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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Erik Mona" data-source="post: 423759" data-attributes="member: 2174">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 MonaEditor, Polyhedron Magazine</blockquote>

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