Have you been published? Share your experiences here.

[Wombat]

Let's see...

I've published 2 articles in the long-defunct Different Worlds -- the magazine was put out by Chaosium and I found that the company lived up to its name. I never knew who I would be talking to next, who would decide that my articles were to be in or out, and it took a long time to get paid. Overall a very frustrating experience. I floated a couple ideas for Pendragon adventures, but that went nowhere.

Then I had an article in Hermes Portal. That was easy -- the Ars Magica community is so small, they are hungry for articles! I got paid with an extended subscription and everyone was happy. I also have a fair amount of playtest credits with Atlas, but that's not the same as publishing, now is it? Nope, not by a long shot.

Someday I would love to put a longer article together, or maybe a supplement, but to date none of my ideas have been picked up.

 

[WayneLigon]

So far, I've done The Cadre, Archetype: Angel and Archetype: Demon for Devil's Workshop (And working on Archetype: Demigod). I did an article on elven subraces tied to dragon types for d20 Weekly; got another article accepted by them but they folded before it could be published. I'll re-edit that for 3.5 and send it back in for consideration in Pyramid this next week. Other stuff is in the works.

It's been a great experience so far.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

I've written.. um, about 25 sourcebooks and articles so far, all but 4 or 5 of them solo books. Most running at about 128 pages.

It's been a good ride so far, though I wish the money was better.

The most interesting aspect of writing game material, to me, is seeing the different values different customers place on aspects of the work. I've had more than one set of reviews where reviewer #1's favourite part of a book was reviewer #2's least favourite bit, and vice versa.

The most frustrating thing is perfectly executing an idea, or even a bit of flavour text in your head, and then finding yourself unable to commit to paper in that perfect form. There's a disconnect between brain and fingers which can be annoying at times, particularly once you've been writing for about 10 hours straight.

Actually, frustration #2 is going to Amazon and seeing half your books credited to some other author in the database. That's annoying.

When I write, I like to challenge myself by proposing at least one new concept which I have no earthly idea how I'm going to execute - it's my personal puzzle. It helps keep me interested and focused, and so far, it seems to have worked out well.

I'm starting to branch out from d20 stuff now, though I still have a lot of ideas for d20 land. There are lots of other games I want to write for, and lots of other personal projects left to do - I've been making some minor inroads in the comics industry, as that has always been my first love, but I can't see myself leaving game writing behind.

We'll see. The future's a bit uncertain for me right now, since I'm back freelancing after spending most of a year contracted to one company. Like I said, it's been a good ride, and I've found more success, and faster success than most. I'm fortunate in that, I think.

Patrick Younts.

 

[Wycen]

I enjoy reading these threads, partly because they inspire me and partly because it is very interesting to see these insights into writing and the publishing industry.

I myself am dabbling a bit and expect my first stuff will come from Khan's Press. I've also have something accepted from Storybones.net however I haven't heard hide nor hair of them in a few months. But this raises something I've also noticed. It takes patience sometimes to see your work. I've got a few submissions still waiting for the publishers to whittle through and decide what to use, not to mention the time it takes for layout, art and everything else.

Also, most of what I've written has been solo, with input of course from friends or playtesters. I did try last year at the very beginning of my interest to get my game group motivated to create something for a publisher, but they kept making excuses until I finally realized I was the only person with real enthusiasm for the idea. On the other hand, I had a really good experience with the Cooperative Dungeon right here at Enworld. Perhaps the difference lies in that fact that all the work was done online, on a computer, rather than in the flesh?

 

[Vigilance]

I decided I wanted to try a hand at this writing thing about two years ago (maybe three- time is flying) and after several enquiries with publishers that met with a lukewarm response I decided to self-publish.

The results of that effort was the Vigilance rpg a superhero d20 game which quickly entered the top 100 all time at RPGNow (where it remains to this day).

That opened some doors for me and led to me writing an expanded version of the game for Mystic Eye as well as writing part of the Raw Recruits Dragonstar adventure.

At this time I also picked up some editing work for RPGObjects working on Terrors of the Twisted Earth and Metal Gods while continuing to self-publish. I did a science fiction game called Prometheus Rising.

It was then that Chris, the owner of RPGObjects said to me "I think the space combat chapter of Prometheus would make a great book all by itself if we expanded it".

So a 30 page chapter was expanded to over 100 and became Blood and Space.

Since then I have written a series of well-received d20 Modern sourcebooks for RPGObjects including Blood and Relics, Blood and Fists and Blood and Guts.

This year I published my first fantasy game and my first hardcover, Legends of Excalibur, a d20 Arthurian game.

It's been a fun ride for me so far full of twists and turns, like any good roller coaster.

Chuck

 

[Cam Banks]

I've contributed to most of the Dragonlance product line from Sovereign Press as a freelancer: Dragonlance Campaign Setting (published by WotC), Age of Mortals, Dragonlance DM's Screen, the Key of Destiny supermodule, and the upcoming Towers of High Sorcery and War of the Lance sourcebooks. I co-authored the Bestiary of Krynn, which was a really substantial load of work, and it managed to convince my family that I wasn't completely certifiable to still be playing these games in my thirties.

My experience has been very positive. I was assigned work along with the rest of the Whitestone Council early on, after Sovereign Press acquired the license to the setting. Prior to that I'd helped work on the fan-directed Dragonlance Adventures 3rd edition which never saw the light of day. After a while, Sovereign Press were able to determine where my specific talents were best applied and gave me more work.

I think the key to my success so far has been professionalism and respect for all stakeholders and contributors - this includes conduct by email or Instant Messager, sticking to deadlines, volunteering work, etc. There have been times where i've disagreed with folks and voiced my opinions, but as a freelancer you're really being paid to do what they want you to do, as best as you can do it. Thus, if the direction doesn't always agree with where you believe it should go, it's best to suck it up and learn to be a little more flexible!

Anyway, it's good to hear from others who have been successful in taking a hobby a step further. As a player, DM, former manager of a gaming store, and now freelance writer, the many different points of view I've come across has been a constant source of inspiration and enlightenment.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Mytholder]

Hmm.

I started by doing a little bit of freelancing on Nobilis and Blue Planet, both of which I got as a result of doing stuff for cons. In around July of 2002, I made a serious effort to get published and build up a side career in freelancing. I got gigs with AEG, Atlas, FFG and White Wolf, then I applied for and eventually got a full-time job with Mongoose. (Which was rather well timed, as the computer company I was with downsided at the start of 2003 and I lost my old job.)

Since then, I've been with Mongoose fulltime. It's mostly been positive; the hours are long and the job can be hard. Being a staff writer has both the best and worst bits of being a freelancer - you've got a certain degree of freedom and you can be creative, and you don't need to worry about lining up work which is the usual big headache for a freelancer. That said, there are always deadlines and they're always next week.

I'm moderately happy with what I've done so far - I'm learning all the time, and it's a lot more fun than sitting there coding all day. It's been a fun ride...

 

[Celtavian]

re

Thanks for the publishing insights. Great to hear you are finally going to be able to see your "book on the shelf". Congratulations!!

 

[MarkAHart]

'Tis a humbling experience to realize just how much talent -- not even counting those from the illustrating side of the business, or other facets -- wanders through these messageboards.

 

[Ramien Meltides]

My beginnings are shrouded in mystery...well, no, they're not, but it sounds niftier that way. I began by freelancing my talents to Hero Games and Atlas Games on a few products, mostly kept my hand in by doing magazine articles, and eventually I graduated to working on sourcebooks and campaign settings. Strangely enough, I was able to parlay my experience into a full-time job with Games Workshop as an editor and that's where I am today.

I have to say that I've been very very lucky. I've worked with some great companies and some great people over the years, and after speaking with several colleagues, I discovered that most folks don't have quite such a nice way of things.

I guess my best advice to people would be:
1. Always stay polite and professional.
2. Keep a log of deadlines, due dates, when you last sent in a submission to Company X, and when you last heard from Company Z.
3. Be persistent! If you really want to work for somebody specific, don't give up if you don't hear from them for several months. I only stop attempting to contact someone if I don't hear from them for a YEAR, if that's any indication.
4. Go to conventions (especially Gen Con and Origins if you can make it). Not only can you make some contacts here, you can also meet several professionals and find out what works for them - and you also get motivated for your own work by seeing what's new and unusual on the shelves.

Some of my proudest moments as a RPG contributor include seeing some of my suggestons made fact in Complete Divine and having my Skills & Feats chapters for Sorcery & Steam turned into classes & prestige classes by another author. This thread is great, thanks for letting me chime in!

-Ross Watson