davewoodrum
First Post
One thing that helped me out in the beginning was publishing my own non-commercial grade pdfs for free at places like rpghoard.com and community3e.com
These worked in conjunction with keeping an eye out for open calls for writers at rpgnews.com ...dot com dot com dot com, sorry.
I had released a few installments of the Good Baron Dave's equipment lists... scratchy lookwise and I was only half aware of what I was doing as a publisher...hence why I'm happy to just work as a staff writer.... when I sent an email to Tensen in regards to a gnome book. He happily informed me that he had already seen my work with the Good Baron Dave ventures and would beat me ever most severly (
) with his publisher's whip if I didn't immediately get started on standard items for gnomes and have something turned in by sun down.
....Well, okay that's maybe only 3/4 the way true in regards to how it all happened but Tensen does use the "virtual reality whip" on us from time to time if we start to get lazy....
Kai is correct in what has been said in regards to getting your name out... exposure is a must. There are many companies who have been known to welcome new writers with potential with open arms, but even these often have certain elements that they are looking for in particular. One of the big keys to the whole deal as well is asking yourself first "how bad do I want to do this".... you'd be surprised how many people who consider designing game products/writing etc. to be their life long dream really don't care about or even know how much to care about doing it to actually get it done...
I'm reasonably well "on the inside" now (at least with Dark Quest) and I spend most to all of my free time each day writing products... it has become my sole hobby and pasttime interest, and even days when I am sick or "just don't feel like doing it" I push myself to get something done.
You have to consider a degree of sacrifice too.... many people always tell me "never sell yourself short" and to some degree I agree with them (well, about 40% agreement)... but you can't always be on the "greedy" side if you hope to have others open their doors to allow you to get your foot in. In the beginning you'll be lucky if you can simply make your gaming hobby pay for itself through your work... and it may remain this way for a few years or better.
It's worth it though, and there's a world of benefits once you have crossed over from the consumer side to the family of designers, writers, artists, and publishers....
These worked in conjunction with keeping an eye out for open calls for writers at rpgnews.com ...dot com dot com dot com, sorry.
I had released a few installments of the Good Baron Dave's equipment lists... scratchy lookwise and I was only half aware of what I was doing as a publisher...hence why I'm happy to just work as a staff writer.... when I sent an email to Tensen in regards to a gnome book. He happily informed me that he had already seen my work with the Good Baron Dave ventures and would beat me ever most severly (
) with his publisher's whip if I didn't immediately get started on standard items for gnomes and have something turned in by sun down. ....Well, okay that's maybe only 3/4 the way true in regards to how it all happened but Tensen does use the "virtual reality whip" on us from time to time if we start to get lazy....
Kai is correct in what has been said in regards to getting your name out... exposure is a must. There are many companies who have been known to welcome new writers with potential with open arms, but even these often have certain elements that they are looking for in particular. One of the big keys to the whole deal as well is asking yourself first "how bad do I want to do this".... you'd be surprised how many people who consider designing game products/writing etc. to be their life long dream really don't care about or even know how much to care about doing it to actually get it done...
I'm reasonably well "on the inside" now (at least with Dark Quest) and I spend most to all of my free time each day writing products... it has become my sole hobby and pasttime interest, and even days when I am sick or "just don't feel like doing it" I push myself to get something done.
You have to consider a degree of sacrifice too.... many people always tell me "never sell yourself short" and to some degree I agree with them (well, about 40% agreement)... but you can't always be on the "greedy" side if you hope to have others open their doors to allow you to get your foot in. In the beginning you'll be lucky if you can simply make your gaming hobby pay for itself through your work... and it may remain this way for a few years or better.
It's worth it though, and there's a world of benefits once you have crossed over from the consumer side to the family of designers, writers, artists, and publishers....
