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<blockquote data-quote="jester47" data-source="post: 424132" data-attributes="member: 2238">I actually did the math for this one day.&nbsp; If you want to make a living at this, you have to be able to hammer out 400 polished words per hour for six hours each day not counting weekends.&nbsp; This is assuming that you are making $.05 a word and you have back to back projects from here to retirement.&nbsp; I think thats right...&nbsp; lets see, 400 words an hour for six hours = 2400 words per day.&nbsp; Thats 12000 words a week.&nbsp; 624000 words a year.&nbsp; But lets take 2 weeks off, so 600000 words a year.&nbsp; That works out to be 30k a year.&nbsp;&nbsp; Now this does not count for development time, playtesting, etc.&nbsp; In the publishing industry most things tied to scifi fantasy (at least according to writers market, it sits on my shelf) that are not novels tend to pay 5-6 cents a word.&nbsp; I discovered that since the development time is so extensive, you really have to write twice as fast and only half the time to really make it work.&nbsp; So if you want to be a professional game writer and live off it and only it you need to be able to get out 800 polished words an hour and only have to type 3 hours.&nbsp; Most of the rest of your time will be spent coming up with ideas and playtesting.&nbsp;&nbsp; I would say a better bet is to start your own d20 publishing company.&nbsp; The time commitment is pretty much the same and you will probably make more money.&nbsp; Aaron.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jester47, post: 424132, member: 2238"] I actually did the math for this one day. If you want to make a living at this, you have to be able to hammer out 400 polished words per hour for six hours each day not counting weekends. This is assuming that you are making $.05 a word and you have back to back projects from here to retirement. I think thats right... lets see, 400 words an hour for six hours = 2400 words per day. Thats 12000 words a week. 624000 words a year. But lets take 2 weeks off, so 600000 words a year. That works out to be 30k a year. Now this does not count for development time, playtesting, etc. In the publishing industry most things tied to scifi fantasy (at least according to writers market, it sits on my shelf) that are not novels tend to pay 5-6 cents a word. I discovered that since the development time is so extensive, you really have to write twice as fast and only half the time to really make it work. So if you want to be a professional game writer and live off it and only it you need to be able to get out 800 polished words an hour and only have to type 3 hours. Most of the rest of your time will be spent coming up with ideas and playtesting. I would say a better bet is to start your own d20 publishing company. The time commitment is pretty much the same and you will probably make more money. Aaron. [/QUOTE]

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