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The Archives => The Dragon's Den (Archived) => Topic started by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 04:28:58 PM

Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 04:28:58 PM
This position has been filled.

[note]Until something is signed in pen and paper, I reserve the right to withdraw this offer at any time.[/note]
It's been a while since I've worked seriously on Project 1301, and I've decided that I want to put a serious amount of effort into self-publishing a handbook for the setting, for my players and for other groups abroad, should they be interested.

I also know that there's no way I'm going to ever finish the damn thing by myself, so I'm looking for some assistance. This person will receive a completed copy of the setting book paid for by me, a co-writing credit, and a half-cent/word pay rate* (which sucks, but I'm not looking to break my bank here). The catch is that, since I will be paying for the work, I will be the sole owner of the finished product. I'll repeat: I will own your work. There will be the appropriate legalese sent to the accepted member.

Criteria:
Must have a strong command of the English language[/list]

The following criteria are preferred, but not required:


Please remember that this isn't a popularity contest. I will be picking the candidate who I feel most fits the criteria I've laid out, not who is my best friend or who I think is the best writer. If I don't choose an applicant, I guarantee it is not for personal reasons.

To cap this off, I may be looking for proofreaders, additional mechanics writers (if necessary), playtesters (if necessary), and other positions, though these will all be non-paying. Some positions may earn free copies of the final product, others may earn staff credits.

PS: If anyone knows solid artists that work either for free or cheaply, specifically for black-and-white images, I'll be in the market shortly. I'll also be wanting a cartographer, though I can't promise any pay at this point.

*All taxes are the responsibility of the employed party.
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Kalos Mer on August 20, 2007, 04:35:52 PM
So basically you're looking for someone willing to work for you for...









a nominal fee?   :D  

I'm afraid I've got way too much on my plate (and a not-too-solid record as far as my own deadlines go), but keep me on the list of people willing to do additional, smaller-scale writing for free - all I'd ask is a writing credit and I'm quite comfortable giving you ownership over whatever work I do for you.)
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 04:39:52 PM
Quote from: Kalos MerSo basically you're looking for someone willing to work for you for...

a nominal fee?   :D

I actually saw the nominal fee jokes coming. ;) The difference is that I'm the one paying the fee! :O

QuoteI'm afraid I've got way too much on my plate (and a not-too-solid record as far as my own deadlines go), but keep me on the list of people willing to do additional, smaller-scale writing for free - all I'd ask is a writing credit and I'm quite comfortable giving you ownership over whatever work I do for you.)

Any offer for sla--- er, free labor-- is one I'll keep in mind! I might end up grabbing you for some mythology, linguistic, or history piece...
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Ra-Tiel on August 20, 2007, 05:43:50 PM
Hmmmm... although I would be kind of interested, there are several points preventing my application.

1) I am not familiar with your setting at all. Perhaps giving a link to a previous thread would be a good idea, if only to show others what you are talking about. Some people may be interested in the general work, but have for example no interest in writing for a steampunk or horror genre. I for example, have no idea what genre Red Valor belongs to.

2) As a direct consequence of 1) I would thus have to read into all the material, which is currently impossible for me as I'm working on a forum project for my university. I already have to deal a lot with C# and ASP.NET, as well as a diploma thesis dealing with a related subject (which alone is almost 90 pages :-| ).

3) Regarding the payment there could be some difficulties. I guess most members of the CBG are from the US, which certainly (at least I suspect so) makes such things more easy. I, however, am living in Germany and seriously have no idea how such a payment arrangement would work. Most likely, considering the trouble with finance law et al, it would probably not even be worth the hassle.

If you want comments on some materials, or are looking for input regarding some mechanical aspects, you are however completely welcome to ask me. It's just that any sort of "semi-professional" engagement is currently far above my abilities and schedule, sorry.

Anyways, happy writing and much success with your setting. :)

Regards, Ra-Tiel.
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 05:49:00 PM
Quote from: Ra-TielHmmmm... although I would be kind of interested, there are several points preventing my application.

1) I am not familiar with your setting at all. Perhaps giving a link to a previous thread would be a good idea, if only to show others what you are talking about. Some people may be interested in the general work, but have for example no interest in writing for a steampunk or horror genre. I for example, have no idea what genre Red Valor belongs to.

A very good point.

My website is at http://www.freewebs.com/red_valor/
The current work for the setting is located under the Project 1301 heading.

Quote2) As a direct consequence of 1) I would thus have to read into all the material, which is currently impossible for me as I'm working on a forum project for my university. I already have to deal a lot with C# and ASP.NET, as well as a diploma thesis dealing with a related subject (which alone is almost 90 pages :-| ).
3) Regarding the payment there could be some difficulties. I guess most members of the CBG are from the US, which certainly (at least I suspect so) makes such things more easy. I, however, am living in Germany and seriously have no idea how such a payment arrangement would work. Most likely, considering the trouble with finance law et al, it would probably not even be worth the hassle.[/quot]

Paypal. I might just end up making a donation to a friend.

QuoteIf you want comments on some materials, or are looking for input regarding some mechanical aspects, you are however completely welcome to ask me. It's just that any sort of "semi-professional" engagement is currently far above my abilities and schedule, sorry.

Anyways, happy writing and much success with your setting. :)

Regards, Ra-Tiel.

Thanks, I'll keep you in mind for that!
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Xeviat on August 20, 2007, 06:18:15 PM
ElDo, about how much work are you looking for? I'm currently putting my own setting on the back burner until 4th comes out and I have the time to digest it. Are you looking to publish Red Valor as a "3.5 Classic" setting?

Again, how much work are you looking for? What sort of work? I'd be more than happy to help; while I'm lazy when it comes to my own work, I'm very punctual and productive when it comes to work or class assignments.

I'm nominally familiar with Red Valor, but I love what I've read and I'll fully digest it. I'm perfectly fine with you being sole owner, as long as I get credit (which you said a co-writer would); the pay is fine, since the credit is the most important thing right now for me.

As I said to you earlier online, I'm going to only be going to school part time this semester. I have a few other writing projects on my plate, but they aren't anything with deadlines yet. I'll be running one game a week now, but I'm using published adventures for the time being. So what I'm saying is I can easily devote 1 or even 2 days a week (8 hour work days) to writing.

What sort of qualifications did you need again?
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 06:27:09 PM
Quote from: Kap'n XeviatElDo, about how much work are you looking for? I'm currently putting my own setting on the back burner until 4th comes out and I have the time to digest it. Are you looking to publish Red Valor as a "3.5 Classic" setting?

At this instance, that is the route that I am seriously considering, yes.

QuoteAgain, how much work are you looking for? What sort of work? I'd be more than happy to help; while I'm lazy when it comes to my own work, I'm very punctual and productive when it comes to work or class assignments.
I'm nominally familiar with Red Valor, but I love what I've read and I'll fully digest it. I'm perfectly fine with you being sole owner, as long as I get credit (which you said a co-writer would); the pay is fine, since the credit is the most important thing right now for me.[/quote]As I said to you earlier online, I'm going to only be going to school part time this semester. I have a few other writing projects on my plate, but they aren't anything with deadlines yet. I'll be running one game a week now, but I'm using published adventures for the time being. So what I'm saying is I can easily devote 1 or even 2 days a week (8 hour work days) to writing.[/quote]What sort of qualifications did you need again?[/quote]

They're listed under the "criteria" section of the first post. Samples and excerpts (preferably online, some links would be great... even though I've read most of yours) of what you feel is your best work might help, too.
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Jharviss on August 20, 2007, 07:06:35 PM
I'm interested here -- I've just did a word count on the information you have on your site.  You have about 52,000 words there.  When you say that the person will be paid a half-cent per word, are you talking per word they write or per word of the final product?  How large are you expecting for the final product?  At an average font you can get about 200 8.5x11 pages at 100,000 words, or so is my experience.  If you want them to write another 50,000 words for your setting, that's about a $250 paycheck there.

What are your thoughts?
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 07:16:27 PM
Quote from: JharvissI'm interested here -- I've just did a word count on the information you have on your site.  You have about 52,000 words there.  When you say that the person will be paid a half-cent per word, are you talking per word they write or per word of the final product?  How large are you expecting for the final product?  At an average font you can get about 200 8.5x11 pages at 100,000 words, or so is my experience.  If you want them to write another 50,000 words for your setting, that's about a $250 paycheck there.

What are your thoughts?

I don't plan on paying anyone for work I've already done. The information on my site isn't entirely relevant to the product in question, and much of the material that will be replacing it, I'll be writing myself. Also, I'm not aiming for a huge product, and I don't have a page count in mind-- I'm also not worried about artificial page counts, since artwork and formatting can disrupt the figures you've provided. In short, I'm only going to pay for what's given to me, and if it gets to be too much for me to afford, I'll pay the applicant and write the rest myself. ;)
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Túrin on August 20, 2007, 07:39:21 PM
A co-writer, eh? Interesting idea. Here's to hoping you pull it off and manage to create this Red Valor manual. If you do, I'd like to do some proofreading (if only because it allows me to read the final product ;)).

Good luck!

Túrin
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Lmns Crn on August 20, 2007, 07:52:40 PM
This is a milestone. It's hugely significant that RV has been developed to the degree that outside writers can begin to relate to it with this level of intimacy (and that ElDo is comfortable with letting them do so in "official" capacity.) I'd volunteer myself if I weren't swamped with work at the moment (and if I weren't too notoriously bad with deadlines to ever be chosen. :) )

I'm excited because it means that a published tome for RV is on the horizon.

P.S. - When did you update the layout for the RV website, ElDo? It looks slick.
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 07:53:43 PM
Quote from: Luminous CrayonP.S. - When did you update the layout for the RV website, ElDo? It looks slick.

A year ago. ;)
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Ishmayl-Retired on August 20, 2007, 08:05:36 PM
Can I call dibs on a free copy of the book when you're done for "letting you use my site for your advertisements" ? ;)
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Lmns Crn on August 20, 2007, 08:10:42 PM
Quote from: Elven DoritosA year ago. ;)
Yeah, I'll be the first to admit I've been a pretty negligent reader for about that long. Still, nice design.
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 20, 2007, 08:14:06 PM
@Ishmayl: We'll see, though I'm going to be running through these "free" copies pretty quick! ;)

@LC: S'okay, and I cheated. It's a template. ;)
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Gnomemaster on August 20, 2007, 08:52:52 PM
Elven Doritos:

So, A LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago, back when all of your setting was about 10 pages or so, back when you were still on the Wizards website you emailed me a copy of your campaign setting (you probably don't remember any of this) and we worked a little bit on it. Now, if you are interested I would love to work for you. Your setting is fantastic and just being able to add to that would make me honored.

You can Email me at TheGnomemaster@gmail.com and we can discuss a little more about my credibility and I can give you a sampling of my writing.

Sincerely,

Gnomemaster
Title: Looking for Co-Author for Red Valor Campaign Setting (Filled)
Post by: Elven Doritos on August 21, 2007, 12:52:33 AM
Gnomemaster, I've replied to your e-mails. Thanks to everyone who's sent their wishes and offers, I have a very good feeling about this project now. You'll be the first to know when progress is made.

I've selected my co-author, and as such, I'll close this thread. Expect it to be unlocked and bumped when I get closer to needing some of the other positions I've mentioned (and people have tentatively offered to help with... Sold your souls to the ElDo! MWAHAHAHA....)

Ahem.

Thanks!
-ElDo