NEW CONTRIBUTERS!!!

[The Galactus Kid]

So, in the past few weekly updates, Kevin has mentioned a desire for new talent to the Rifter. I've been extremely pleased, as a fan, to see the quality work the new talent has produced, and I would LOVE to see more of the work everyone undoubtedly has brewing.

What are the main barriers preventing new submissions to the Rifter?

[The Raven]

My main problem in submitting is getting a project done to the point where I feel it is good enough. Ask Shawn Merrow or Robyn Stott how many potential Rifter submissions I've run past them but I've never considered good enough. If anything, I just need to trust my gut and start submitting. Especially when I've already bribed... I mean paid a decent artist for one piece to go along with one article.

[Kovoston]

I agree 100% with GK, but here are some of the barriers as I seem them.



- More and more of the Rifters seem to have work by established Freelancers and sections cut from published books. It is wonderful to read these things but they eat up space for new contributors (some would argue the adverts do as well but I don't mind those so much).

- There is little or no feed back on submissions accepted or rejected (I think this is mainly because Wayne has more work to do than any two people could be expected to accomplish).

- The vagueness of the releases that people have to sign coupled with a lot of wordage, if something is rejected (which submitter's are never informed of) does Palladium still retain the ownership of the work product?

- The submission guidelines are really out of date.

- There should be a spelled out template for how the Powers that Be want the articles structured and formatted, this would help things at both ends.

- Finally, and I hate to say this, compensation. We all now that there have been problems with this and I am NOT going to cite or discuss specific examples ...



It is wonderful that Palladium does this for new writers and artists but the process could use some cleaning up.

Josh, you took the words right out of my mouth! Though I think the staff at PB knows this already (or do they?).
G

[Scott Gibbons]

From the art angle,,it seems the submission process changed a bit. I think I had read before that submissions of art for the Rifter could be single works. As stated now on the new website, a full portfolio of twelve works needs to be submitted. A body of work is much more work to put together than single pieces. This likely limits the amount of submissions of art, and is probably a good thing in the end. The art in RPG books and even a fan magazine like the Rifter is incredibly important for sales after all. If my assumptions about the art submission process are wrong, please correct me. I admit I'm not certain.

I know that the portfolio is what they've been asking for for at least the past three years - I'm not an artist myself, but I had a friend back then who was and I remember trying to get him to submit his work. In the end, he just didn't have the confidence to send it in.

My main problem in submitting is getting a project done to the point where I feel it is good enough. Ask Shawn Merrow or Robyn Stott how many potential Rifter submissions I've run past them but I've never considered good enough. If anything, I just need to trust my gut and start submitting. Especially when I've already bribed... I mean paid a decent artist for one piece to go along with one article.

Yup, confidence. Feeling good enough about yourself and your work to send something in. That in my opinion is the biggest thing holding back new submitters. The other items mentioned are definitely a factor for sure, but not the first nor the biggest hurdle. Confidence is.

How many times have we seen on these boards people wishing they could write good enough to send something in? Heck, that was my problem for years. I had ideas - I just didn't think I was good enough. I was extremely lucky though; my wife threatened to send in my latest article if I wouldn't. So, to keep the peace, I sent it in. To my surprise it was published in Rifter #40! Looking back on it now I can't understand what I was so hesitant for.

I still get nervous butterflies whenever I submit anything, but I keep firmly in mind that Wayne is a good guy and that Kevin said he likes my writing. Then I shove it in the mail and try not to think about it.

[The Raven]

Yup, confidence. Feeling good enough about yourself and your work to send something in. That in my opinion is the biggest thing holding back new submitters. The other items mentioned are definitely a factor for sure, but not the first nor the biggest hurdle. Confidence is.

How many times have we seen on these boards people wishing they could write good enough to send something in? Heck, that was my problem for years. I had ideas - I just didn't think I was good enough. I was extremely lucky though; my wife threatened to send in my latest article if I wouldn't. So, to keep the peace, I sent it in. To my surprise it was published in Rifter #40! Looking back on it now I can't understand what I was so hesitant for.

I still get nervous butterflies whenever I submit anything, but I keep firmly in mind that Wayne is a good guy and that Kevin said he likes my writing. Then I shove it in the mail and try not to think about it.

It's not really confidence issues. I just never get them finished. I might get the fluff text done but the stats then don't fall into place. Or the stats are quick but the fluff text takes forever.

[Shawn Merrow]

Writers are by and large never satisfied with what they produce, you can fiddle and tinker with your creation till doomsday and never be satisfied. Sometime you just have to say good enough and walk away.

Agree

[The Dark Elf]

1. Notification upon receipt of the idea. - I email Wayne every single month with the same submission to test this - Im sure I must be auto-spam perhaps.

2. No other feedback on the submission. I totally understand the reasons why but it is a reason for not submitting. I think my ideas are ok (at least I think others would be interested) but without publishing them, Ill never know.

3. What is likely to get published? Next is the horror issue. Ive half dozen articles to submit but none are horror related. The last horror issue wasnt horrific except for the excellent NPC Cannibal Mage.

4. A lot of articles appear long. If I write a long article will that get published cos it fills the pages? My ideas at least are normally about a dozen pages (once printed). Are there too few decent submissions that small miscellaneous OCCs or creatures etc. just dont fill a book and are destined to sit on the top of a filing cabinet?

5. My ideas seem to be more focused on full books!! So Im trying those. As it happens I feel my current (and first) submission (which hasnt yet been read) may be more likely to become a two part Rifter article instead of the 112 page PFRPG world book I intended (hoped/hope).

5a. I like to write from a starting point (which is why I like to fill the voids in the PF world). If you said "do me an article on ....." I would begin the process. The initial creative idea is probably a reason why other dont submit....

6. Too busy! (too busy role-playing!)

[zor_prime1]

I understand how busy Wayne and the rest of the Palladium staff is. When it comes to feedback on the articles submitted, one never knows if the article was rejected or kept for a future possible issue. What would be nice is to have feedback for those that were rejected. If someone like the freelance writers or others could deliver the bad news to the submitter and at the same time offer suggestions/coaching on what could be improved upon based upon notes from Wayne and the other Palladium staffers who read through the articles. I don't believe that any idea is a bad idea. They could use some polishing and or fleshing out. To me the 'Think Tank' back in the day was VERY helpful because it offered editing and feedback.
My opinion is that talent is grown and practiced. Those of us submitting to the Rifter are submitting our articles as a talent display. Why not offer us constructive critiques to help us all on our way?

[Slight001]

if you read the contracts wording rather carefully then it sounds like a blackhole event. Send it in and if they are feeling nice they give you some money if not then they take the idea and run with it making their own and claiming that your idea had nothing to do with it. all the while leaving your creation in limbo.

edit: that said I do like Palladium but that contract sounds viscous and means that I'm not sending them anything that I'd be concerned about getting ripped off on.

[glitterboy2098]

lack of feedback in general. i've sent in two articles. in both cases, i had zero response from wayne as to wether they even arrived. it took 6 months of me sending emails asking for him to answer..and the answer was "got it, haven't read it yet."
my stuff is probably still sitting in some pile in his office (or more likely, in a box somewhere after the move), and for all i know, completely unread. and that was a good 3-4 years back.

another issue i can think of is desired content. my articles were essentually "micro-worldbooks", detailing small nations, with a small amount of new gear. while these types of articles have been published before, they seem to be fairly less common than articles with new OCC's, new monsters, or new robots/PA/guns/armor/gear as the main focus. knowing what kinds of articles are being looked for in general might help prospective authors decide what to submit.

another would be a "article size and format" guideline. my articles ran 16-18 pages of 10pt times new roman. they'd be pretty hefty printed articles, i think. i may have shot myself in the foot by making them too big and too hard to break into segments.

and frankly, i think that if they were to work out a "per word" payment plan, instead of the "per page" as it is right now, that would help encourage people to submit. i know i was never sure how many pages my stuff would come out as when printed, since i used smaller type and usually a smaller font than the rifter uses. so i could never work out how much i would have been getting if they printed it. that kind of fiscal uncertainty can drive people away.

another thing, more for previous contributors printed or not, would be an easy way to update our contact info. i've moved since sending in my articles, but i've pretty much decided that emailing or regular mailing Wayne updated info would probably never work as it stands now. i'd never hear back from him to confirm, and likely the email or letter would go unread.

[Warwolf]

if you read the contracts wording rather carefully then it sounds like a blackhole event. Send it in and if they are feeling nice they give you some money if not then they take the idea and run with it making their own and claiming that your idea had nothing to do with it. all the while leaving your creation in limbo.

edit: that said I do like Palladium but that contract sounds viscous and means that I'm not sending them anything that I'd be concerned about getting ripped off on.

I can understand where you would be hesitant. Before I got on writing with them I was wary of signing my work over to them as well. However, now having done work for Palladium for 5 years (geez... has it been that long already?) I think I'm qualified to assure you that you will ALWAYS get credit for your ideas even if they get reworked into something different enough that you don't get paid for them. And even that latter scenario is rare. Trust me, Palladium is not a predatory business like a couple of other publishers who I've heard horror stories about (and no, I won't name names).

...and if rejected (within a stated period of time) the article should clearly revert back to the author.

As far as works reverting back to authors, the way I understand it is that if the work is derivative of Palladium IPs the author couldn't do anything with it anyway. So what's the use of giving back material that can't be used for anything else?

[Soldier of Od]

...and if rejected (within a stated period of time) the article should clearly revert back to the author.

As far as works reverting back to authors, the way I understand it is that if the work is derivative of Palladium IPs the author couldn't do anything with it anyway. So what's the use of giving back material that can't be used for anything else?

So that you can post it online and let other Palladium fans enjoy your work even if it wasn't considered good enough for publication in the Rifter or as a book. I have honestly considered many times whether to simply post stuff online so that it can be out there in the real world for people to use and for me to get feedback on rather than send it in to Palladium to be hidden for decades under a pile of paperwork or rejected and subsequently locked away for all eternity. Surely rejected work could be posted for free? Why should work sent in to Palladium and rejected be any different from Palladium based fan works already posted out there?

[The Dark Elf]

For all the pain it causes the submitter, me included, from a business view I can see why articles are not given a "rejected" status.

"The article may not be useful now but in a few years time.....?" or such trails of thought. Keep your options open at all times.

So what about work from eons ago?

Well I can see a flipside too. Submitters are inherently fans and as such, customers. By sending a rejection letter the submitting fan may (probably would) feel disheartened, disappointed and, well, rejected. Rejected by his favourite pastime, the "family" company and games he loves.

As such with every (an exaggeration I know) rejection letter PB's may very well lose a fan. Can they afford to loose fans? Ofc not, so the lesser of too evils chosen which is no news. Which in turn allows the submitter (me) to keep thinking in his head "oh well, it's just that it didnt fit into the current issue or its a topic that may be used later" (yes it's called denial).

Still sucks mind...

[Warwolf]

...and if rejected (within a stated period of time) the article should clearly revert back to the author.

As far as works reverting back to authors, the way I understand it is that if the work is derivative of Palladium IPs the author couldn't do anything with it anyway. So what's the use of giving back material that can't be used for anything else?

I understand what you are saying. But first, there have been many articles published that would be useable in another setting or as a jumping off point for something new if the IP specific elements were removed. Second even if the work was too intertwined with the IP to be used for something else it is still the work product and property of the Author unless they have been compensated in full. What does it matter to Palladium Books if all the author can do is post it as free web content of put it in a trunk?

Actually, no, from my understanding (which may very well be incorrect, mind you) of things if it was created specifically to be submitted to Palladium in the hopes of publication it means it is obviously derivative of their work. That means even if you stripped out all references of Palladium IP it is still derivative. Now, that wouldn't necessarily preclude it from being released for free publication online on a fan site.

HOWEVER, who exactly is going to take the time to go through after a set period and send notification to everyone that isn't accepted that they are free to post their stuff on a fansite somewhere? The guys are swamped just trying to get books out as is. Sucks for those that wish to go the fan-site route, but I don't think resources allow for this practice as of now.

[Todd Yoho]

Actually, no, from my understanding (which may very well be incorrect, mind you) of things if it was created specifically to be submitted to Palladium in the hopes of publication it means it is obviously derivative of their work. That means even if you stripped out all references of Palladium IP it is still derivative.

That's an over liberalization of 17 USCA Sect. 101 "derivative works" that I doubt would stand up in court.

[The Galactus Kid]

Actually, no, from my understanding (which may very well be incorrect, mind you) of things if it was created specifically to be submitted to Palladium in the hopes of publication it means it is obviously derivative of their work. That means even if you stripped out all references of Palladium IP it is still derivative.

That's an over liberalization of 17 USCA Sect. 101 "derivative works" that I doubt would stand up in court.

I'm with Yoho here.

Speaking of which, Todd...I still owe you a beer. I'm not sure for what, but it tarnishes my sterling reputation as an enabler.

[DBX]

So, in the past few weekly updates, Kevin has mentioned a desire for new talent to the Rifter. I've been extremely pleased, as a fan, to see the quality work the new talent has produced, and I would LOVE to see more of the work everyone undoubtedly has brewing.

What are the main barriers preventing new submissions to the Rifter?

a bigger pool of fans, especially a younger enthusiastic and full of new ideas generation of palladium gamers

More advertising of Rifter in non palladium mediums.

Possibly have a banner over the PB section at gen con and other conventions stating that fan material is accepted for PB I.P's.

announce this in non PB blogs and podcasts

[DBX]

imagine if all these had been first sent for rifter publications

don't know how accurate this website is but i think it highlights why creative artists should know if they have been accepted, rejected, on hold, and if they are still able to submit to other publishers


http://www.examiner.com/book-in-nationa ... publishers

[Chronicle]

I would love to submit ideas to the rifter, but i am no writer, nor am i an artist that is my main issue. Just concepts and ideas.

[glitterboy2098]

just do your best on the writing. i used to say the same thing and i just kept at it. honestly, ideas are things most writers struggle with. writing itself just takes practice.

[Kovoston]

I would love to submit ideas to the rifter, but i am no writer, nor am i an artist that is my main issue. Just concepts and ideas.

Find someone that will collaberate with you.

[Warwolf]

Edit: And Mark you know I respect you as a writer and like you as a friend, this is just an issue I have really strong feelings about.

No worries on my end, man, I never had the perception that you were getting testy or anything.

Actually, no, from my understanding (which may very well be incorrect, mind you) of things if it was created specifically to be submitted to Palladium in the hopes of publication it means it is obviously derivative of their work. That means even if you stripped out all references of Palladium IP it is still derivative.

That's an over liberalization of 17 USCA Sect. 101 "derivative works" that I doubt would stand up in court.

And hence the caveat that my understanding of the legalese regarding derivative works may very well have been incorrect. I'm no lawyer and make no pretense at being such.

Given that interpretation, I would probably suggest a more rigid filing system that saw submissions sorted not only by topic but also date of receipt. Then again, I would also advocate the ability for contributors to opt out of the time-limit clause. Why I say this is because some submissions may sit for months (years?) before there is a good slot available for them in a particular issue. It would suck for a contributor that isn't intending to do anything else with their material to miss out on the chance to get printed because Wayne couldn't find it a home for a year.

Of course, I don't see anything like this coming about any time in the very near future either as I doubt the manpower and money are there to devote to something that isn't directly going to turn PB a profit (read: books). Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see more stuff like this get rectified if only for the PR value, but I think Palladium will have to move a bit further down the recovery path before it can be tackled. I will try and remember to bring the topic up with Wayne and/or Kev the next time I talk with them, though.

[Reagren Wright]

Well time for me to put in my 1 censt worth. Two different types of writing is published by
Palladium, optional and unofficial rules and source material (The Rifter) and official rules
(cannon) and source material (everything else). The difference between them can be
paper thin or as thick as concrete. Either way the writing itself has to be imaginative,
clever, original, and inspiring. That is what Wayne is looking for. When I look at the stuff
that he doesn't accept, I don't knock him for not publishing it. I have to look at the
material and figure out why it didn't get accepted. Of the two (soon to be three) things
that got accepted, I was really passionate about the subject matter. I was ticked off that
Villains Unlimited 2nd edition didn't have any new S.C.R.E.T material. So I made my own. I
went to the library read some books, check some internet data, had my friend whose an
expert on weapons and stuff give me pointers, and came up with the layout that you see in
Rifter #33. Now my thought wasn't to see if I get this published or to get paid, it was I
wonder if Kevin and company like any of these ideas? And they did. Now between Rifter
#33 and Rifter #42 (which is about two years), I sent 3-4 other articles. Never heard from
Wayne about them. Doesn't it bother me not really, although I was sort of hoping for one to
make it in because I did put a lot of research and extra work into it. But when I did the
S.C.R.E.T around the World stuff in #42, I was shocked that it got accepted. Now here it is
3 years later, and this time a short story gets chosen, something completely different then
the others things I sent it. I'm guess it will be about 6 or 7 pages if that. The comment I
got from Wayne was "You, sir, have been working on your writing." That was a big
complement for me. Meaning I showed some improvement. And it tells me the kind of
direction I might want to take additional projects.

So think of it this way. If they don't respond it doesn't necessary means your writing stinks
or is no good. You not going to know, and sometimes you shouldn't know. True you can't
improve if nobody talks to you, but you take that frustration and combine it with something
you feel real passionate about and you can turn that into something that get noticed. Then
you might get some feedback like I got. Look at what you feel is missing or something that
should be changed. It has to be something that other people besides you and your gaming
group think is cool. It has to have Palladium Megaverse appeal.

Like I said just my 1 cents worth. Good luck to all writers and artist who fell like taking the
plunge. And those who make it congratulation and those who don't keep on taping that
keyboard. Your time may come when you least expect it .

[PhellaOne]

Wow!!! This is probably THE MOST INFORMATIVE post I've EVER read on the Forums, and I've read most (especially the last few months). As an aspiring writer myself (with Palladium products definitely at the forefront of most of my concepts/ideas/projects), I am glad to have come across this discussion. I'll admit that I've always planned for the possibility of rejection and have constructed the majority of my projects to be flexible enough to submit to other publishers (novels are easier to do this with), but the last few weeks I've been pushing myself to finish more Palladium specific material. This post now has me wondering if I'm moving in the right direction? The last thing I want is my preferred publisher to keep me from getting published for lack of communication. As I've said, the majority of my projects are flexible enough to be retooled to most games out there. I consider myself more of a conceptualist, an idea guy, if you will (along the likes of Kevin in the 90's and C.J. Carella). The only thing I really have to do is incorporate a particular game system to my concepts/ideas, and it would really bum me out if I couldn't retool a concept/idea to submit to another publisher because of a vague contract that could keep my concept/idea in limbo (Dimension Book 9! ) for an indefinite amount of time. As Palladium Books is easily my first choice, it sounds as if they are in a "make you or break you" position. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm still going to work my projects out, but it sounds as if I'll have to brush up on my legalese, just to protect MY IPs. Thanx for the SITREP on this, everyone. I'll definitely be tracking this post.

Game on! Long live Palladium Books!!!

[Eclipse]

Well if it helps, I submitted an article for Rifter #15 and got paid and got the copies of the rifter in short order. It wouldn't have needed much if any error correction though (I saw nothing that stood out) and maybe it was a slow quarter Anyway, things may have changed but I had no complaints then. (I know this is thread necromancy, but just in case someone comes along with questions, they don't have to look at the second page of this forum )

[Juce734]

I want to write for the Rifter but struggle to come up with 8 solid pages of ideas when I think about it. Usually I get inspired to write stuff but haven't had enough quality ideas that I feel would be good enough for the Rifter.

[The Raven]

I want to write for the Rifter but struggle to come up with 8 solid pages of ideas when I think about it. Usually I get inspired to write stuff but haven't had enough quality ideas that I feel would be good enough for the Rifter.

8 pages of ideas? Write what you have ideas for, expand on it, think about its place in the game, and then go from there.

[Josh Hilden]

I am a big believer that working toward an arbitrary length is a mistake. Quality is quality regardless of the length.