Have you been published? Share your experiences here.

[MarkAHart]

Napftor,

Thanks for the link -- much appreciated. The point you raise about buying gaming products and the social interaction part of it is well taken. Where I live (Cedar Rapids, IA, a city of about 100,000), we have no game shops at all...If one existed, I would much rather pay a bit more and support someone locally than order online.

One thing that I would enjoy reading would be your experiences (if you were willing and had a spare moment) about working with co-authors and the lead developer, even just some general thoughts. From what I can tell, this is an aspect of RPG writing that is seldom mentioned or discussed.

I also took a gander at your resumé and was quite impressed with the breadth and depth of your publication record. Kudos to all of your hard work, and congratulations. I can only hope I do as well one day.

Zhaneel,

Thanks for the links. I enjoyed reading about your journey, and I look forward to reading the next segment. Reading about your passion for the work is very motivating.

***
I would enjoy reading about anyone else's experience entering the d20 publishing world, the ups and downs, the hidden things that can trip you up, the surprises, and the successes...if a similar, related thread pops up elsewhere on the boards, I'd like to hear about it.

 

[GreyWanderer]

I've also had several articles accepted by Dragon recently (the first of which is due out in the July issue on Lord Erebus and his Darkness Elementals...PLUG!!!).
Anyway, as was mentioned in a previous post, one of the more difficult things in writing these articles is that there are so many d20 sources to check. I'm currently writing another article; yesterday, I bought the Eberron Campaign setting rulebook, and noticed the name of an important spell in my article had been used by them for something else (totally unrelated). So know, I've got to change it.
Definately worth the effort (as far as I'm concerned, part of the reason to write - beyond seeing your name in print - is to make enough money to by more rulebooks!), just hard to keep track.

Grey

 

[MarkAHart]

GreyWanderer,

Congrats on the DRAGON articles! I look forward to reading the one coming out in July (I imagine that issue is shipping next week?).

I know that DRAGON recently updated and changed their submission guidelines to be consistent with their new format...but as of yet, I have not seen a similar update for DUNGEON. Have you heard anything regarding this? Since DUNGEON will be for DMs and DRAGON for players (& DMs), there are things I would like to submit to DUNGEON, but don't want to waste their time with articles they don't want.

Of course, with the summer convention season upon us (although I am unable to participate this year), I imagine that many publishers, editors and companies are buried in work and travel, and the workloads become even more Herculean...

 

[WizarDru]

2. I'm not a rules guy. Synthesizing the new races, feats, prestige classes, narcotics, weapons, et al. - that was more difficult writing for me. I'd find that I would fly through a chapter on regional trade, for example, only to bog down when I attempted to apply racial traits to a new PC race. Telling stories, for me, is easier than designing game mechanics. But, justifiably so, customers expect both "crunch" and "fluff" in these sorts of works, and I wanted to do what I could to appease anyone who picks up a copy of the book.

Horse feathers, sir.

Don't let him fool you, folks. Destan knows his rules as well as anybody. The trickiness came from balancing races with very interesting abilities, and his full force effort to make mechanics with any eye towards maintaining a certain level of quality. Anyone can create a new race...the trick (and the work) is in making sure that the race works both contextually to the game and the core. The Valus features some new races and modificiations to existing races and classes. Destan's dedication to making sure they all worked, and more importantly doing so under the gun of a tight deadline, is probably why he lists it as a low point.

Frankly, the whole experience reinfored to me how well D&D 3e/3.5e holds together as a ruleset. That, and the fact that Ippizicus Childeater is one baaaaaaad mutha.....

 

[GreyWanderer]

GreyWanderer,

Congrats on the DRAGON articles! I look forward to reading the one coming out in July (I imagine that issue is shipping next week?).

I know that DRAGON recently updated and changed their submission guidelines to be consistent with their new format...but as of yet, I have not seen a similar update for DUNGEON. Have you heard anything regarding this?

I hope so (shipping, that is) - I'm very excited.

I can't help you with DUNGEON; I actually don't read it. As I'm a player 90% of the time, I don't want to read something, then ruin it if my DM throws it at us a few months (or even years) latter.

But I would recommend the DRAGON guidlines to start; they cover a lot of ground rules and formatting. You could also E-mail the editors at Paizo and ask them; they're very helpful.

Grey.

 

[dravot]

That, and the fact that Ippizicus Childeater is one baaaaaaad mutha.....

Shut yo' mouth!

I'm just talking about Ippizicus!

*whistles innocently and walks away*

 

[pensiv]

I've seen a couple threads get the Shaft like this lately. I think we have some serial Shaft-ing going on.

 

[Napftor]

First I need to congratulate Destan since I didn't do so in my first post! What kind of fellow writer am I? Congrats and I'm looking forward to reading your stuff! Now, on with my minor hijacking...

Napftor,
...One thing that I would enjoy reading would be your experiences (if you were willing and had a spare moment) about working with co-authors and the lead developer, even just some general thoughts. From what I can tell, this is an aspect of RPG writing that is seldom mentioned or discussed.

Well, working with co-authors is what I really started out doing. After winning the Mystic Eye contest (as mentioned in that interview), I was asked to stay on and write for the Foul Locales series. While the first book was not a collaborative project, these later ones were (I know, there are only two others at this point). There were 3 of us writing for Beyond the Walls (the 2nd book in the series). It began by throwing about ideas, getting the ones we individually wanted approved by the lead developer, and then writing them. We made sure that we didn't overlap too much in terms of content and Encounter Level and that was pretty much it! Simple and easy because of the great folks I was working with (and perhaps, that we didn't need to look over each other's shoulders for the writing stage).

Another type of collaborative effort again came with Mystic Eye's Dragonstar mega-adventure Raw Recruits. Here the overarching plotline for the four modules was laid out by the powers that be. There were 4 writers and we decided which adventure we would like to pen. Here, as before, the co-writers were very easy to get along with (these being myself, Charles Rice, Andrew Thompson, and Doug Herring in case you're interested). We decided how to progress this uber-plot from points A through E. You had to be a little more informative with what you were doing than for the Foul Locales because of the adventure nature of the product. Specific plot points needed to be addressed in each adventure and you did not want to do, say, two shoot-em-up adventures in a row. I had the good fortune of doing the first adventure (and the last 10 pages of the final one) and was more than happy to pen what many experience as their first foray into the DS universe. Both of these (and the other books I've worked on collaboratively) depend on the nature of the other writers. My advice: Treat others as you would like to be treated.

I also took a gander at your resumé and was quite impressed with the breadth and depth of your publication record. Kudos to all of your hard work, and congratulations. I can only hope I do as well one day.

Heh. I wish it was a bit more expansive, myself. Look for my first solo work from Goodman Games sometime this fall. I'm finishing my second solo work this weekend (the time travel book from my interview). Thanks for the kudos! And you're credits with DRAGON will go far in the industry. More work won't be far behind. Like most of us, I'm just happy to give back to the industry which has brought me so much happiness over the years.

 

[Napftor]

I honestly don't want to kill this thread. Please continue to elaborate on the experiences of getting published.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Hey Destan,

Congrats on the book. I was trying to place you and then remembered your map. That will be a sweet piece of work if it is printed nicely. I must say that I don’t read many story hours – just Byzantium on the Shannon and I read one of Jon Rogers to see if he was all that and a bag of chips [He was]. I peaked in to check out your story hour and I must say….wozer you can write. I think I will have to bust out the wallet when it comes out.

Best wishes,