Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Drew Baker" data-source="post: 3420505" data-attributes="member: 5342">You too can make tens of dollars in the game industry!When people at conventions ask me about working in the game industry that's what I tell them.  I forget which freelance writer I got that from (Jim Keiley?  Zach Bush?  Ken Hite?  Geoff Grabowski?), but it applies to illustrators just as well.I started freelancing for RPGs in 1998, fresh out of art school.  The first job I got was $130 per page (mainly 1/4 page illustrations and 1/8 page mugshots, mind you), paid after publication, Work For Hire.  A terrible, terrible arrangement and I knew it, but it was something I wanted to work on so I went ahead any way.  After I sent in my drawings the company went under.  Compared to other people who'd worked for them I was lucky since they actually sent back my originals.  Also, I was only out fees for a single project, not multiple books.  Years later, during the heady days of the d20 boom, I had worked my way up to $120 per page for All Rights.   But at least I was getting paid... eventually.  Most of the time.  I got into CCGs late in 2002 or 2003.  They're better, but that clearly didn't take much.  Most non-Magic card games pay between $100 and $300 per card, and again, typically All Rights to WFH.  Anachronism promises/promised more than twice that but, in true game industry form, hasn't paid for the last two published sets.  I know I'm not a trusted regular around here like Storn, but I'm sure he'll back me up that these are pretty typical stories for the hobby game industry.   I think it's important for Bethany -- or anyone else thinking about doing rpg freelancing -- to have an idea of what it's really like.  Understand freelancing is not at all the same as working on things you're interested in for yourself.  How often do you try to cram a scene of clashing armies, including 4 recognizable characters and a particular geographic location, into a 4"x8" rectangle?  Now imagine they're characters you don't care about and you're being offered $60, but not for at least two months after you're finished (publication +30 days).  I know it made me pretty miserable to work under those conditions.Bethany, your work is really excellent and fun to look at.  You'll be much better off doing portfolio pieces and self promotion in pursuit of a bountiful career than getting into anything I've seen in RPGs.--Drew (who really isn't as grumpy an old man as it sounds.)</blockquote>

Verification