Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Zak S" data-source="post: 7768673" data-attributes="member: 90370"><p>As I said on Twitter when this was circulated: I do not think there is any reason for anyone to accept rates this low.</p><p></p><p>As the author notes, you can make way more self-publishing, what they don't say is that you can also make way more with a profit-split deal or by just working with a more honest indie publisher.</p><p></p><p>Dead Planet sold only 637 copies and the authors and 2 authors made 10 cents a word <em>each</em>. Neither was self-publishing. </p><p></p><p>The reasons given for not working like this in the doc are:</p><p></p><p>"</p><p>1. It can help you build your audience.</p><p></p><p>2. It can help you network with industry people.</p><p></p><p>3. You will very likely learn things.</p><p></p><p>4. You will work on properties that you otherwise can’t.</p><p>"</p><p></p><p>1. Simply isn't true. There are people who have swum back and forth around the 3-6 cents a word payscale for years and never made more than that. Working on projects for big companies like this does not in any meaningful way "Get your name out there".</p><p></p><p>Pretty much anyone younger than Kenneth Hite who can command decent rates in RPG publishing did it not by taking these bad freelance gigs and working the "ladder" but by self-publishing or profit-splitting. The large companies offer large positions to people who have done something impressive, not acted as gap-filler. The mid-size indies have had the same exact people at the top for years and have little or no room to hire new people for the interesting jobs.</p><p></p><p>Every single person I can think of who got offered interesting work further up the ladder from Chris Spivey on Harlem Unbound to all the OSR people who got this kind of work did not start freelancing at those low rates.</p><p></p><p>2. Is definitely true: if you accept a low rate you'll meet industry people--at least one has to email you to work with you on yr project. But whether that helps at all is dubious: Everyone I know met <strong>more</strong> industry people doing independent projects that impressed those industry people.</p><p></p><p>By and large the industry knows it can find cheap cheerful writers to create shovelware. It turns ont he tap and there they are. "Contacts" do not mean that these people have bette work for you lying around.</p><p></p><p>3. Yes, you'll learn things. Mostly what freelancers tell me is they wish they'd not accepted those low rates. You'll learn way more doing your own projects--including things the rest of the industry hasn't yet.</p><p></p><p>4. Sure. If you want to work on Star Trek you have to take a rate with the company making the Star Trek RPG.</p><p></p><p>But , please, do <em>not</em> accept the false hype that doing that is the gateway to bigger things.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zak S, post: 7768673, member: 90370"] As I said on Twitter when this was circulated: I do not think there is any reason for anyone to accept rates this low. As the author notes, you can make way more self-publishing, what they don't say is that you can also make way more with a profit-split deal or by just working with a more honest indie publisher. Dead Planet sold only 637 copies and the authors and 2 authors made 10 cents a word [I]each[/I]. Neither was self-publishing. The reasons given for not working like this in the doc are: " 1. It can help you build your audience. 2. It can help you network with industry people. 3. You will very likely learn things. 4. You will work on properties that you otherwise can’t. " 1. Simply isn't true. There are people who have swum back and forth around the 3-6 cents a word payscale for years and never made more than that. Working on projects for big companies like this does not in any meaningful way "Get your name out there". Pretty much anyone younger than Kenneth Hite who can command decent rates in RPG publishing did it not by taking these bad freelance gigs and working the "ladder" but by self-publishing or profit-splitting. The large companies offer large positions to people who have done something impressive, not acted as gap-filler. The mid-size indies have had the same exact people at the top for years and have little or no room to hire new people for the interesting jobs. Every single person I can think of who got offered interesting work further up the ladder from Chris Spivey on Harlem Unbound to all the OSR people who got this kind of work did not start freelancing at those low rates. 2. Is definitely true: if you accept a low rate you'll meet industry people--at least one has to email you to work with you on yr project. But whether that helps at all is dubious: Everyone I know met [B]more[/B] industry people doing independent projects that impressed those industry people. By and large the industry knows it can find cheap cheerful writers to create shovelware. It turns ont he tap and there they are. "Contacts" do not mean that these people have bette work for you lying around. 3. Yes, you'll learn things. Mostly what freelancers tell me is they wish they'd not accepted those low rates. You'll learn way more doing your own projects--including things the rest of the industry hasn't yet. 4. Sure. If you want to work on Star Trek you have to take a rate with the company making the Star Trek RPG. But , please, do [I]not[/I] accept the false hype that doing that is the gateway to bigger things. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What's a Freelance RPG Writer Worth?
Top