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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 9287603" data-attributes="member: 3285">This is tricky. &quot;Mr. Big Time Freelancer&quot; doesn't do stuff for free anymore, thus their title. And thus, you will see that no, they're not going to do a free (or low paying, or &quot;you get a copy of the magazine you contribute to&quot;) trial run to prove themselves. The idea is that they have a reputation with an established work ethic and know how to write and work with an editor, which can be more valuable than knowing a system. Conversely, the size of the company matters in this negotiation. Wizards is not going to hire you if you don't know how to write D&amp;D. But Wizards can do that. Mongoose is now likely amongst a small group of successful publishers who can, in fact, ask you to know their RPG content before you apply, particularly specialized settings and systems like Traveller. But for most freelancers coming up the ranks? Yeah, they figure it out as they go. They work with whatever the company is willing to share. And yes, they learn quickly.It's all about the power dynamic of who is calling the shots on a project. Get big enough, and you don't NEED &quot;Mr. Big Time Freelancer.&quot; But for most mid-tier companies, those freelancers work exactly like this. Small time publishers want their fans first and foremost, and that's totally understandable. But the industry does resist that transition from &quot;I'm a fan of your work and that's why I'm a good choice&quot; to &quot;I'm a pro writer and that's why I'm a good choice.&quot; In a perfect world every writer is both. In reality, everybody is balancing their time investment, their rate of return, and how they think they'll be treated by the company in the future.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="talien, post: 9287603, member: 3285"] This is tricky. "Mr. Big Time Freelancer" doesn't do stuff for free anymore, thus their title. And thus, you will see that no, they're not going to do a free (or low paying, or "you get a copy of the magazine you contribute to") trial run to prove themselves. The idea is that they have a reputation with an established work ethic and know how to write and work with an editor, which can be more valuable than knowing a system. Conversely, the size of the company matters in this negotiation. Wizards is not going to hire you if you don't know how to write D&D. But Wizards can do that. Mongoose is now likely amongst a small group of successful publishers who can, in fact, ask you to know their RPG content before you apply, particularly specialized settings and systems like Traveller. But for most freelancers coming up the ranks? Yeah, they figure it out as they go. They work with whatever the company is willing to share. And yes, they learn quickly. It's all about the power dynamic of who is calling the shots on a project. Get big enough, and you don't NEED "Mr. Big Time Freelancer." But for most mid-tier companies, those freelancers work exactly like this. Small time publishers want their fans first and foremost, and that's totally understandable. But the industry does resist that transition from "I'm a fan of your work and that's why I'm a good choice" to "I'm a pro writer and that's why I'm a good choice." In a perfect world every writer is both. In reality, everybody is balancing their time investment, their rate of return, and how they think they'll be treated by the company in the future. [/QUOTE]

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