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What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?
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<blockquote data-quote="Steve Conan Trustrum" data-source="post: 7734970" data-attributes="member: 1620"><p>Again ... is the owner also working another job? No? Good for him. Now, are you going to argue that is the standard in our industry?</p><p></p><p>And I'm truly glad they can afford to pay more.</p><p></p><p>But consider, given what I stated above and you ignored, that may be part of the reason why 99% of the RPG market has never heard of them.</p><p></p><p>Again, would those be more OSR/DIY RPG presses that are competing within a niche within a niche and most of the market has never heard of? Thus they don't have the same costs as companies that are competing in larger waters?</p><p></p><p>Great. It's always good news when a small press guy can go full-time.</p><p></p><p>And it's good to hear he's also paying for facilities, other full-time staff, licensing, etc., no?</p><p></p><p>And clearly in the high life because of all they are pocketing, correct?</p><p></p><p>I'll give you LotFP pays more on its creatives, but you're guessing at paying more on its books. Green Ronin probably pays less per unit, but that's because they are buying in larger numbers. They also use glossy paper and lots of hard bounds. Despite paying less per unit, it's a safe bet their overall costs for publication and inventory maintenance are substantially higher than LotFP.</p><p></p><p></p><p>or c) there is actually such a thing as scale of economics in business.</p><p></p><p>So ... you're advocating that they fire people in order to pay freelancers more? That they output less product and not keep up with their demand? That also sounds like poor business. Because you don't seem to realize that "overhead" includes other people and the cost of sustainment. The bigger the company, necessarily the more money it requires to sustain its operations.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, here's the thing that brings this all back to the original question in the topic:</p><p></p><p>"What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?"</p><p></p><p>The answer is, simply, more than the RPG industry at large can afford.</p><p></p><p>The industry, by and large, hasn't been able to keep its prices at a pace with the economy. Why? Because they are a luxury good in a small niche market that only keeps shrinking. Product runs are much smaller than they were a decade ago, and a decade before that, and reliance on digital product is rising. Even then, customers measure value based on faulty perceptions like "it shouldn't cost that much if I'm not paying for paper." So, price shfits have been small, if at all, over the past 20 years.</p><p></p><p>But the cost of living goes up.</p><p></p><p>So, when you say things like artists and writers deserve a living wage? I agree. They deserve it. But if they want it, the RPG market isn't the place to go. This is objectively true by the very simple fact that 99% of the people paying them can't make a living wage in the market. Outliers at LotFP are able to pay more but it comes at the cost of not actually being able to compete in the core market. The industry is driven by people who need other jobs to sustain their households while also doing RPG publishing. That's just the economic truths of our market. Thus the joke "how do you make a small fortune in the RPG industry? Start with a big fortune."</p><p></p><p>RPG publishers don't pay rates that are much smaller than in other industries because they want to. They aren't "pocketing" or "hoarding" it as you suggest. That's just ridiculous, and you keep using that language because, as the conversation continues, you've clearly got a reason to specifically give black eyes to Evil Hat and Green Ronin. But positing that "the money is there" and that these publishers are sitting back lighting cigars with dollar bills is just ... silly.</p><p></p><p>Are there companies that can afford to pay more? Sure. Are there companies that can't? Yes, with even more certainty. Will the model used by LotFP apply to every game publisher? Absolutely not. And arguing that it would is a faulty premise clear to anyone with even the slightest business acumen, let alone experience publishing RPGs, because the differences between who those businesses are, where they are, who they are, and the scale they operate at -- SHOCK! -- have actual, practical implications that influence their financials.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steve Conan Trustrum, post: 7734970, member: 1620"] Again ... is the owner also working another job? No? Good for him. Now, are you going to argue that is the standard in our industry? And I'm truly glad they can afford to pay more. But consider, given what I stated above and you ignored, that may be part of the reason why 99% of the RPG market has never heard of them. Again, would those be more OSR/DIY RPG presses that are competing within a niche within a niche and most of the market has never heard of? Thus they don't have the same costs as companies that are competing in larger waters? Great. It's always good news when a small press guy can go full-time. And it's good to hear he's also paying for facilities, other full-time staff, licensing, etc., no? And clearly in the high life because of all they are pocketing, correct? I'll give you LotFP pays more on its creatives, but you're guessing at paying more on its books. Green Ronin probably pays less per unit, but that's because they are buying in larger numbers. They also use glossy paper and lots of hard bounds. Despite paying less per unit, it's a safe bet their overall costs for publication and inventory maintenance are substantially higher than LotFP. or c) there is actually such a thing as scale of economics in business. So ... you're advocating that they fire people in order to pay freelancers more? That they output less product and not keep up with their demand? That also sounds like poor business. Because you don't seem to realize that "overhead" includes other people and the cost of sustainment. The bigger the company, necessarily the more money it requires to sustain its operations. Ultimately, here's the thing that brings this all back to the original question in the topic: "What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?" The answer is, simply, more than the RPG industry at large can afford. The industry, by and large, hasn't been able to keep its prices at a pace with the economy. Why? Because they are a luxury good in a small niche market that only keeps shrinking. Product runs are much smaller than they were a decade ago, and a decade before that, and reliance on digital product is rising. Even then, customers measure value based on faulty perceptions like "it shouldn't cost that much if I'm not paying for paper." So, price shfits have been small, if at all, over the past 20 years. But the cost of living goes up. So, when you say things like artists and writers deserve a living wage? I agree. They deserve it. But if they want it, the RPG market isn't the place to go. This is objectively true by the very simple fact that 99% of the people paying them can't make a living wage in the market. Outliers at LotFP are able to pay more but it comes at the cost of not actually being able to compete in the core market. The industry is driven by people who need other jobs to sustain their households while also doing RPG publishing. That's just the economic truths of our market. Thus the joke "how do you make a small fortune in the RPG industry? Start with a big fortune." RPG publishers don't pay rates that are much smaller than in other industries because they want to. They aren't "pocketing" or "hoarding" it as you suggest. That's just ridiculous, and you keep using that language because, as the conversation continues, you've clearly got a reason to specifically give black eyes to Evil Hat and Green Ronin. But positing that "the money is there" and that these publishers are sitting back lighting cigars with dollar bills is just ... silly. Are there companies that can afford to pay more? Sure. Are there companies that can't? Yes, with even more certainty. Will the model used by LotFP apply to every game publisher? Absolutely not. And arguing that it would is a faulty premise clear to anyone with even the slightest business acumen, let alone experience publishing RPGs, because the differences between who those businesses are, where they are, who they are, and the scale they operate at -- SHOCK! -- have actual, practical implications that influence their financials. [/QUOTE]
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