Green Knight
First Post
That's my intention, to, if I'm fortunate enough to be the winner. Sure, I'll waste some on frivolous stuff.
, but not $120,000 on junk. If I win I intend to put that towards my future.
My conscience stopped me from submitting.
- Thread starter RangerWickett
- Start date
- Status
That's my intention, to, if I'm fortunate enough to be the winner. Sure, I'll waste some on frivolous stuff.
, but not $120,000 on junk. If I win I intend to put that towards my future.
Mouseferatu
Hero
Right, because nobody else who's already got a company up and running knows what they're doing on the business and creative side of things.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a downer. And by all means, if that's what you want to do, give it a shot. If you can prove me wrong, I'll be the first person to eat crow and stand in line to shake your hand. But I think you'd be surprised at how profitable this industry's not. If you really want to get into this business, your best bet is to try to make it as a freelancer with some of the established companies--and to be prepared to do what you do because you like it, not because it's making you rich.
Last edited:
Ulrick said:
But that's the thing, you see. People who DO know what they're doing in business (I will leave judging creativity aside) are telling you "You can't do it." I think it's worth noting that the only people saying "This is a rip-off, WOTC is just robbing you, you can make far more money on your own" are, as near as I can tell, all people without any industry credits. Meanwhile, people WITH industry credits -- in some cases, people who already have their own publishing companies and thus have the infrastructure in place already -- are sending in submissions.
What does this tell you?
Is it possible all the 'insiders' are wrong and that only a Daring Young Innovator, Not Shackled By Preconceptions, is right? Sure. Is it *probable*? No. The reason people remember the times when the "outsider" proved to the "insiders" that what they all said "could not be done", could be done, is because it happens so rarely. Losers are forgotten by history, so memory is distorted. (Cyc, the AI experiment, once concluded that most people are famous, because all the people it was taught about were famous) Besides, it makes a better story. No one wants to hear of the brave young man who dared to climb the mountain that everyone said could not be climbed, and died halfway to the top.[1] Nine hundred ninety nine times out of 1000, when all the experts tell you it can't be done -- they're right. Sure, that 1 in a 1000 makes the history books, but the other 999 just make the welfare rolls. You believe you ARE that one? Cool. Thing is...so do the other 999. Ninety percent of all drivers think they're better than average. A major city in Nevada is built entirely on the fact that most people believe that the laws of mathematics don't apply to them.
So it goes.
Remember: You always lose every shot you don't take. And, statistically, most of those you do.
For every winner, there are thousands of losers. Odds are, you're one of them.
(The above quotes are from a calander I had once...wish I could find it again...)
[1]Oddly enough, though, most gamers love to recount the time "that the entire party got wiped out". What this says about gamers, I am not sure...
Heap Thaumaturgist
First Post
Ditto to the Liz-man.
... Can't leave it at that, though.
An aspiring writer who sneers at shackles upon his creativity is paramount to the aspiring advertising graphic designer who tells his boss that the return of art deco is below him and that he'll finish the contract in whatever style he chooses.
Writing is a craft and a profession. Anything else is a hobby. Some people really love their record collections, and I'm sure they'd be angry if people wanted to take some of those records out and call the collector a DJ.
I love my characters and my creations as much as anyone. Perhaps moreso.
I also understand that people exist outside of myself, with likes that may not match my own. These are the people that will purchase my ideas. If I want to be a writer, I have to make my ideas at once interesting and familiar, and be willing to work with others ... it is a collaborative art form.
I don't see that as relinquishing creativity, I see it as putting boundaries on parts of my creativity to allow growth in new directions. ... I find I work best with deadlines, and I love working within constraints almost as much as I like my pure creativity. I like taking what I "need" in a situation and making something new with it.
So, from that direction, I agree wholeheartedly with RW. It would be pointless to apply for a job you really don't want, and just as much so to enter a contest you don't want the prize of. "The Money" is a big deal ... I have to totally disagree with anybody who feels they'll make more on their own. Do some market research. 120K isn't "a little money now".
120K for a creation is a LOT of money now. If your creation is a hobby and not a job, then it would have been a bad idea to enter. Even if you got chosen, backing out means someone else who wanted it got beat out of an empty spot. If this is about a career or a job ... 120K for an idea is too sweet to pass up.
Personally, I'd write them two 100 pagers on totally different but equally marketable settings for 60K each. That's a year of work on each one and me not feeling taken advantage of at all. Especially if I'm getting preferential treatment for novels. And I'm not worried about them "taking my idea" and not letting me play with it. If I'm a good enough writer, and I can be flexible enough to work toward a common goal, then why wouldn't they allow me to continue work on the project? If they can give the 100pager to their R&D people and turn out product for X amount of money, I'll be perfectly willing to turn out the same product for the same amount of money, and I have the benifit of not needing to learn from the 100page source document. It's all up here, and they know I'm willing to work with them if something isn't going to work. More likely, to me, in this dream world where I've won, the problems will appear not in them cutting me off from the world, but in needing more product produced than any one writer could and assigning others to the project, and their ideas being implanted in my agar.
But, really, that wouldn't offend me too mightily. I can always retain purity in my own game, and if they're offering paychecks ... Have Pen, Will Travel.
--HT
... Can't leave it at that, though.
An aspiring writer who sneers at shackles upon his creativity is paramount to the aspiring advertising graphic designer who tells his boss that the return of art deco is below him and that he'll finish the contract in whatever style he chooses.
Writing is a craft and a profession. Anything else is a hobby. Some people really love their record collections, and I'm sure they'd be angry if people wanted to take some of those records out and call the collector a DJ.
I love my characters and my creations as much as anyone. Perhaps moreso.
I also understand that people exist outside of myself, with likes that may not match my own. These are the people that will purchase my ideas. If I want to be a writer, I have to make my ideas at once interesting and familiar, and be willing to work with others ... it is a collaborative art form.
I don't see that as relinquishing creativity, I see it as putting boundaries on parts of my creativity to allow growth in new directions. ... I find I work best with deadlines, and I love working within constraints almost as much as I like my pure creativity. I like taking what I "need" in a situation and making something new with it.
So, from that direction, I agree wholeheartedly with RW. It would be pointless to apply for a job you really don't want, and just as much so to enter a contest you don't want the prize of. "The Money" is a big deal ... I have to totally disagree with anybody who feels they'll make more on their own. Do some market research. 120K isn't "a little money now".
120K for a creation is a LOT of money now. If your creation is a hobby and not a job, then it would have been a bad idea to enter. Even if you got chosen, backing out means someone else who wanted it got beat out of an empty spot. If this is about a career or a job ... 120K for an idea is too sweet to pass up.
Personally, I'd write them two 100 pagers on totally different but equally marketable settings for 60K each. That's a year of work on each one and me not feeling taken advantage of at all. Especially if I'm getting preferential treatment for novels. And I'm not worried about them "taking my idea" and not letting me play with it. If I'm a good enough writer, and I can be flexible enough to work toward a common goal, then why wouldn't they allow me to continue work on the project? If they can give the 100pager to their R&D people and turn out product for X amount of money, I'll be perfectly willing to turn out the same product for the same amount of money, and I have the benifit of not needing to learn from the 100page source document. It's all up here, and they know I'm willing to work with them if something isn't going to work. More likely, to me, in this dream world where I've won, the problems will appear not in them cutting me off from the world, but in needing more product produced than any one writer could and assigning others to the project, and their ideas being implanted in my agar.
But, really, that wouldn't offend me too mightily. I can always retain purity in my own game, and if they're offering paychecks ... Have Pen, Will Travel.
--HT
Dave Blewer
First Post
$120k is a very big deal!
I have been freelancing for a couple of years and have so far contributed to a Feng Shui supplement, 3 D20 projects and the Rune scenario book, and I am working on a couple of things right now. I have, pretty much been working on something for most of the last couple of years...
Total pay so far - less than £800.
Not that I am complaining, far from it! I work on this stuff because I love it - the pay is just a bonus
I have been freelancing for a couple of years and have so far contributed to a Feng Shui supplement, 3 D20 projects and the Rune scenario book, and I am working on a couple of things right now. I have, pretty much been working on something for most of the last couple of years...
Total pay so far - less than £800.
Not that I am complaining, far from it! I work on this stuff because I love it - the pay is just a bonus
Last edited:
Lady Dragon
First Post
$120,000 is a lot of money for 111 pages of written ideas.The winner will also receive possible future considerations as a writer and the pleasure of getting their name out there.
I think the fact that Monte Cook has submitted should tell everyone a bit about how hard it is to make that same money on your own.
I think the fact that Monte Cook has submitted should tell everyone a bit about how hard it is to make that same money on your own.
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
I had similar thoughts as Ranger Wickett - I have been working on and running games in Aquerra for somethin like 13 years and I would never want anyone else to muck around with her. . . Especially since I cannot imagine myself ever running a D&D game anywhere but there.
So what did I do with my proposal? I mucked around with her myself - the map will be different, the names will be different, I took out some organizations and setting features and added others. . . and most importantly I used a different name because I wanted to keep the rights to "Aquerra".
So what did I do with my proposal? I mucked around with her myself - the map will be different, the names will be different, I took out some organizations and setting features and added others. . . and most importantly I used a different name because I wanted to keep the rights to "Aquerra".
Scribe Ineti
Explorer
And a very heartfelt "Thank you" for not submitting. One less competitor to be concerned about.
- Status
Similar Threads
