About More Words
almost 7 years ago
– Mon, Jun 10, 2019 at 01:03:43 AM
Hello! It looks like we'll hit the next stretch goal soon, so I wanted to take some time over the weekend to explain the one after that:
$30,000 (approx. US$20,780) — More Words
At this level, we'll expand the Grand Cross setting with new sections for locations, NPCs, politics and culture, and other narrative tools. We'll hire more freelancers to help with this, starting at 15¢ (USD) a word.
So, what does this mean? Well:
Perspectives
One of Hard Wired Island's pillars of cyberpunk is many perspectives: it should examine how social and technological issues affect many communities, especially marginalized ones. Obviously, the best way to have many perspectives in the book is to have them on the team.
With that in mind:
First, we're recruiting consultants to help make sure we get things right. If you liked the example scenario, that had one for the parts about gentrification. As writing progresses, we'll tap more for other issues (including sensitivity reading). Consultants will be paid for their time, because why wouldn't they be?
Second, we're recruiting writers to add more voices directly. This is not just to get them to write about their own background—that feels like the writing version of organizing a gaming con and relegating the non-white-guy speakers to diversity panels. There are a few specific topics we're seeking out writers for, but for the most part we just want a diverse group of people writing fun cyberpunk stuff.
We already set aside some budget for freelancers in our funding target, but the stretch goal will help us recruit more.
(If you're interested in writing, I'll post a writing call post-KS when I know our final budget and I've got more of the setting locked down.)
Freelance Rates
On the topic of writers: all writers will be paid 15¢ USD per word. (On completion, not publication.) There are a few reasons for this:
- Freelance writing rates in the RPG sphere are usually too low. The standard is something like 3-5¢/word, which isn't even poverty wages. That sucks and we can do better.
- Doing better might encourage or inspire other people to do better, which is good for everyone.
- As a writers, it's also good for me specifically.
(And honestly, 15¢/word is still pretty low. That's why we have a stretch goal to increase the pay of everyone on the project, writers included!)
So, What's Next
The KS closes this week! Honestly, I'm already amazed at the amount of support we've received so far. Just hearing about people playing the preview scenario warms the cockles of my heart. Hearing people get hyped by the preview hearts my heart cockles to dangerous levels. The last 48 hours is probably going to light me on fire and it will be great.
I'll try to make one last push for funding this week. If you can help spread the word, please do! And if you haven't had a butcher's at the Discord (that's Australian for "click the link"), give it a look! We've got a nice little community going, and as we work on Hard Wired Island we'll be posting some extra previews and polls there.
We may be continuing last week's stream today, so I'll post in 8-9 hours or so if we can get the gang together. Either way, I'll have more cool links to show you later. See you soon!
