Often, aspiring writers ask me how to break into the worlds of tie-in fiction or role-playing game writing. My advice for folks looking to get their foot in the door includes knowing somebody, making cool stuff and putting it out there, making it easy for folks to find you, and applying to freelancer open calls. In this article, I’ll go into detail on each of these four ways to get noticed and hired, and then give my recommendations for ways you can stand out from the crowd.

Tip 1: Know Somebody

The hard truth is that knowing somebody working in the industry is the most surefire way of getting hired to write for them. If you can put yourself in a position where people doing the hiring can contact you—or you can contact them—you’ve overcome the hardest part already. Even if you don’t have a contact inside the company, someone in your network who has worked for them before could recommend you for that new project or assignment.

Although cultivating those connections can be challenging, there are ways you can grow your network without seeming disingenuous. When trying to make new connections, the key lies in networking with your peers—those at a similar level in their professional career. Folks in your cohort can provide valuable feedback on your work, share useful resources, serve as accountability partners, and help keep you motivated. And as you and your connections make headway within the RPG- and tie-in fiction-writing industries, opportunities might arise where they can recommend you for projects, and vice versa.

So how can you meet folks in your cohort? Try joining subreddits or Discord communities for the games, genres, and fandoms you’re looking to break into. Attend conventions and game days both online and in person, or consider hosting a game day yourself. Chances are, you’ll find local creators who are demoing or playtesting their games or supplements. You can also look for writing groups to join in your local community or for specific fandoms. You might also consider seeking out folks to collaborate with on projects such as podcasts, actual plays, game supplements, setting sourcebooks, or fanfiction. Note that LinkedIn is not the greatest platform for building genuine connections (in my opinion), but it is a good spot to showcase the work you’ve created (see tips 2 and 3).

A lot of artists who create for pleasure or as a hobby find themselves facing a creative blockage at some point (or many points) in their lives. We can’t quite find the answer to the question, “why can’t I seem to create right now?” Sometimes, we’re asking ourselves a variation on that same question: “is right now the right time to create this?”

For a long time, I’d internalized that piece of writing advice that often gets doled out: “write every day.” While that advice does have some underlying merit, it also made me feel guilty whenever I fell short of that goal. Sometimes, I’d go for weeks without writing, and I felt like a failure for not living up to those expectations. I tried to figure out a writing routine to help me stick to my goals, and some months that plan worked, but other months it absolutely did not.

I finally figured out that my writing routine—or any creative routine, really—was heavily affected by the creative season I was in.

One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started writing was to equate the word “editing” with merely correcting grammar and spelling. Although that is certainly an integral part of the editing process, it is by no means the only one. It wasn’t until I started working in publishing that I realized there were names for the multiple stages of editing that a published work of writing undergoes, along with a recommended order of doing them. In the fanfiction community especially (where I got my start as a writer), “beta readers” will often edit multiple levels at the same time, but for writers who are considering selling their work, it can make sense to go through the more formal editorial process.

First comes developmental editing, then copyediting, and finally—just before the piece is published—proofreading. Aspiring authors can help critiquers by signaling what kind of editing they’re looking for, i.e., saying whether one is willing to rewrite entire sections of a piece, or whether one wants to keep the bulk of the text intact but just have it polished. By using the jargon associated with the different levels of editing, authors can communicate their needs quickly and also begin to learn the language of professional publishing.

Whether you want to write for your favorite game company, for a community content program such as the Dungeon Master’s Guild, or to self-publish, there are a few basic changes you can make to your routine, process, and mindset that can save you a lot of time, money, and headache in the long run.

Track Your Time

In 2018 I was introduced to Toggl, a free time-tracking cloud app that can be accessed from your web browser or mobile device. Alternatively, you can always jot down the time you spend working in a spreadsheet or in your planner/journal. I use it to track how much time I spend on a given project and each portion of that project, such as outlining or drafting or finding new clients. It’s been super useful to be able to look back and see how much time different assignments actually take me, and then be to able to forecast approximately how much time I’ll need, whether I can hit a deadline, or whether it pays enough to be worth my time. It’s also helped me gauge how much is “too much” in terms of day job, freelance, and social commitments. Time tracking can also help at tax time, depending on what you’re deducting on a Schedule C (internet, phone bill, etc.).

If you’ve ever thought about submitting a resume and writing sample to an open call for freelancers, there are a few basic guidelines you can follow to help maximize your chances of landing a trial assignment. These are drawn from my own experiences wading through the “slush pile” of freelance writer applications, as well as my experiences as someone submitting my resume to a company for consideration.

1. Follow the submission instructions. Companies need freelancers who can follow directions, so sending in something extraneous or omitting something mandatory can be a big strike against you.
2. Organize your resume to be more like a bibliography, listing any writing credits first and foremost. If you don’t have any writing credits, or if your job experience or education is irrelevant to writing, you might want to try self-publishing or being a guest contributor at your favorite blogs first to build up your resume.
3. Make your writing sample short, sweet, and relevant. It’s harder to write concisely than it is to write at length, and the longer your sample is, the less likely it is to be read in full. If you’re applying as a writer to an RPG company, attach rules material such as an item, a place description, or an adversary. Don’t attach fiction unless you’re specifically applying to a fiction-writing position, and don’t attach screenplays when you want to get hired to write short stories.
4. The strongest writing samples display creativity, highlight your command of the game’s rules or knowledge of the market’s target audience, and showcase your unique writer’s voice. They also demonstrate higher-level grammar and style proficiency, such as avoiding passive voice and wordy phrases.
5. Finally, be professional and polite. Remember that another human is the one reading your email. Manage your own expectations, and if you’re not selected for this opportunity, be gracious about it. It’s a small world out there, and never know when you might run into that editor again.
6. Bonus Tip: If the website says “we do not accept unsolicited x, y, or z…”, think twice before opening your email with “I know you don’t accept unsolicited x, y, or z, but…”. See tip #1!

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash.