I am perhaps interested in being a 3rd party licensee of Traveller products ala DGP. Maybe doing something like the old JTAS magazine. I am seeking authors and artists and would be interested in doing this via a PDF publication. I have some ideas and am interested in yours as well. Just respond to this message if your interested.
PDF publishing....Help needed
- Thread starter drobe230
- Start date
I am perhaps interested in being a 3rd party licensee of Traveller products ala DGP. Maybe doing something like the old JTAS magazine. I am seeking authors and artists and would be interested in doing this via a PDF publication. I have some ideas and am interested in yours as well. Just respond to this message if your interested.
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
If you can keep the quality up, and present a good magazine (like DGP's Traveller's Digest or MegaTraveller Journal), I'd surely subscribe.
The JTAS that SJG put out was horrible--probably one of the worst Traveller 'zines I've ever seen.
I'd love to see some good quality Traveller material, though.
The JTAS that SJG put out was horrible--probably one of the worst Traveller 'zines I've ever seen.
I'd love to see some good quality Traveller material, though.
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
If you can keep the quality up, and present a good magazine (like DGP's Traveller's Digest or MegaTraveller Journal), I'd surely subscribe.
The JTAS that SJG put out was horrible--probably one of the worst Traveller 'zines I've ever seen.
I'd love to see some good quality Traveller material, though.
The JTAS that SJG put out was horrible--probably one of the worst Traveller 'zines I've ever seen.
I'd love to see some good quality Traveller material, though.
Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
drobe, have you been keeping an eye on Flynn's Stellar Reaches? (He's having RL difficulties getting the fourth one out, right now. 
)
)Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
drobe, have you been keeping an eye on Flynn's Stellar Reaches? (He's having RL difficulties getting the fourth one out, right now. )
)I have seen StellarReaches...it's pretty good. I especially liked the article on devolving UWP's to the Gateway period. This kind of stuff is kinda what I had in mind, stuff that is usable to GM's and players alike. The only problem I have with it, is that it seems to have a really long time between releases. I was thinking a subscription zine via PDF either downloaded or delivered via e-mail, probly on a monthly release. I'm definitely interested in authors and especially artists freelancers.
I have seen StellarReaches...it's pretty good. I especially liked the article on devolving UWP's to the Gateway period. This kind of stuff is kinda what I had in mind, stuff that is usable to GM's and players alike. The only problem I have with it, is that it seems to have a really long time between releases. I was thinking a subscription zine via PDF either downloaded or delivered via e-mail, probly on a monthly release. I'm definitely interested in authors and especially artists freelancers.
My apologies for the long time between releases on SR, but I unfortunately have some real-life issues that pull at what little spare time I have. Still, I do try to put out a good 'zine with what I've got, and it's free, so no one is losing any money on the deal.
Here are the obstacles you'll probably run into, speaking from experience:
1) If it's a one-man show, you'll invariably get caught by the Real Life Complications trap at some point. It's inevitable. If you want to go with a monthly format, you'll need to get a group together, and put down some hard and fast deadlines about everyone getting their parts done.
2) The more frequent your publication time, the more material you'll need. Be prepared to write it yourself if you don't get enough in to cover your basic needs. That can be the killer.
3) It looks a lot easier than it really is. Trust me on that one.
The main reason I haven't sought a license of my own for SR is simple: I can't insure a regular delivery. If you can do that, people will pay. If you can't do that, you will be doing your customers a disservice if you try to sell subscriptions. Be careful.
So that you know, before Stellar Reaches was released, we've seen two other efforts to start a fanzine that didn't release a single issue, and two additional licensed efforts that failed to deliver as well. That's why I released my first issue before I announced my effort, to show that it could be done. Until you can deliver (even sporadically), a lot of people will consider it vaporware.
I wish you the best of luck, and if I can be of service, let me know. I may not have a lot of time on my hands of late, but I do have advice and some practical experience in these matters.
Hope this helps,
Flynn
Here are the obstacles you'll probably run into, speaking from experience:
1) If it's a one-man show, you'll invariably get caught by the Real Life Complications trap at some point. It's inevitable. If you want to go with a monthly format, you'll need to get a group together, and put down some hard and fast deadlines about everyone getting their parts done.
2) The more frequent your publication time, the more material you'll need. Be prepared to write it yourself if you don't get enough in to cover your basic needs. That can be the killer.
3) It looks a lot easier than it really is. Trust me on that one.
The main reason I haven't sought a license of my own for SR is simple: I can't insure a regular delivery. If you can do that, people will pay. If you can't do that, you will be doing your customers a disservice if you try to sell subscriptions. Be careful.
So that you know, before Stellar Reaches was released, we've seen two other efforts to start a fanzine that didn't release a single issue, and two additional licensed efforts that failed to deliver as well. That's why I released my first issue before I announced my effort, to show that it could be done. Until you can deliver (even sporadically), a lot of people will consider it vaporware.
I wish you the best of luck, and if I can be of service, let me know. I may not have a lot of time on my hands of late, but I do have advice and some practical experience in these matters.
Hope this helps,
Flynn
My apologies for the long time between releases on SR, but I unfortunately have some real-life issues that pull at what little spare time I have. Still, I do try to put out a good 'zine with what I've got, and it's free, so no one is losing any money on the deal.
Here are the obstacles you'll probably run into, speaking from experience:
1) If it's a one-man show, you'll invariably get caught by the Real Life Complications trap at some point. It's inevitable. If you want to go with a monthly format, you'll need to get a group together, and put down some hard and fast deadlines about everyone getting their parts done.
2) The more frequent your publication time, the more material you'll need. Be prepared to write it yourself if you don't get enough in to cover your basic needs. That can be the killer.
3) It looks a lot easier than it really is. Trust me on that one.
The main reason I haven't sought a license of my own for SR is simple: I can't insure a regular delivery. If you can do that, people will pay. If you can't do that, you will be doing your customers a disservice if you try to sell subscriptions. Be careful.
So that you know, before Stellar Reaches was released, we've seen two other efforts to start a fanzine that didn't release a single issue, and two additional licensed efforts that failed to deliver as well. That's why I released my first issue before I announced my effort, to show that it could be done. Until you can deliver (even sporadically), a lot of people will consider it vaporware.
I wish you the best of luck, and if I can be of service, let me know. I may not have a lot of time on my hands of late, but I do have advice and some practical experience in these matters.
Hope this helps,
Flynn
Here are the obstacles you'll probably run into, speaking from experience:
1) If it's a one-man show, you'll invariably get caught by the Real Life Complications trap at some point. It's inevitable. If you want to go with a monthly format, you'll need to get a group together, and put down some hard and fast deadlines about everyone getting their parts done.
2) The more frequent your publication time, the more material you'll need. Be prepared to write it yourself if you don't get enough in to cover your basic needs. That can be the killer.
3) It looks a lot easier than it really is. Trust me on that one.
The main reason I haven't sought a license of my own for SR is simple: I can't insure a regular delivery. If you can do that, people will pay. If you can't do that, you will be doing your customers a disservice if you try to sell subscriptions. Be careful.
So that you know, before Stellar Reaches was released, we've seen two other efforts to start a fanzine that didn't release a single issue, and two additional licensed efforts that failed to deliver as well. That's why I released my first issue before I announced my effort, to show that it could be done. Until you can deliver (even sporadically), a lot of people will consider it vaporware.
I wish you the best of luck, and if I can be of service, let me know. I may not have a lot of time on my hands of late, but I do have advice and some practical experience in these matters.
Hope this helps,
Flynn
Gruffty
SOC-14 1K
Flynn is right about RealLife (TM) getting in the way. My current project is very much stop-start as RL keeps getting in the way.
I don't mind the time between SR releases; I think it's a great 'zine and a great read. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm able to send something to Flynn to inlcude in a future issue of SR
I don't mind the time between SR releases; I think it's a great 'zine and a great read. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm able to send something to Flynn to inlcude in a future issue of SR
Gruffty
SOC-14 1K
Flynn is right about RealLife (TM) getting in the way. My current project is very much stop-start as RL keeps getting in the way.
I don't mind the time between SR releases; I think it's a great 'zine and a great read. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm able to send something to Flynn to inlcude in a future issue of SR
I don't mind the time between SR releases; I think it's a great 'zine and a great read. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm able to send something to Flynn to inlcude in a future issue of SR
Sorry, Flynn...didn't mean to give the impression I don't enjoy SR. I really do, and you cant beat the price . I figured RL is the issue with it. That's why I'm kinda advertising for freelancers here so that we can pool our resources. I've been on these boards and have noticed over the years that there is alot of untapped talent in this hobby of ours. 
Sorry, Flynn...didn't mean to give the impression I don't enjoy SR. I really do, and you cant beat the price . I figured RL is the issue with it. That's why I'm kinda advertising for freelancers here so that we can pool our resources. I've been on these boards and have noticed over the years that there is alot of untapped talent in this hobby of ours.
No worries. I'm unhappy about my inability to deliver on time, is all. One of the reasons for creating SR was simply to encourage others to create fanzines or at least publish some of their work to the web.
Aside from Freelance Traveller and SJGames's JTAS, there hasn't been a Traveller fanzine/magazine in ten years (that I'm aware of) before Stellar Reaches came on the scene. Most fanzines from the 80s and early 90s were formulaic in their approach. Each release contained something along these lines:
* An astrography article, detailing a subsector in the magazine's favored sector. (I used quadrants because I didn't want to take 3-4 years to cover an entire sector.)
* An adventure or amber zone.
* A patron encounter or two.
* A lifeform entry, slowly building on the Traveller bestiary.
* A starship or an article on starships.
* A general Traveller article, such as a Contact article on a minor race or something related to an aspect of the OTU.
* An equipment article.
There are other options, but this should give you an idea of the kind of things that most people have become accustomed to seeing in their Traveller periodicals.
There are a great number of talented people in Our Old Game here, and I am personally very thankful to them for the contributions they have provided SR over the last year. Still, these guys are busy with their lives, too, and you will go through dry spells from time to time. That's why I suggested that you'll need to be ready to provide the material yourself if you can't get it from others.
For that reason, consider remaining small, at 20-40 pages per issue, particularly if you are going to try to go monthly. You won't be too badly hit is it's a dry month for some reason (like Christmas, for example.) Most fanzines in the past were 18-32 page periodicals, and if you can get things off the ground, I think that's a reasonable expectation from a small out-of-the-garage publishing company. Eventually, you'll be able to grow into a regular 60-120 page delivery like DGP, but I wouldn't count on it until you line up consistent talent interested in developing Traveller material in line with your magazine's goals. Focus on a unified direction is the hardest part for volunteer submissions, but if you are going to be paying these guys, I think you'll be able to get that direction because you'll be able to call the shots a lot more.
So, have you thought about the direction you want to take your periodical? What are your intentions for it? What are you looking for in terms of submissions to support those intentions? And finally, what kind of compensation are you looking at providing your freelancers?
Compensation is going to be your hardest point here, because you aren't going to be able to offer a lot of cash. Many people will come back with quotes about what SJGames will pay them for their work and suggest that they won't write for you if you can't meet that standard. (And you won't be able to meet the "JTAS Standard", as SJGames has larger resources to pay their writers and artists than you are likely to have, such as their RPG business, without losing money on the deal.) That's another part of why I don't sell SR, because I couldn't afford to pay the people that submitted work. No one really likes to give stuff away so someone else can make a profit. At least this way, no one involved with SR is making money but no one is losing any, either, and the zine remains an act of love for the game on the part of all its contributors.
Now, I'd probably write an article for a token amount (if I could find the time), and you can probably find a few others that would do so, as well. I wouldn't count on many volunteers in those regards, however.
Just how much can you make here? Well, let's see. I'm going to assume that you'll probably charge $2-$3 per issue for a small PDF periodical that comes out monthly. You will probably sell anywhere from 40 to 60 copies per issue, so plan on 40 copies as your breakeven point. At $2 per issue, that's $80 to cover the costs of that issue and make a profit. At $3, that's $120. Let's go with $3, because we might need that money.
Purchased artwork for the fanzine might cost you $25 for a single piece, and that's only if the artist is in a good mood. Assuming that you use Public Domain images and the like for the rest of the interior, you'll get a cool cover piece from a budding artist, and you've spent $25.
If you have any overhead in web services costs and the like, that will cost you a bit, too. I'm not going to add that in here, because NWGamers was very kind to donate the space for Stellar Reaches. Without them, I'd be using www.geocities.com and that's not very professional. It'd cost me $5 a month to get rid of the advertisements, at a minimum, and I'd want to do that for a professional venture. Of course, places like RPGNow, ENWorld and Lulu offer storefronts for free or for a minimal start-up cost, but with no monthly charges. These make up for it by getting a percentage of each item sold through them. (Using these services introduces costs for distributing your PDF periodical, such as the 30% that RPGNow charges or the 20% that ENWorld or Lulu charges as their share for hosting and providing shopping cart features, then you lose $24-$36 dollars from your profits right there. But you don't have to provide those services on your own, and RPGNow and ENWorld are great for allowing RPG Gamers to find your product, so it may be worthwhile considering it.)
Okay, without considering the above, you are still at $95 as your expected total revenue after one piece of artwork. (If you are or if you know an artist, this could be eliminated, but it's likely others won't do the work for free.)
Let's assume that you are looking at 20 pages of actual content each month, for which you'd have to pay someone. At $2 a page, you're paying out $40 in order to get content, but most freelancers aren't inclined to work for $2 a page. So, you might consider a bit more of your revenue that could get more interest from freelancers. At $3 a page, you're spending $60, and the average 3-5 page article nets your freelancers $9-$15 each. Now, you could push it to $4 a page, so that you're spending $80 (leaving you with very little profit), and the freelancers are getting $12-$20 an article. But at this point, you are starting to count on selling above your breakeven point in order to make your own money.
A better model might be to offer a few bucks for a one-pager, and $10 or $15 for an article, so that you aren't worried about word count and such so much as you are getting material in.
That, and write a bunch of it yourself, so you don't have to pay out as much.
As I said, it's harder than it looks.
(In case you can't tell, I've put a lot of thought into a similar project, and I didn't like the numbers I kept coming up with when I have to include paying freelancers what they are legitimately due. My own private publishing imprint, Samardan Press, which I am starting soon, will most likely only include my personal work, since I am not likely to be able to afford much in the way of hiring freelancers for additional work. Still, who knows? We'll see what the first few publications bring in, and then I'll have an idea of what I can expect realistically in terms of profit and expenditures.)
I hope this helps,
Flynn
Aside from Freelance Traveller and SJGames's JTAS, there hasn't been a Traveller fanzine/magazine in ten years (that I'm aware of) before Stellar Reaches came on the scene. Most fanzines from the 80s and early 90s were formulaic in their approach. Each release contained something along these lines:
* An astrography article, detailing a subsector in the magazine's favored sector. (I used quadrants because I didn't want to take 3-4 years to cover an entire sector.)
* An adventure or amber zone.
* A patron encounter or two.
* A lifeform entry, slowly building on the Traveller bestiary.
* A starship or an article on starships.
* A general Traveller article, such as a Contact article on a minor race or something related to an aspect of the OTU.
* An equipment article.
There are other options, but this should give you an idea of the kind of things that most people have become accustomed to seeing in their Traveller periodicals.
There are a great number of talented people in Our Old Game here, and I am personally very thankful to them for the contributions they have provided SR over the last year. Still, these guys are busy with their lives, too, and you will go through dry spells from time to time. That's why I suggested that you'll need to be ready to provide the material yourself if you can't get it from others.
For that reason, consider remaining small, at 20-40 pages per issue, particularly if you are going to try to go monthly. You won't be too badly hit is it's a dry month for some reason (like Christmas, for example.) Most fanzines in the past were 18-32 page periodicals, and if you can get things off the ground, I think that's a reasonable expectation from a small out-of-the-garage publishing company. Eventually, you'll be able to grow into a regular 60-120 page delivery like DGP, but I wouldn't count on it until you line up consistent talent interested in developing Traveller material in line with your magazine's goals. Focus on a unified direction is the hardest part for volunteer submissions, but if you are going to be paying these guys, I think you'll be able to get that direction because you'll be able to call the shots a lot more.
So, have you thought about the direction you want to take your periodical? What are your intentions for it? What are you looking for in terms of submissions to support those intentions? And finally, what kind of compensation are you looking at providing your freelancers?
Compensation is going to be your hardest point here, because you aren't going to be able to offer a lot of cash. Many people will come back with quotes about what SJGames will pay them for their work and suggest that they won't write for you if you can't meet that standard. (And you won't be able to meet the "JTAS Standard", as SJGames has larger resources to pay their writers and artists than you are likely to have, such as their RPG business, without losing money on the deal.) That's another part of why I don't sell SR, because I couldn't afford to pay the people that submitted work. No one really likes to give stuff away so someone else can make a profit. At least this way, no one involved with SR is making money but no one is losing any, either, and the zine remains an act of love for the game on the part of all its contributors.
Now, I'd probably write an article for a token amount (if I could find the time), and you can probably find a few others that would do so, as well. I wouldn't count on many volunteers in those regards, however.
Just how much can you make here? Well, let's see. I'm going to assume that you'll probably charge $2-$3 per issue for a small PDF periodical that comes out monthly. You will probably sell anywhere from 40 to 60 copies per issue, so plan on 40 copies as your breakeven point. At $2 per issue, that's $80 to cover the costs of that issue and make a profit. At $3, that's $120. Let's go with $3, because we might need that money.
Purchased artwork for the fanzine might cost you $25 for a single piece, and that's only if the artist is in a good mood. Assuming that you use Public Domain images and the like for the rest of the interior, you'll get a cool cover piece from a budding artist, and you've spent $25.
If you have any overhead in web services costs and the like, that will cost you a bit, too. I'm not going to add that in here, because NWGamers was very kind to donate the space for Stellar Reaches. Without them, I'd be using www.geocities.com and that's not very professional. It'd cost me $5 a month to get rid of the advertisements, at a minimum, and I'd want to do that for a professional venture. Of course, places like RPGNow, ENWorld and Lulu offer storefronts for free or for a minimal start-up cost, but with no monthly charges. These make up for it by getting a percentage of each item sold through them. (Using these services introduces costs for distributing your PDF periodical, such as the 30% that RPGNow charges or the 20% that ENWorld or Lulu charges as their share for hosting and providing shopping cart features, then you lose $24-$36 dollars from your profits right there. But you don't have to provide those services on your own, and RPGNow and ENWorld are great for allowing RPG Gamers to find your product, so it may be worthwhile considering it.)
Okay, without considering the above, you are still at $95 as your expected total revenue after one piece of artwork. (If you are or if you know an artist, this could be eliminated, but it's likely others won't do the work for free.)
Let's assume that you are looking at 20 pages of actual content each month, for which you'd have to pay someone. At $2 a page, you're paying out $40 in order to get content, but most freelancers aren't inclined to work for $2 a page. So, you might consider a bit more of your revenue that could get more interest from freelancers. At $3 a page, you're spending $60, and the average 3-5 page article nets your freelancers $9-$15 each. Now, you could push it to $4 a page, so that you're spending $80 (leaving you with very little profit), and the freelancers are getting $12-$20 an article. But at this point, you are starting to count on selling above your breakeven point in order to make your own money.
A better model might be to offer a few bucks for a one-pager, and $10 or $15 for an article, so that you aren't worried about word count and such so much as you are getting material in.
That, and write a bunch of it yourself, so you don't have to pay out as much.
As I said, it's harder than it looks.
(In case you can't tell, I've put a lot of thought into a similar project, and I didn't like the numbers I kept coming up with when I have to include paying freelancers what they are legitimately due. My own private publishing imprint, Samardan Press, which I am starting soon, will most likely only include my personal work, since I am not likely to be able to afford much in the way of hiring freelancers for additional work. Still, who knows? We'll see what the first few publications bring in, and then I'll have an idea of what I can expect realistically in terms of profit and expenditures.)
I hope this helps,
Flynn
No worries. I'm unhappy about my inability to deliver on time, is all. One of the reasons for creating SR was simply to encourage others to create fanzines or at least publish some of their work to the web.
Aside from Freelance Traveller and SJGames's JTAS, there hasn't been a Traveller fanzine/magazine in ten years (that I'm aware of) before Stellar Reaches came on the scene. Most fanzines from the 80s and early 90s were formulaic in their approach. Each release contained something along these lines:
* An astrography article, detailing a subsector in the magazine's favored sector. (I used quadrants because I didn't want to take 3-4 years to cover an entire sector.)
* An adventure or amber zone.
* A patron encounter or two.
* A lifeform entry, slowly building on the Traveller bestiary.
* A starship or an article on starships.
* A general Traveller article, such as a Contact article on a minor race or something related to an aspect of the OTU.
* An equipment article.
There are other options, but this should give you an idea of the kind of things that most people have become accustomed to seeing in their Traveller periodicals.
There are a great number of talented people in Our Old Game here, and I am personally very thankful to them for the contributions they have provided SR over the last year. Still, these guys are busy with their lives, too, and you will go through dry spells from time to time. That's why I suggested that you'll need to be ready to provide the material yourself if you can't get it from others.
For that reason, consider remaining small, at 20-40 pages per issue, particularly if you are going to try to go monthly. You won't be too badly hit is it's a dry month for some reason (like Christmas, for example.) Most fanzines in the past were 18-32 page periodicals, and if you can get things off the ground, I think that's a reasonable expectation from a small out-of-the-garage publishing company. Eventually, you'll be able to grow into a regular 60-120 page delivery like DGP, but I wouldn't count on it until you line up consistent talent interested in developing Traveller material in line with your magazine's goals. Focus on a unified direction is the hardest part for volunteer submissions, but if you are going to be paying these guys, I think you'll be able to get that direction because you'll be able to call the shots a lot more.
So, have you thought about the direction you want to take your periodical? What are your intentions for it? What are you looking for in terms of submissions to support those intentions? And finally, what kind of compensation are you looking at providing your freelancers?
Compensation is going to be your hardest point here, because you aren't going to be able to offer a lot of cash. Many people will come back with quotes about what SJGames will pay them for their work and suggest that they won't write for you if you can't meet that standard. (And you won't be able to meet the "JTAS Standard", as SJGames has larger resources to pay their writers and artists than you are likely to have, such as their RPG business, without losing money on the deal.) That's another part of why I don't sell SR, because I couldn't afford to pay the people that submitted work. No one really likes to give stuff away so someone else can make a profit. At least this way, no one involved with SR is making money but no one is losing any, either, and the zine remains an act of love for the game on the part of all its contributors.
Now, I'd probably write an article for a token amount (if I could find the time), and you can probably find a few others that would do so, as well. I wouldn't count on many volunteers in those regards, however.
Just how much can you make here? Well, let's see. I'm going to assume that you'll probably charge $2-$3 per issue for a small PDF periodical that comes out monthly. You will probably sell anywhere from 40 to 60 copies per issue, so plan on 40 copies as your breakeven point. At $2 per issue, that's $80 to cover the costs of that issue and make a profit. At $3, that's $120. Let's go with $3, because we might need that money.
Purchased artwork for the fanzine might cost you $25 for a single piece, and that's only if the artist is in a good mood. Assuming that you use Public Domain images and the like for the rest of the interior, you'll get a cool cover piece from a budding artist, and you've spent $25.
If you have any overhead in web services costs and the like, that will cost you a bit, too. I'm not going to add that in here, because NWGamers was very kind to donate the space for Stellar Reaches. Without them, I'd be using www.geocities.com and that's not very professional. It'd cost me $5 a month to get rid of the advertisements, at a minimum, and I'd want to do that for a professional venture. Of course, places like RPGNow, ENWorld and Lulu offer storefronts for free or for a minimal start-up cost, but with no monthly charges. These make up for it by getting a percentage of each item sold through them. (Using these services introduces costs for distributing your PDF periodical, such as the 30% that RPGNow charges or the 20% that ENWorld or Lulu charges as their share for hosting and providing shopping cart features, then you lose $24-$36 dollars from your profits right there. But you don't have to provide those services on your own, and RPGNow and ENWorld are great for allowing RPG Gamers to find your product, so it may be worthwhile considering it.)
Okay, without considering the above, you are still at $95 as your expected total revenue after one piece of artwork. (If you are or if you know an artist, this could be eliminated, but it's likely others won't do the work for free.)
Let's assume that you are looking at 20 pages of actual content each month, for which you'd have to pay someone. At $2 a page, you're paying out $40 in order to get content, but most freelancers aren't inclined to work for $2 a page. So, you might consider a bit more of your revenue that could get more interest from freelancers. At $3 a page, you're spending $60, and the average 3-5 page article nets your freelancers $9-$15 each. Now, you could push it to $4 a page, so that you're spending $80 (leaving you with very little profit), and the freelancers are getting $12-$20 an article. But at this point, you are starting to count on selling above your breakeven point in order to make your own money.
A better model might be to offer a few bucks for a one-pager, and $10 or $15 for an article, so that you aren't worried about word count and such so much as you are getting material in.
That, and write a bunch of it yourself, so you don't have to pay out as much.
As I said, it's harder than it looks.
(In case you can't tell, I've put a lot of thought into a similar project, and I didn't like the numbers I kept coming up with when I have to include paying freelancers what they are legitimately due. My own private publishing imprint, Samardan Press, which I am starting soon, will most likely only include my personal work, since I am not likely to be able to afford much in the way of hiring freelancers for additional work. Still, who knows? We'll see what the first few publications bring in, and then I'll have an idea of what I can expect realistically in terms of profit and expenditures.)
I hope this helps,
Flynn
Aside from Freelance Traveller and SJGames's JTAS, there hasn't been a Traveller fanzine/magazine in ten years (that I'm aware of) before Stellar Reaches came on the scene. Most fanzines from the 80s and early 90s were formulaic in their approach. Each release contained something along these lines:
* An astrography article, detailing a subsector in the magazine's favored sector. (I used quadrants because I didn't want to take 3-4 years to cover an entire sector.)
* An adventure or amber zone.
* A patron encounter or two.
* A lifeform entry, slowly building on the Traveller bestiary.
* A starship or an article on starships.
* A general Traveller article, such as a Contact article on a minor race or something related to an aspect of the OTU.
* An equipment article.
There are other options, but this should give you an idea of the kind of things that most people have become accustomed to seeing in their Traveller periodicals.
There are a great number of talented people in Our Old Game here, and I am personally very thankful to them for the contributions they have provided SR over the last year. Still, these guys are busy with their lives, too, and you will go through dry spells from time to time. That's why I suggested that you'll need to be ready to provide the material yourself if you can't get it from others.
For that reason, consider remaining small, at 20-40 pages per issue, particularly if you are going to try to go monthly. You won't be too badly hit is it's a dry month for some reason (like Christmas, for example.) Most fanzines in the past were 18-32 page periodicals, and if you can get things off the ground, I think that's a reasonable expectation from a small out-of-the-garage publishing company. Eventually, you'll be able to grow into a regular 60-120 page delivery like DGP, but I wouldn't count on it until you line up consistent talent interested in developing Traveller material in line with your magazine's goals. Focus on a unified direction is the hardest part for volunteer submissions, but if you are going to be paying these guys, I think you'll be able to get that direction because you'll be able to call the shots a lot more.
So, have you thought about the direction you want to take your periodical? What are your intentions for it? What are you looking for in terms of submissions to support those intentions? And finally, what kind of compensation are you looking at providing your freelancers?
Compensation is going to be your hardest point here, because you aren't going to be able to offer a lot of cash. Many people will come back with quotes about what SJGames will pay them for their work and suggest that they won't write for you if you can't meet that standard. (And you won't be able to meet the "JTAS Standard", as SJGames has larger resources to pay their writers and artists than you are likely to have, such as their RPG business, without losing money on the deal.) That's another part of why I don't sell SR, because I couldn't afford to pay the people that submitted work. No one really likes to give stuff away so someone else can make a profit. At least this way, no one involved with SR is making money but no one is losing any, either, and the zine remains an act of love for the game on the part of all its contributors.
Now, I'd probably write an article for a token amount (if I could find the time), and you can probably find a few others that would do so, as well. I wouldn't count on many volunteers in those regards, however.
Just how much can you make here? Well, let's see. I'm going to assume that you'll probably charge $2-$3 per issue for a small PDF periodical that comes out monthly. You will probably sell anywhere from 40 to 60 copies per issue, so plan on 40 copies as your breakeven point. At $2 per issue, that's $80 to cover the costs of that issue and make a profit. At $3, that's $120. Let's go with $3, because we might need that money.
Purchased artwork for the fanzine might cost you $25 for a single piece, and that's only if the artist is in a good mood. Assuming that you use Public Domain images and the like for the rest of the interior, you'll get a cool cover piece from a budding artist, and you've spent $25.
If you have any overhead in web services costs and the like, that will cost you a bit, too. I'm not going to add that in here, because NWGamers was very kind to donate the space for Stellar Reaches. Without them, I'd be using www.geocities.com and that's not very professional. It'd cost me $5 a month to get rid of the advertisements, at a minimum, and I'd want to do that for a professional venture. Of course, places like RPGNow, ENWorld and Lulu offer storefronts for free or for a minimal start-up cost, but with no monthly charges. These make up for it by getting a percentage of each item sold through them. (Using these services introduces costs for distributing your PDF periodical, such as the 30% that RPGNow charges or the 20% that ENWorld or Lulu charges as their share for hosting and providing shopping cart features, then you lose $24-$36 dollars from your profits right there. But you don't have to provide those services on your own, and RPGNow and ENWorld are great for allowing RPG Gamers to find your product, so it may be worthwhile considering it.)
Okay, without considering the above, you are still at $95 as your expected total revenue after one piece of artwork. (If you are or if you know an artist, this could be eliminated, but it's likely others won't do the work for free.)
Let's assume that you are looking at 20 pages of actual content each month, for which you'd have to pay someone. At $2 a page, you're paying out $40 in order to get content, but most freelancers aren't inclined to work for $2 a page. So, you might consider a bit more of your revenue that could get more interest from freelancers. At $3 a page, you're spending $60, and the average 3-5 page article nets your freelancers $9-$15 each. Now, you could push it to $4 a page, so that you're spending $80 (leaving you with very little profit), and the freelancers are getting $12-$20 an article. But at this point, you are starting to count on selling above your breakeven point in order to make your own money.
A better model might be to offer a few bucks for a one-pager, and $10 or $15 for an article, so that you aren't worried about word count and such so much as you are getting material in.
That, and write a bunch of it yourself, so you don't have to pay out as much.
As I said, it's harder than it looks.
(In case you can't tell, I've put a lot of thought into a similar project, and I didn't like the numbers I kept coming up with when I have to include paying freelancers what they are legitimately due. My own private publishing imprint, Samardan Press, which I am starting soon, will most likely only include my personal work, since I am not likely to be able to afford much in the way of hiring freelancers for additional work. Still, who knows? We'll see what the first few publications bring in, and then I'll have an idea of what I can expect realistically in terms of profit and expenditures.)
I hope this helps,
Flynn
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
The thing about SR which makes it great is not only that Flynn has a good eye for relavence, but there is a little something for everyone in each issue. It is more JTAS than Supplement 9, or some other single focus product.
For me, the nebulous nature of Liscencing is what keeps me out of it full time. I have the time, resources, and inclination to do all sorts of stuff for Trav, but contact with upper eschelons is sporadic at best. There is no "Go" signal given, ever. At least not to me. Perhaps it is my politics...
Plus, I must admit a motivation problem on my own stuff. I constantly wrestle with "Why do stuff for Traveller, when you could do your own game?"
(I plan to do both)
There is the notion also of product loyalty, and believe me, I tried very hard to stay loyal, but I must admit to despising the later editions of Traveller, based on how they were presented. I had the notion that my and your buying of CT stuff paved the way for MT, T4, and other expensive books full of errors.
It's "I bought a two foot high stack of books, and all i got was this lousy task system". It is the difference for me between a Frank Herbert novel and a Brian Herbert novel. Or original Star Wars, and Lame new Star Wars.
So for me, if I do eventually get paid for doing Traveller stuff, good. If not, I can still look at it as "School". It makes me feel a bit less "Don Quixote".
The later versions of Trav give me one thing good, they are a clear example of why functionality and playablility should take precedence over novelty. It sometimes seems like Upper escelons don't know what they've got.
That is the purpose of my FnD work. I wanted to try to personally iron out things about the basic CT system that I see as lacking or unwieldy. This is for my own benefit rather than sales.
Even with RL, and all the work that lumps on me, I have to fight to find time to fit in time for TRaveller. I run two PBEM games, and I have found that after an initial period of Character Creation and Background CReation, the games become a part of my everyday email routine, except that pictures of Aunt Gladys's trip to Mexico now have to compete with Game Turn 34, 675.
One thing I am certain of. This "Fringe" game should be a franchise by now. A full on Franchise. There should be a Traveller Show on the air. Not Firefly, BSG, or Stargate, but TRaveller. One page of Email replies from one of my excellent players stomps the crap out of anything like Enterprise has got. I'd certainly rather watch the Adventures of Free Trader Beowulf
than sit through another "Chronicles of Riddick" or have Jar Jar at my house, exposing his evil to my children.
I know Mal gets mad when I try to "save traveller" but in my mind, it needs some saving. Gaming in general needs some saving. I will not say that I want to do it singlehandedly, nor think that I could, but I will freely admit that I have a Vision as to what Trav COULD be, and Should be at getting on 30 years old.
For me, the nebulous nature of Liscencing is what keeps me out of it full time. I have the time, resources, and inclination to do all sorts of stuff for Trav, but contact with upper eschelons is sporadic at best. There is no "Go" signal given, ever. At least not to me. Perhaps it is my politics...
Plus, I must admit a motivation problem on my own stuff. I constantly wrestle with "Why do stuff for Traveller, when you could do your own game?"
(I plan to do both)
There is the notion also of product loyalty, and believe me, I tried very hard to stay loyal, but I must admit to despising the later editions of Traveller, based on how they were presented. I had the notion that my and your buying of CT stuff paved the way for MT, T4, and other expensive books full of errors.
It's "I bought a two foot high stack of books, and all i got was this lousy task system". It is the difference for me between a Frank Herbert novel and a Brian Herbert novel. Or original Star Wars, and Lame new Star Wars.
So for me, if I do eventually get paid for doing Traveller stuff, good. If not, I can still look at it as "School". It makes me feel a bit less "Don Quixote".
The later versions of Trav give me one thing good, they are a clear example of why functionality and playablility should take precedence over novelty. It sometimes seems like Upper escelons don't know what they've got.
That is the purpose of my FnD work. I wanted to try to personally iron out things about the basic CT system that I see as lacking or unwieldy. This is for my own benefit rather than sales.
Even with RL, and all the work that lumps on me, I have to fight to find time to fit in time for TRaveller. I run two PBEM games, and I have found that after an initial period of Character Creation and Background CReation, the games become a part of my everyday email routine, except that pictures of Aunt Gladys's trip to Mexico now have to compete with Game Turn 34, 675.
One thing I am certain of. This "Fringe" game should be a franchise by now. A full on Franchise. There should be a Traveller Show on the air. Not Firefly, BSG, or Stargate, but TRaveller. One page of Email replies from one of my excellent players stomps the crap out of anything like Enterprise has got. I'd certainly rather watch the Adventures of Free Trader Beowulf
than sit through another "Chronicles of Riddick" or have Jar Jar at my house, exposing his evil to my children.
I know Mal gets mad when I try to "save traveller" but in my mind, it needs some saving. Gaming in general needs some saving. I will not say that I want to do it singlehandedly, nor think that I could, but I will freely admit that I have a Vision as to what Trav COULD be, and Should be at getting on 30 years old.
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
The thing about SR which makes it great is not only that Flynn has a good eye for relavence, but there is a little something for everyone in each issue. It is more JTAS than Supplement 9, or some other single focus product.
For me, the nebulous nature of Liscencing is what keeps me out of it full time. I have the time, resources, and inclination to do all sorts of stuff for Trav, but contact with upper eschelons is sporadic at best. There is no "Go" signal given, ever. At least not to me. Perhaps it is my politics...
Plus, I must admit a motivation problem on my own stuff. I constantly wrestle with "Why do stuff for Traveller, when you could do your own game?"
(I plan to do both)
There is the notion also of product loyalty, and believe me, I tried very hard to stay loyal, but I must admit to despising the later editions of Traveller, based on how they were presented. I had the notion that my and your buying of CT stuff paved the way for MT, T4, and other expensive books full of errors.
It's "I bought a two foot high stack of books, and all i got was this lousy task system". It is the difference for me between a Frank Herbert novel and a Brian Herbert novel. Or original Star Wars, and Lame new Star Wars.
So for me, if I do eventually get paid for doing Traveller stuff, good. If not, I can still look at it as "School". It makes me feel a bit less "Don Quixote".
The later versions of Trav give me one thing good, they are a clear example of why functionality and playablility should take precedence over novelty. It sometimes seems like Upper escelons don't know what they've got.
That is the purpose of my FnD work. I wanted to try to personally iron out things about the basic CT system that I see as lacking or unwieldy. This is for my own benefit rather than sales.
Even with RL, and all the work that lumps on me, I have to fight to find time to fit in time for TRaveller. I run two PBEM games, and I have found that after an initial period of Character Creation and Background CReation, the games become a part of my everyday email routine, except that pictures of Aunt Gladys's trip to Mexico now have to compete with Game Turn 34, 675.
One thing I am certain of. This "Fringe" game should be a franchise by now. A full on Franchise. There should be a Traveller Show on the air. Not Firefly, BSG, or Stargate, but TRaveller. One page of Email replies from one of my excellent players stomps the crap out of anything like Enterprise has got. I'd certainly rather watch the Adventures of Free Trader Beowulf
than sit through another "Chronicles of Riddick" or have Jar Jar at my house, exposing his evil to my children.
I know Mal gets mad when I try to "save traveller" but in my mind, it needs some saving. Gaming in general needs some saving. I will not say that I want to do it singlehandedly, nor think that I could, but I will freely admit that I have a Vision as to what Trav COULD be, and Should be at getting on 30 years old.
For me, the nebulous nature of Liscencing is what keeps me out of it full time. I have the time, resources, and inclination to do all sorts of stuff for Trav, but contact with upper eschelons is sporadic at best. There is no "Go" signal given, ever. At least not to me. Perhaps it is my politics...
Plus, I must admit a motivation problem on my own stuff. I constantly wrestle with "Why do stuff for Traveller, when you could do your own game?"
(I plan to do both)
There is the notion also of product loyalty, and believe me, I tried very hard to stay loyal, but I must admit to despising the later editions of Traveller, based on how they were presented. I had the notion that my and your buying of CT stuff paved the way for MT, T4, and other expensive books full of errors.
It's "I bought a two foot high stack of books, and all i got was this lousy task system". It is the difference for me between a Frank Herbert novel and a Brian Herbert novel. Or original Star Wars, and Lame new Star Wars.
So for me, if I do eventually get paid for doing Traveller stuff, good. If not, I can still look at it as "School". It makes me feel a bit less "Don Quixote".
The later versions of Trav give me one thing good, they are a clear example of why functionality and playablility should take precedence over novelty. It sometimes seems like Upper escelons don't know what they've got.
That is the purpose of my FnD work. I wanted to try to personally iron out things about the basic CT system that I see as lacking or unwieldy. This is for my own benefit rather than sales.
Even with RL, and all the work that lumps on me, I have to fight to find time to fit in time for TRaveller. I run two PBEM games, and I have found that after an initial period of Character Creation and Background CReation, the games become a part of my everyday email routine, except that pictures of Aunt Gladys's trip to Mexico now have to compete with Game Turn 34, 675.
One thing I am certain of. This "Fringe" game should be a franchise by now. A full on Franchise. There should be a Traveller Show on the air. Not Firefly, BSG, or Stargate, but TRaveller. One page of Email replies from one of my excellent players stomps the crap out of anything like Enterprise has got. I'd certainly rather watch the Adventures of Free Trader Beowulf
than sit through another "Chronicles of Riddick" or have Jar Jar at my house, exposing his evil to my children.
I know Mal gets mad when I try to "save traveller" but in my mind, it needs some saving. Gaming in general needs some saving. I will not say that I want to do it singlehandedly, nor think that I could, but I will freely admit that I have a Vision as to what Trav COULD be, and Should be at getting on 30 years old.