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benlehman at 12:15pm on 23/11/2004
benlehman at 12:15pm on 23/11/2004The following is a post on the Forge that someone in Eden studios posted in response to one of their freelancers saying that not only was he denied payment, he was denied even a writing credit:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=143463#143463
I am responding to it here and not there, because here I don't have to be polite.
First off -- if your business model requires that you *not pay* the people who are *producing your product* then maybe you ought to consider using a different business model. One that didn't rely on exploitation. Just maybe.
Secondly, while the fellow here says that they've done everything to try to make things right for the "mistake" of denying him a writing credit, this is clearly not true. They sent him... a comp copy. Which he ought to be getting anyway. *Every* writing source except for vanity presses provides comp copies.
So, in short, Eden Studios has not paid this guy a fair wage for fair work (yeah, he was conned into it, but I think if you're going to charge money for writing you'd better be willing to pay money for it), further denied him the payment of having a publication credit, bitched about having sent him a comp copy and still say that:
"We take pride in being a place where new creators can get published. We let them know what they are getting into and they choose to contribute or not. When we make promises, we do out best to fulfill them, even if it takes a bit of time to do so."
Well, frankly, man, you didn't fulfill your promises. You promised publication credit... and didn't give it. You most likely didn't tell him that he would make $350-700 for 7000 words in a fair writing market.
But it's all okay, because you let him "get published." The rosy glow of seeing your words in print -- even under someone else's name -- is clearly far greater than any cash. And he couldn't have done that himself, and made more money on it.
Frankly, I hope the "RPG biz" crashes and burns. With the exception of a few scant companies, it is exploitive, immoral, and wrong.
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=143463#143463
I am responding to it here and not there, because here I don't have to be polite.
First off -- if your business model requires that you *not pay* the people who are *producing your product* then maybe you ought to consider using a different business model. One that didn't rely on exploitation. Just maybe.
Secondly, while the fellow here says that they've done everything to try to make things right for the "mistake" of denying him a writing credit, this is clearly not true. They sent him... a comp copy. Which he ought to be getting anyway. *Every* writing source except for vanity presses provides comp copies.
So, in short, Eden Studios has not paid this guy a fair wage for fair work (yeah, he was conned into it, but I think if you're going to charge money for writing you'd better be willing to pay money for it), further denied him the payment of having a publication credit, bitched about having sent him a comp copy and still say that:
"We take pride in being a place where new creators can get published. We let them know what they are getting into and they choose to contribute or not. When we make promises, we do out best to fulfill them, even if it takes a bit of time to do so."
Well, frankly, man, you didn't fulfill your promises. You promised publication credit... and didn't give it. You most likely didn't tell him that he would make $350-700 for 7000 words in a fair writing market.
But it's all okay, because you let him "get published." The rosy glow of seeing your words in print -- even under someone else's name -- is clearly far greater than any cash. And he couldn't have done that himself, and made more money on it.
Frankly, I hope the "RPG biz" crashes and burns. With the exception of a few scant companies, it is exploitive, immoral, and wrong.
(no subject)
I have to verbally slap the guy who actually wrote the work, though. He could have done it himself, and he doesn't need anyone to tell him that.
(no subject)
But
I blame the culture of RPG publishing (and publishing in general) for the whole "get published" mentality, as if writers need to have someone else validate their work.
Write well. Publication (self or otherwise) is secondary.
yrs--
--Ben
(no subject)
My European friends all have to -- get this -- pay to have their dissertations published. Now when I say "have to," I mean that it's a graduation requirement. And they do not get royalties, even in the unlikely event that the book sells well. And the publisher charges a lot of money for the book, even though he has already been paid for it by the author.
My book contract entails that I make an amazingly small amount per copy of my book, something on the order of 75 cents. This for a book that costs around $100. My expectation is that in about 10 years or so, enough copies will have sold that I will have broken even on -- get this -- the postage of sending two complete copies of a 350-page manuscript to the Netherlands.
And what do I get for this? The pleasure of seeing my name and work in print.
Now, honestly, in academia people actually do care about publication, so it does matter and is worth a lot. I'm very happy about it. But the reality is that this is an exploitative model.
I agree that the RPG business is considerably worse, but it's pretty bad all over.
(no subject)
(no subject)
Not that makes any of this any better. Ripping people off as a lawyer making $400 an hour is wrong, but it makes some sense. Ripping people off so you can make an extra $200? Really?