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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tav_Behemoth" data-source="post: 5087042" data-attributes="member: 18017">Inyssius, all of the three Insider pieces I've worked on started with Chris Youngs coming to me with a specific assignment he needs to fill, along the general lines of "an article about X as part of the Y series, ### words total with ## words of flavor hook."I then come up with some ideas about how to approach that: for example, these are the suggestions I had for the piece that became Warden Essentials:That's not the same as a pitch that I initiated, but it might give you some idea of the level of detail I've used in communicating with Chris about projects he initiated. This was my first Insider assignment; in later ones I think I've been even briefer in my thumbnail sketches.However, I think the more useful advice is "how do I get to be in the position of having Chris come to me with assignments?"For me, this came about because I responded to an ad for a staff designer at the <a href="http://www.wizards.com/Company/Careers.aspx" target="_blank">Wizards job page</a>. I didn't get hired for the full-time position, but as the second step of the application I was asked to submit a design test that involved writing powers, monsters, etc. Based on that opportunity to show my chops, James Wyatt offered me an assignment doing a section of Martial Power II (and also gave me individual feedback on the design test that substantially improved said chops).Design jobs don't get posted all that often, but you should certainly apply when they do - even if relocating to Renton is unlikely, my experience suggests you could parlay it into freelance work from wherever you are.In the meantime, build your chops by doing as much RPG writing and networking as you can! James cited the fact that I'd done other published game writing as another reason he offered me the opportunity, and things like the Goodman Games open call for rituals or the Paizo Superstar contest are, I suspect, substantially easier ways "in" than cold querying for Insider. I can't emphasize enough that getting published is based much more on effort than merit; my first RPG writing credits were self-published, which is increasingly easy to do, and later 3PP assignments came along because of personal contacts I'd made while recruiting for campaigns, running games at conventions, seeking people out online, etc. Again, having some self-published writing you can point to when you make contact with people is very helpful.</blockquote>

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