map is necessary for your adventure, just sketch it out on graph paper and scan it in. That way the publisher will have something to go by and will decrease the likelihood of mistakes.

When you shop for publishers, ask how often they pay and by what method-- check or paypal. Ask how (or if) they market your work. Insist on a contract. Many publishers in the RPG business, and especially PDF publishers, don't really understand how copyright works. Educate yourself on the difference between copyright and publishing rights. YOU own the copyright on your work. You're selling them (for royalties or whatever) publishing rights to your copyright generally for a fixed period of time (although sometimes indefinitely). The only time you actually give up the rights to your work is for something called "work for hire", which is exactly what it sounds like.

Anyway, like I said, do your own research and learn the ins and outs of copyright and publishing. Haunt these publishing threads (and read old threads from the last two or three years here; there are some gems), and check out similar threads over at RPG.net. Education is your both your armor and your sword. Keep asking questions.

 

[xnrdcorex]

I know I wasn't the one that asked in the first place, but I gotta say Presto that was actually really informative and useful. My friend and I have been takeing some time out of our week to write some role-playing style articles and plan on writing adventures together soon. We haven't approached any publishers yet becuase we weren't sure where to start, but reading useful things like your post helps.
Thanks!

 

[Lilith]

Hey, if you still need an artist, contact me through my website (it's in my sig).