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What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?
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<blockquote data-quote="CardinalXimenes" data-source="post: 7659421" data-attributes="member: 58259"><p>Free is part of the strategy, but it's not the whole story. If I were in your shoes, here's what I'd do:</p><p></p><p>First, I'd go to where the eyeballs are, and that means OneBookshelf- DTRPG/RPGNow's parent. No free fanzine gets within an order of magnitude of the number of visits they get on an hourly basis. Even outlets like Amazon and Lulu can't compete for the small publisher because only a tiny percentage of their users have any interest in RPG material, while everybody who goes to DTRPG is at least a theoretical customer.</p><p></p><p>Next, I'd slap the article into a standalone freebie format. It doesn't have to be long- there are plenty of 3-4 page freebies on DTRPG- and it doesn't have to be lavishly illustrated, but it has to look nice and respectable. If you've got graphic design chops, this is a chance to settle on some trade dress you'll be using for future products.</p><p></p><p>Now upload the product. For at least a while, it's going to be on DTRPG's front page among the "Latest Free Products", and you _will_ get a lump of downloads just because it's right there in front of people. If you've done really hot work, maybe talk will spread about it, or maybe it'll drop off the face of the earth in a few days. The former is preferable, but really, the latter is endurable too. Why? Because free downloads add willing customers to your OBS mailing list. If they haven't opted out of your emails and you don't abuse them by sending mail more than once a month or so, every free product is another chunk of people willing to accept your emails.</p><p></p><p>Repeat this process for a few months. Leave some breathing room between releases- you don't want to spam the front page, and you'll need time to make your products up as well as you can. When you've cultivated enough eyeballs, then you can put up your first for-pay product and hit your mailing list with the announcement that your for-pay is available in PDF and print. If you've done good work with your freebies, you've overcome the initial stage of uncertainty in a buyer and convinced them that you're able to write something fun to read. It's not a blind buying proposition to them any more.</p><p></p><p>Now keep going. Release freebies every so often to keep snaring the marginal customers who are interested enough to take something for free but not certain enough about you to pay for it. You'll convert some of them over time. In the meanwhile, focus on for-pay releases that showcase your talents and emphasize the things you're good at. Remember that at this stage, your worst enemy is anonymity. Free stuff is doing its job if it's convincing more people to look at you, but that job doesn't mean anything if there's not paying product waiting there for enthusiastic readers to then buy.</p><p></p><p>As a side note, if all you ever plan on releasing is one or two products, then Pay What You Want can be an option. I generally advise against it as customers seem to have a fundamentally different relationship with PWYW than they do with free- it feels more like an imposition to them, so a lot of people who'd grab a free product will walk past a PWYW one. That, and the conversion rate on people who pay tends to be miserable, from what I hear. Despite this, if this is all you're going to make, then it's a tactic you can take if you know you aren't going to have any future plans for marketing the line or monetizing the product.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CardinalXimenes, post: 7659421, member: 58259"] Free is part of the strategy, but it's not the whole story. If I were in your shoes, here's what I'd do: First, I'd go to where the eyeballs are, and that means OneBookshelf- DTRPG/RPGNow's parent. No free fanzine gets within an order of magnitude of the number of visits they get on an hourly basis. Even outlets like Amazon and Lulu can't compete for the small publisher because only a tiny percentage of their users have any interest in RPG material, while everybody who goes to DTRPG is at least a theoretical customer. Next, I'd slap the article into a standalone freebie format. It doesn't have to be long- there are plenty of 3-4 page freebies on DTRPG- and it doesn't have to be lavishly illustrated, but it has to look nice and respectable. If you've got graphic design chops, this is a chance to settle on some trade dress you'll be using for future products. Now upload the product. For at least a while, it's going to be on DTRPG's front page among the "Latest Free Products", and you _will_ get a lump of downloads just because it's right there in front of people. If you've done really hot work, maybe talk will spread about it, or maybe it'll drop off the face of the earth in a few days. The former is preferable, but really, the latter is endurable too. Why? Because free downloads add willing customers to your OBS mailing list. If they haven't opted out of your emails and you don't abuse them by sending mail more than once a month or so, every free product is another chunk of people willing to accept your emails. Repeat this process for a few months. Leave some breathing room between releases- you don't want to spam the front page, and you'll need time to make your products up as well as you can. When you've cultivated enough eyeballs, then you can put up your first for-pay product and hit your mailing list with the announcement that your for-pay is available in PDF and print. If you've done good work with your freebies, you've overcome the initial stage of uncertainty in a buyer and convinced them that you're able to write something fun to read. It's not a blind buying proposition to them any more. Now keep going. Release freebies every so often to keep snaring the marginal customers who are interested enough to take something for free but not certain enough about you to pay for it. You'll convert some of them over time. In the meanwhile, focus on for-pay releases that showcase your talents and emphasize the things you're good at. Remember that at this stage, your worst enemy is anonymity. Free stuff is doing its job if it's convincing more people to look at you, but that job doesn't mean anything if there's not paying product waiting there for enthusiastic readers to then buy. As a side note, if all you ever plan on releasing is one or two products, then Pay What You Want can be an option. I generally advise against it as customers seem to have a fundamentally different relationship with PWYW than they do with free- it feels more like an imposition to them, so a lot of people who'd grab a free product will walk past a PWYW one. That, and the conversion rate on people who pay tends to be miserable, from what I hear. Despite this, if this is all you're going to make, then it's a tactic you can take if you know you aren't going to have any future plans for marketing the line or monetizing the product. [/QUOTE]
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