One of the GTS seminars I attended was run my Mike Stackpole, who is "a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books" (according to the opening line of his wikipedia bio). You can find out more about him via his personal site; he's done a lot more in the industry than that, being one of the early champions of D&D during its commercial demonization.The seminar, titled the same as this blog entry, focused on how to find work as a freelancer in the gaming industry from a writer's standpoint (and a bit for artists, too). I don't have any plans nor the time for freelancing, but from a game company standpoint, it gave me some insight on how to navigate working relationships for future projects. Lots of good points and laughs throughout the seminar; two quotes I wrote down:
"When you enter the game industry, you take a vow of poverty; game companies will help you keep that vow every step of the way."
"Sufficiently advanced stupidity can sometimes be mistaken for malice."
Both are paraphrased, but the first quote illustrated that the game industry is notoriously impoverished (unless you create the next Magic The Gathering) and no one should delve there with prospects of getting rich quick (or at all). The second quote was just advice to not sweat the small stuff (like publishers who edit the heck out of your piece and strip it of all the cool stuff).
So much for my get rich scheme...
1 comment:
If you're planning on working with freelancers in the future, my advice is pretty simple.
First make sure to communicate with them, particularly if there's a problem or you decide not to use the work. While it's irritating to have to do arbitrary revisions, or after submitting your rough draft being told the work won't be used, it's better than sitting for months and not hearing anything.
Most importantly pay what you agreed to pay them by the time you agreed to pay them. You'd think that's a pretty basic principle, right? You'd be surprised at the horror stories of freelancers getting shafted, some of them for a lot more than I ultimately got shafted for.
While I might change my mind and come back to it eventually, there are reasons I quit looking to do more freelancing in the game industry.
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