A few weeks ago I wrote a very personal post about the state of me and what I wanted to do with my still nascent writing life.
In that article, I posted a list of what I wanted to do in the short to mid term to achieve my ultimate goal: becoming a writer that can help his wife sustain a family of 4 without having trouble making ends meet.
Sounds simple huh? Well it’s a hell of a lofty goal. I’ve spent months following the antics and struggles of far better writers than I like James of Men with Pens, Bob of The Writing Journey and E of Geeks’ Dream Girl. It became apparent that the life of a successful freelance writer, while possible, requires the same 4 ingredients of success found in all other endeavors: Talent, Luck, Work and Attitude (and some more work).
I know I have all of those… heck, I’ve a D&D adventure and an article in an Ennies-winning magazine coming up this winter. That’s why I’ve started believing I could turn my life around a writer’s career.
However, I also talked with many members of the RPG industry, mostly writers, editors and designers that have been doing it for some time. I came to realize that unless I move to Seattle and convince Wizards of the Coast or Paizo to hire me, writing for RPGs is not a job I want to do full time if I plan to fulfill my part of the family’s financial responsibilities.
Please understand that as a professional slowly creeping up to 40, I’ll never take a 25k$ job as a game designer nor work as a 1 cent per word freelancer, I’m 10-15 years too old for that. My responsibilities, skill set and experience dictate that I either go for the big fish now or change industry. After 30 months blogging, I consider my industry internship over.
So that’s why I’m being very careful about the whole things and being very methodical. Thus, in order to become a self-sustained writer, and succeed in doing it, I came up with a plan with my wife and my friend Math.
The plan is
- Get Better before taking any life changing decisions
- Explore how I could work part time to feed my family and get more time to teach/write
- Pitch writing ideas/projects to create a predictable revenue pipeline
Well project 2 came true over the weekend. I was able to convince my company’s HR to grant me part-time status (3 days a week, full schedule flexibility) as of January 4th. This means I’ll free up some days to prepare the five 2-day seminars I’m going to give a few times a year. I’ve also been contacted for an interview about a technical college part-time teaching gig in pharmaceutical sciences. More importantly, I’ll have actual writing time!
I’ve also tackled project 3. That’s why those following me on Twitter have seen me going on and on about preparing pitches for Dungeon and Dragon magazines. I wrote 4 in hopes of getting one or two approved to work on next spring (the approval process can be long). I’ll write more pitches, to both Wizards of the Coast and Kobold Quarterly early next year.
I want to build a bigger RPG name for myself so that I’ll be able to sell more than 15 copies of D&D adventures if and when I decide to start my own imprint.
My eventual model for a part-time RPG business is Monte Cook‘s. While I don’t think I’ll put my name on a Dungeon Master Guide in the next decade, I admire how he combined his spotless geek cred with a very high quality product line (his wife Sue is likely an Editor Goddess) and his growing loyal fan-base to create a solid enterprise that supported him (and maybe still does).
I also plan to branch outside of RPGs (remember, kids to feed). I’ve a good head for scientific writing, psychology and management and I know my conversational style is tailor-made for coaching in these fields, so I’ll look into that.
In the mean time, I’m also building myself a teaching/seminar catalog to make ends meet. Teaching is (surprise, surprise) second nature to me and I absolutely love doing it. Except now, unlike 12 years ago, I can do it on my terms and with an adult population.
Anyway, I just thought I’d share the good news, I recall when online personalities I followed like Scott Kurtz made moves to get the lives they wanted for themselves. I’m happy to see that I too can now do it.
It’s going to be a great journey, I can feel it.
If I ever see a Sci-Fi novel on a bookshelf authored by “DM, Chatty”, It will be in my collection faster than you can say “but thats not my name”…
It sounds like everything is pointing in the right direction, and you’re pushing them along nicely, here’s hoping it continues well!
Chatty you continue to be an inspiration. It is true what you say there is no substitute for talent, luck work and attitude. I have said it before but i will say it again thanks for showing what people can acomplish when they put aside there doubts and work on chasing there dreams.
.-= Quinn´s last blog ..Called shots =-.
I wish you all the best, Chatty! I’m happy that your plans are coming together.
You hooked me into your blog back when I got linked to your “Gaming with Kids” series, and I’ve been following you since – you’re my favorite RPG blogger (even if I feel my DM’ing style is radically different from yours), and your posts have got me to try quite a few different things in my games.
.-= Claus Aranha´s last blog ..Game Report: Fear the Rust Monster! =-.
Great news!
The way things are going you will work for Wizards of the Coast my friend. At this rate they’ll have sacked everyone and need we bloggers to finish the books.
.-= greywulf´s last blog ..Newspapers, in geek =-.
Know that we’re all behind you in your endeavor, Chatty. Show them what you’re made of, you can do it!
Just remember that first, you love the game and you play and write because it is fun. Never play and write because it is a job. If you are writing an adventure, make sure want to play, not that you can sell it.
In any case, best of luck and wishes.
.-= doomdreamer´s last blog ..Outlines! =-.
Best of luck to you! Keep me posted if you publish anything and I’ll be sure to grab a copy!
I swear I responded to this thread twice already… 🙁
Thanks everyone for the kind words of encouragement. I’ll get there and you’ll see my name (ChattyDM or that other one) on a dead tree book soon.
Great to hear things are going well.
You are an inspiriation to many people out there including myself. I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. I’ve already put the money aside to purchase ‘Chatty DM’s’ 1st dead tree release.
Looking forward to seeing you progress on your journey.
All the best in the future.
Scott
I like the rest of your post but I think you have this part ass-backward!
Ideas aren’t terribly valuable; there’s no sense hoarding them. The best preparation for writing, say, 32-page D&D modules is writing 32-page D&D modules. You make a name for yourself as a writer of game material who blogs, rather than a blogger-who-writes-adventures, by churning out adventures. (A good model in this regard: James Raggi. His blogging is ridiculous and overwrought but his adventures have Mike Mearls calling him ‘one of the best RPG writers period’ or somesuch.)
Before you can ‘start your own imprint’ you’re gonna have to have something to publish under it. Before you sell 100 copies you have to sell 15. Here’s a notion: take all the ‘gameable’ material you’ve shared on this blog, compile it into a digest-sized book overflowing with awesome unreleased material, and sell an armload of printed copies for, I dunno, $8 apiece.
Instead of waiting for the Perfect Audience to come along and find you, go out and create your audience. Your blog has done some of that, but you’ve got to write and publish some middling shit before you can get to the great stuff you’ve got inside.
Whatever it is you want to ‘eventually’ be publishing, just start writing it now. You’ve got the time. Pitching to Dragon is gratifying, but let’s be honest: that’s just asking the corporate guys for permission. They might be corporate guys you like/admire, they might even read your blog, but ultimately they’re employees safeguarding a brand. You wanna make a name for yourself? Put it on the cover of a chapbook. Don’t worry about what the WotC editors say they need – if an audience can exist for your work then it will come into existence as a result of you making and sharing works of craftsmanship.
.-= Wax Banks´s last blog ..Global warming. Climate change. =-.
All right, as is always the case in reading your stuff, I need a good cup of caffeine.
Lessee… yes always incisive and insightful. You are right that I may be a little to ‘etapiste’ in my approach, wanting to do step 1 before step 2, etc. I agree a 100% that ideas are valueless until made into something you can touch/read and believe you me, I’m not hoarding any.
Creating material lifted from this blog and re-editted is the next part after I fulfill my magazine contribution in December.
And you are right, waiting for WotC has not served me all that well for D&D for kids. Time to plan another brainstorm session.
Shoot, want to make a name for yourself? Release your Adventures as watermarked PDFs for a 1$. To be honest, I rarely purchase Game books or materials unless they are above extraordinary. I bought the DMG2 and that is the last 4th edition book I have bought. Like most people, I have other hobbies/responsibilities demanding my loose coin and while your material may be top notch, 20-25 dollars for an adventure I can use once (twice if I am lucky) is a hard sell, especially when our demographic includes students.
-As an addendum. If you need assistance in making that happen, I will gladly provide any technical assistance, just putting my money where my mouth is.
.-= doomdreamer´s last blog ..Outlines! =-.
And therein, in Doomdreamer’s comment, lies the tragedy of RPG publishing.
I just deleted a rant about the PDF market and proper pricing but it serves no purposes. I just want to say that real and perceived worth meet with demand at one point and that sets the price. If I price my stuff too low, people may think I’m a five and Dime publisher.
However there is a market for low cost modular, plug this in your campaign products. I’ll think about that.
Thanks for your offer, I may call in on all readers when the time comes. Another model I’d like to explore is Reader patronage.
Congratulations again Chatty.
Fingers crossed for you.
.-= Colmarr´s last blog ..Raiders of Oakhurst Ch 3.4 =-.