Writing for Hire

[alanajoli]

John Scalzi recently posted something I read with great sadness: Dragon magazine is unfortunately buying all rights for fiction, rather than paying 3-6 cents per word and first rights (or similar). That effectively makes it work-for-hire. I don't have any problems with work-for-hire, as a rule, but I'll only do work-for-hire fiction if I'm working in someone else's world. If I'm already using their IP, then it makes some degree of sense to me that they retain the rights.

I have discovered, however, that this is not always in the writer's best interest. I don't suspect Dragon (the new digital WotC published version, not the Paizo print version, which ended) will change their minds about this, which is a shame as I'd love to be published there. And knowing that there are others out there with similar magazine tastes, I figured I'd spread the heads up. The conversation on Scalzi's blog is really interesting as well.

Comments

[matt-m-mcelroy.livejournal.com]

There is a huge thread on this over at RPGnet with some interesting views on the topic.

In my opinion, John Scalzi doesn't seem to understand 1) the game market or 2) that this not a print magazine anymore and 3) is a ezine targeted at a specific group within the gamer audience.

It sounds as though those guidelines have been removed as of yesterday however, so it may be a moot point. Rumor has it that there will be no more fiction in the Dragon ezine. A small, but vocal group of D&D gamers complained very loudly about fiction polluting their game content.

[dragonladyflame.livejournal.com]

Even if it's no longer applicable, I have to agree with some of Scalzi's commenters -- it makes sense in the context of the RPG market, and the RPG market is where Dragon belongs more than the general spec fiction market. I mean, if we have a problem with the treatment of RPG writers, that makes sense :grin:, but it seems weird to single this out coming from that point of view.