Writing for Dragon - Good or Bad?

[RPGgirl]

Just out of curiosity, what are people's experiences writing for and/or working with Dragon. I was a huge supporter of the magazine and its staff, but that confidence is beginning to waver and I want to see if I am alone in this sentiment.

 

[Pramas]

Just out of curiosity, what are people's experiences writing for and/or working with Dragon. I was a huge supporter of the magazine and its staff, but that confidence is beginning to waver and I want to see if I am alone in this sentiment.

Dragon is a good place to get your freelance career going. They pay well and you get good exposure. Many current and former WotC staffers, like James Wyatt and Owen Stephens, got their start doing magazine articles for Dragon (and Dungeon for that matter). Editor Erik Mona is smart, fair-minded, and knows his D&D. In short, a good gig if you can get it.

 

[Mouseferatu]

What Chris said. I've published a few articles in Dragon now, and I'm hoping to do more in the future. And I'm really looking forward to working with Erik. (Assuming the poor guy hasn't worked himself to death in a matter of weeks.)

 

[Luke_Johnson]

I agree with my esteemed colleagues here. I have yet to be published in Dragon, but Dungeon was my first professional publication and absolutely helped me become an honest-to-goodness freelancer.

 

[seankreynolds]

The only drawback to writing for Dragon is the same problem writing for most businesses in the RPG industry: you're paid on publication, which means you often have to wait months before you get a check.

That said, the folks at Paizo are great and I'm happy to work with them any time.

 

[trancejeremy]

Heh, from what I've heard, being paid on publication is actually a step up from a lot of companies...

Besides that, it's probably the best showcase for work. I mean, you get a lot of people reading it, probably more than any one non WOTC product

 

[Mark Plemmons]

Just out of curiosity, what are people's experiences writing for and/or working with Dragon. I was a huge supporter of the magazine and its staff, but that confidence is beginning to waver and I want to see if I am alone in this sentiment.

Well, I can't speak for Dragon, but keep in mind that Knights of the Dinner Table is always open to articles about 3.5, Kalamar, HackMaster, or just other bits of gaming in general.

 

[Napftor]

Well, I can't speak for Dragon, but keep in mind that Knights of the Dinner Table is always open to articles about 3.5, Kalamar, HackMaster, or just other bits of gaming in general.

Shameless, Mark, just shameless! Oh, and your submission guidelines link doesn't work.

 

[Zjelani]

I don't want to "me too" post here, but I agree with everything they have said. The couple articles I had published in Dragon (one half-way under Chris Thomasson's leadership ?sp and the other 1 1/2 under Matt Sernett) went very smooth.

In fact, they were helpful learning experiences as well. They had some great ideas that really improved the articles dramatically. They were also good about remembering other ideas I had submitted and following up later when those ideas could better fit in the magazine.

Yeah, getting paid after publication meant that about the time I had almost forgotten about the article, I received the check, but the pay was significantly higher than most other publications I've had.

So overall, I'm pretty easy-going anyway, but I had no problems whatsoever with the staff there.

 

[RangerWickett]

I tried submitting to Dragon back when 3rd edition was just about to come out, and when my writing sucked. I don't mind that they turned me down.

Then in the past four years I've tried submitting 3 more times, and have never even gotten a reply to my emails. It kinda turned me off to the whole process. Of course, E.N. Publishing has its own magazine now, which I am editor for, so if I really want to publish something, I usually can.

I would still like to get in Dragon, though.