Getting published

From: rmeints_at_e-mail.com
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 07:44:23 EDT

Hello,                                                                          
Subject: Getting published                                                      

Almost every Gloranthan oriented con I've been to has included                  
a seminar entitled "How to Get Published", or something similar.                
Several people on the digest (including me) have all put in their               
two cents (or pence) worth of what Gloranthan authors can and                   
can't do with what they write. That question is almost not worth                
answering any more, especially if current trends continue.                      

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a new Gloranthan RPG.                     
Chaosium doesn't have anyone working on it and they aren't even                 
mentioning Glorantha at all in their upcoming releases or things                
they have in the works. Subscribe to chaos-info_at_chaosium.com if                 
you want to know more or verify what I've just said. I'm hoping                 
that we'll find out more about the future of Glorantha when it                  
is discussed in Victoria at the Glorantha Con, but I wonder how                 
much more there is to know.                                                     

The above statements are not there to demoralize anyone. I just                 
want everyone to realize that certain avenues of Gloranthan                     
publishing are more than likely going to stay closed for the                    
immediate future. The days when you could walk into most games shops            
and pick up the latest Gloranthan stuff are over for a while.                   
Several people have described Glorantha as becoming a boutique                  
type of game. A few specialty shops (mainly mail order) will                    
sell amateur press publications and stock them on a semi-regular                
basis. This is basically what the Megacorp (David Hall, David                   
Gadbois, et al), the Wizard's Attic, and a few other dealers do.                

The main avenues writers have open to them are (in order of ease):              

1. Put it on a Gloranthan based website. Kim Englund maintains one              
   of the best link lists for the most active sites. The URL for her            
   site is "www.DataFellows.com/Staff/Kim/RQ/Linkpage.htm". From                
   there you can easily contact a variety of site owners, one or                
   more of which will be happy to add your stuff to their site.                 

2. Submit your art/article/scenario to Tales and/or Tradetalk.                  
   Most other Gloranthan periodicals (Codex, RQA) have taken                    
   what has become an extended hiatus and could be no more.                     
   Drastic Resolutions is thematically based and is another                     
   option as long as your stuff gels with the next issue's theme.               
   Contact Tales at Glorantha_at_compuserve.com or Tradetalk at                    

3. Submit a basically finished product to the Megacorp. Nearly                  
   finished (or preferably finished) products that just need a                  
   bit of polish are what we are looking for. Not many things                   
   like this ever get submitted to us. Tarsh War and the MIG                    
   were basically finished products that were offered to the                    
   Megacorp who then helped fund their printing and took care of                
   their distribution and sales.                                                

4. Publish it yourself. This requires a fair bit of money and you               
   then need to find a way to sell your product. Before you decide              
   a print quantity, I would contact the Megacorp and see how many              
   they would be willing to purchase for their network of resellers.            
   distributors.                                                                

Lastly, in the end, the more your product looks like a Runequest                
module or supplement, the more people people you will have to get               
approval from, unless you want to take your legal fate into your                
own hands.                                                                      

There are still lots of ways to see your stuff come out in print.               
I just wouldn't expect a huge print run that gets sold in the game              
stores. If that disappoints some of you, I'm sorry, but that really             
is what the current situation is like. If someone thinks I am                   
wrong (and deep down I wish I was) please correct me.                           

Take Care,                                                                      
Rick Meints, Education, Training & Development, 8-737-2126                      
Mobile: 0976-686-454           Internet: RMeints_at_e-mail.com                     

------------------------------

Powered by hypermail