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great ideas--additional thoughts
Great article! I think getting published in Dragon is a great first step for freelancers and it pays well.
Three points I’d make. Last year I was querying Dragon and I learned a few things. One is that you can sell almost pure fluff articles to them for the Class Acts column. For instance, I wrote an article expanding the rogue by describing them in other ways such as locksmith, city guide, or spy.
Each description had a short sentence or two with suggested feats, equipment, or skills. I didn’t even have to do any math! This type of article is much easier to write than a heavy crunch piece and being shorter means you can query and submit more often with a better chance that one of them will catch the editor’s eye.
My second point is one that you touched on. Theme is critical to getting a longer article accepted to Dragon. Simply sending in a prestige class will not work. As you mentioned, sending in class variants that are African-themed for example is a much better idea.
My final point is one you may have touched on before. Save everything you write. The article Dragon isn’t accepting today may be just what the next editor is looking for (and they go through a lot of editors). You may use those African class variants you wrote two years ago in that PDF project you just landed today.
And even if you have some stuff you never sell, practice makes almost perfect. The more you write the more ideas you’ll generate and the more queries you can make.
Charlie
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