Payment of Writers

[Khan the Warlord]

I got my first paying gig in the game industry ten years ago. I started as a freelancer and I still do freelance work to this day. In my time, I have done jobs that have paid 1 to 11 cents per word.

I'm sorry Chris, but I *have* to ask: Where did you get paid ELEVEN CENTS per word? Well, I understand if you can't answer that, but at what stage in your career was this?

When I was a fulltime freelancer, my standard rate was 4 cents a word. When I set up Green Ronin, I made that the company's standard rate too. Any decent-sized d20 company that claims it can't pay you more than 2 cents a word is taking advantage of you.

I was going to state that same sentiment regarding 2 cents a word, but I was hoping someone else would beat me to it.

 

[philreed]

2 cents a word . . .

I can't think of any writer that I would want to read that would accept 2 cents a word. (With the possible exception of someone who's not doing it for the money at all, but as a labor of love. However, despite what some writers may tell themselves, this doesn't happen _truthfully_ nearly as often as people think. And I certainly don't encourage it.)

I took two cents a word from Atlas on ENTER THE VIKING but only because:

a. John's a great guy and always sharing information with me.
b. Rune's very cool and I wanted to do the encounter.

The highest I've ever been paid (in the game industry) was $0.10/word.

 

[JohnNephew]

For D20, our standard rate at Atlas Games is 4 cents/word.

For non-D20, the typical rate is 2-4 cents per word.

For Over the Edge, a classic but very niche game without a huge market these days for additional material, we've paid 1 cent a word on supplements, and published books while taking a loss ourselves, just because we liked doing it. (On the other hand, the fellow writing the Over the Edge/D20 Coriolis dual-stat sourcebook is getting paid rates on the D20 end of things.)

It's true that you need to budget a project to make you some money, or at least not lose any more than necessary (and then we assume the project serves some strategic or personal aim that justifies losing money itself). My own feeling has been, in recent years, that I should try and get all of our projects up toward 4 cents a word, and then see about increasing it from there if we can. However, this entails higher retail prices (in particular for non-D20 titles, which sell fewer copies). We'll see how consumers feel about that.

 

[JohnNephew]

Oh, for the high end -- I think the best I ever made writing as a freelancer was in the neighborhood of 13 cents/word, on some early '90s work for TSR (working at a higher than usual rate to do a project under a tight deadline after another freelancer had bailed).

Actually, I might have made that rate or higher to write "The Jade Hare," a tiny freebie D&D adventure (given out to mail order customers of TSR) which oddly enough turned into a very collectible item (purely because of scarcity, not any great value/quality, I assure you).

 

[Erik Mona]

The freelancer rates in this industry are pitiful. If you're hoping to make a living at this, understand that you are entering a world of frustration and financial struggle the likes of which you've probably only imagined up till now. If you're just wanting to dabble or want to ignore me and give it a try anyway (bless you), here are some thoughts that might be helpful.

If you've never written anything before, you're going to have to swallow some pride and take some low-paying jobs. I'd personally suggest trying to write articles for Dragon, Dungeon, or Campaign magazines, most of whom will pay you far better than the "average" d20 publisher. Once you've got a few of these under your belt, publishers are more likely to take you seriously and offer you better rates (some might not even be willing to talk to you until you have some credits elsewhere, and the magazines are a great place to start).

That said, I recently heard of a friend who has been published in books by WotC and in Dragon magazine being offered $.02/word by a "major" d20 publisher, so you've really got to ask around to avoid being massively underpaid. My personal suggestion is that it's not worth it for a designer with a small amount of experience to even bother with projects that offer less than $.03/word.

A lot of d20 companies aren't making a whole lot of money themselves, however, so there will be plenty of publishers, even some relatively "big" ones, who will be more than happy to pay you next to nothing for your work.

I'd love it if _everyone_ refused to work for 2 or 1 cent a word, but there are too many enthusiastic fans just dying to see themselves in print to make that a reality. The best advice is to determine what rate would make a project worthwhile for you and refuse to take any jobs that offer less than that. In this market, chances are pretty strong you'll be able to find a publisher willing to pay you 4 or 5 cents a word, at least until you prove to him that you're worth substantially less.

--Erik Mona
Editor, Polyhedron Magazine

 

[Grazzt]

If you're hoping to make a living at this, understand that you are entering a world of frustration and financial struggle the likes of which you've probably only imagined up till now.

Ever been a musician Erik? Same thing. I did the musician thing for years and years before I went back to school and got a "real job." It was fun, but for a long time, it was a struggle..sometimes driving a couple of hundred miles to play and then making just enough to get back home.

 

[mearls]

I've gotten rates from 3 to 6 cents, with 4 cents my standard rate at the moment. Up until April or so, 3 cents was my standard rate. I still work at that rate for one company, but in return I get a lot of creative control and payment up front from them.

I know of one company that pays beginners 2 cents a word. I lobbied for them to raise it, but they basically told me that they didn't see any point in doing so. The writers they attracted at 2 cents were the same as the ones they got at 3 cents.

Personally, I've done some funny stuff as far as payment goes. When I worked fulltime, I did a few projects for low, low rates. I had enough confidence that if I could get a few projects out there, I could make up the short term loss over time. Besides, I was living high on the Internet hog and didn't need the money. In late 2000/early 2001, my sense was that there were few enough freelancers who specialized in d20 and few enough titles on the shelves that getting my name out as quickly as possible would pay off. While that worked for me at the time, I don't think the same conditions apply.

If I was to advise a writer starting out today, I'd tell him that 2 cents is acceptable in certain situations. If the work you're doing is all material that will be open sourced, you don't have to worry about losing. I would never, ever accept 2 cents for a complete project, only for a portion of a longer book. I'd also expect at least a week for every 5000 words in the project, if not more. Time is a premium in this business, and a fast turnaround should come with a higher rate.

As an aside, I do not do wholesale setting development (ie, create a new setting) or produce fiction on a work for hire basis.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

Yeah;

Right now I'm simultaneously working on projects for:

2 cents

3 cents (4 of these, all at once. Yikes!)

4 cents

6(?) cents (I think this is what Dragon is paying)

All of them for established companies.

The 2 cents a word is sort of painful, but it's a foot in the door project, as well as a group book, so it's a pay cut that will (hopefully) lead to better stuff after.


At this point, I'd only write for 1 cent a word if I had a chance to:

A) take absolute control over White Wolf's Changeling Line.

B) Have absolute control over Star Frontiers.

C) Help out a friend.

2 of those 3 aren't likely too happen though, so 1 cent is right out.

Also, I'm right there with those who talk about how hard it is to make ends meet as a freelancer. It's only in these last couple of very busy months that I can project a yearly income that doesn't make me want to laugh and cry.

Patrick Y.

PS: 11 and 13 cents a word?! Sign me up!

 

[HellHound]

Patrick - as another 4+ cent man... I'd like to join you in your 1 cent offer to conquer Star Frontiers d20.

You could have full creative control, I'll just help monkey things together (or would that be Yazirian things together?)

Gotta love that game.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

Patrick - as another 4+ cent man... I'd like to join you in your 1 cent offer to conquer Star Frontiers d20.

You could have full creative control, I'll just help monkey things together (or would that be Yazirian things together?)

Gotta love that game.

Yes indeed.

Welcome aboard the dream project express, my freelance brother!


I have extraordinarily fond memories of Star Frontiers.

Back in the day, my friends and I played it FAR more than we played D&D.

My perpetual character was a Vrusk gunslinger armed with a needler.

Beautiful.

Someday.

Someday.

Patrick Y.