Submissions

Now that Paizo has their own RPG system, surely they will start accepting submissions again, yes?

Now that Paizo has their own RPG system - surely they will start accepting submissions again, yes?

No. No more than we do now.

That might change in the future, but don't hold your breath. Instead, pay attention to the website for possible opportunities to write for us. There might be another module contest, and I hope there's a second RPG Superstar.

Also, putting this post is two places is kinda not cool. ;)

Also, putting this post is two places is kinda not cool. ;)

My apologies,

I wasn't sure which category it fit under best, so I chose to post both to make sure. I will avoid double-posting in the future.
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Do you forsee any way in the future to submit material that is not a contest? I have some good ideas for monsters, but in the last RPG superstar contest I didn't make it past the first round, as it was about magic items. I'm don't think I'm very good with those, and have little experience in that field. I also never could find out why it was rejected, if it was the concept, price, etc. So I have no idea what to area to improve upon in the future.

I just want to submit some ideas, have someone look at them and say 'yes, we like' it or 'no we can't take it, because...'

I am kind of frustrated at this point because just prior to the ending of Dragon I had finally had some ideas accepted, and even had a full article scheduled to be printed (it was pulled from the magazine to make room for other material due to the cancelation of Dragon)

With the cancelation of Dragon, Paizo announced that they would be in need of new monsters, so I was very optimistic about the direction Paizo was headed, its been almost a year now and I am still waiting for a chance to submit some of these ideas.

With the contest format, rank novices are pitted against experienced writers. I won't delude myself, most things I come up with won't be able to compete with people who do this for a living. I work both a full-time job and a part-time jobs and work on gaming materials in my spare time, but had hoped to make some headway in the field. I guess I would like any idea I have to be judged on its own merits not compared against something else, there will always be something better in any situation.

Finally no one has been able to explain to me, if Paizo handled submissions in the past, why has the way its done been changed? I understood at first, as it was a new venture, but at this point it seems everything should be settled down enough to return to the previous way. Again, maybe my lack of experience here is causing me to not see the a bigger issue at hand.

Thank you for your attention, and again my apologies for any breach of etiquette.

Midrealm DM, there are a lot of 3rd party publishers out there that are seeking material. I suggest looking at the EnWorld forum section devoted specifically for publishers seeking writers, or check out Gaming Report, as want ads are sometimes posted there as well.

Do you forsee any way in the future to submit material that is not a contest?

Yes. Both the Pathfinder Society and the Pathfinder adventure path product are going to be on the lookoutfor short adventures, eventually. I don't know when or how they're going to do it, so stay tuned.

I just want to submit some ideas, have someone look at them and say 'yes, we like' it or 'no we can't take it, because...'

That takes a lot of time, and time is a commodity none of us here at Paizo has right now.

Finally no one has been able to explain to me, if Paizo handled submissions in the past, why has the way its done been changed?

I will try to explain it then. Going through submissions, having a slush pile, requires a huge investment in time. As I said above, we don't have ANY time right now to look through submissions. We're already working 10-15 hour days just to get out the products on our schedule. Because of that, we go to our stable of writers who we know and trust, who we can count on to have good ideas and who have proven themselves capable of producing high-quality material on time. When we can, we also reach out to writers we haven't done a lot of work with who have either done some work in the industry or who come recommended from those people we trust. So if you're serious about writing for us, enter the contests, submit to Dragon and Dungeon, try to get work with other companies, and—above all—patiently watch the website for announcements about new opportunities to write for us.

Submit stuff to Kobold Quarterly.

Submit stuff to Kobold Quarterly.

I guess I'll try that route, thank you

Midrealm DM wrote:

Do you forsee any way in the future to submit material that is not a contest?

Yes. Both the Pathfinder Society and the Pathfinder adventure path product are going to be on the lookoutfor short adventures, eventually. I don't know when or how they're going to do it, so stay tuned.

Midrealm DM wrote:

I just want to submit some ideas, have someone look at them and say 'yes, we like' it or 'no we can't take it, because...'

That takes a lot of time, and time is a commodity none of us here at Paizo has right now.

Midrealm DM wrote:

Finally no one has been able to explain to me, if Paizo handled submissions in the past, why has the way its done been changed?

I will try to explain it then. Going through submissions, having a slush pile, requires a huge investment in time. As I said above, we don't have ANY time right now to look through submissions. We're already working 10-15 hour days just to get out the products on our schedule. Because of that, we go to our stable of writers who we know and trust, who we can count on to have good ideas and who have proven themselves capable of producing high-quality material on time. When we can, we also reach out to writers we haven't done a lot of work with who have either done some work in the industry or who come recommended from those people we trust. So if you're serious about writing for us, enter the contests, submit to Dragon and Dungeon, try to get work with other companies, and—above all—patiently watch the website for announcements about new opportunities to write for us.

My evil design to turn the Storval Plateau into a ride-based themepark will soon reach fruition!

**Rubs hands together evily....-ish**

It might be cool if they took one of the areas that isn't developed as-yet, and offered that up in a contest, or perhaps an 'Island Kingdom'. Have fans submit their own ideas for the region, much the same way WotC had that contest that created Eberron.

Submitting Monsters is cool too, I have quite a few, but I guess that is what the mag (Kobold) is for.

WotC put out an 'open call' for writers for their DDi enterprise - supposedly the fans were going to get a chance to write material for FR. As of yet, ONLY article written by FR designer/authors have appeared... which gives me pause in handing out my own extensive list of article ideas. I find it hard to have any trust for a group of people that hand out all the good writing assignments to themselves.

But thats neither here nor there...

Anyhow, maybe have an area where 'fan-fiction' can be written, and if its any good, could be added to the official storehouse of existing lore?

It might be cool if they took one of the areas that isn't developed as-yet, and offered that up in a contest, or perhaps an 'Island Kingdom'. Have fans submit their own ideas for the region, much the same way WotC had that contest that created Eberron.

That, again, would require us to hold a contest, which we don't have time to do. See my previous post.

Submitting Monsters is cool too, I have quite a few, but I guess that is what the mag (Kobold) is for.

KQ might be a good place to submit, but I don't know the submission guidelines there.

I find it hard to have any trust for a group of people that hand out all the good writing assignments to themselves.

Uh... wut? That's because they're a design house. Freelancers are used to augment the in-house writers. Paizo works the same way, in all honesty, although because we're a much, much smaller design house we rely far more heavily on our freelancers.

I don't know how long ago they held their open call, but also remember that these things have a bit of lead time. For example, it will be almost a year between when Christine Schneider accepted her crown as the RPG Superstar and when her adventure comes out.

Anyhow, maybe have an area where 'fan-fiction' can be written, and if its any good, could be added to the official storehouse of existing lore?

This is something we editors are hoping Gary gets a chance to do, but he's even busier than we are, so he hasn't had a chance yet. :)