Freelancing in general

[Razgon]

Hi People,
I've noticed a lot of people asking about freelance jobs in these fora (sp?), and this got me wondering.
How does the rest of the industry (thats you guys ;) )actually handle freelancing.
Do you advertise for people, do you look in fora like these or is it a matter of people sending resumees to the companies?

[Rhombus]

Well, the Freelancing Fairy keeps a list of all the freelancers and records how well they've behaved, if they've eaten all their vegetables, cleaned their rooms and so on. If a freelancer has been very, very good, the Freelancing Fairy leaves a contract under their pillow while they're sleeping.

If a freelancer has been naughty, the Freelancing Fairy leaves a different contract under the pillow, ones to companies that are not very nice and try to screw the freelancer eight-ways to Sunday.


Yes, it's all very clear in my head.

[Razgon]

Huh??

[Elissa Carey]

Heh. Cute.

I can only speak from the viewpoint of a freelancer, so here goes.

Most companies tend to amass a pool of freelancers that they'll work with, folks who have a proven track record of turning in decent to excellent work on time. Sometimes, however, there may be a project for which they don't have enough freelancers, for whatever reason (several may be busy with other freelance projects, some may be sick or unreachable, and so on), and so they may advertise, either on the company website or somewhere like RPG.net. This is what's generally called an "Open Call." And if the company likes the work you submitted for the Open Call, they may put you on their list of folks to contact about more work in the future.

Company websites also tend to have guidelines for submissions; if you have an idea for a supplement, or an adventure, or even in some cases fiction, then you read and follow the guidelines given and submit your work. If the company takes a shine to what you've done, either to develop it or they like your writing but it's not something they're looking for at the moment, then you may be contacted and added to their list that way.

Once you've done enough work (this is only something I've heard of, as I haven't gotten to this theoretical point yet :)) in the industry, then sometimes a company may come to you instead of you to them.

Having a resume isn't a bad idea, but quite honestly, I don't think they really care much about that. They're more concerned about if you can do the job, and do it well. It's better, then, to have a writing or art sample, portfolio, or clip file to produce when asked. It's on that which you may be judged.

[Razgon]

Thanx for the info, both of you.

The reason I ask, is that I have some very talented people in my fold (Lidium) - great designers, great artists, technical writers, writers and of course the squid people who do everything (and nothing).
In Lidium we all work for free - we do it because we love the games, the industry and want to make it bigtime in it.
Of course, many do it also to get a fatter portfolio and make a name for themselves.
So, this was my idea - what if, I had a group of people available for short term hire? A kind of Temp bureau for rpg artists/writers/designers?
Would this be of interested to any companies out there? Companies? hello? hehe, well to be serious again, this would be a great boon for everyone as I see.
I could then facilitate jobs between the contacts I have in the industry, to the people I know who wants to fatten their portfolio.

Let me know what you think,

[wizardattic]

www.lidiumonline.com may not go where you think it does.

[Razgon]

I'm sorry, I know, we've had some major hosting issues this month, and has taken the site down until they are clarified with the hosting company.
We've also decided to take the opportunity to restructure the entire site, so it won't be up again for 1-2 months.

If you where looking for examples of our art and writing skills, I would be more than happy to send something to you by email.

I will correct the signature now, thanks for reminding me.

Yours sincerely
Flemming Madsen
Vicepresident Lidium