Shadowrun Fifth Edition has officially been out for over 1/2 a year, so few would be surprised that Catalyst Game Labs will release new adventures, source books, and rule books for the product. That said, when a reject project spec came up, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and try my hand at writing hard-core rules. Usually I stick to fiction, metaplot fluff, adventures, and source material. But I really want to write for the current book because I have some specific things I want to see in there.
How does the proposal process work? Well, it varies from publisher to publisher. Since this is such a lengthy post, I’ve hidden the project spec crunchy bits inside the cut.*
SPOILERS
At CGL, the line dev notifies the freelancers that a new project spec is available. The freelancers have until X date to decide if they want to submit proposals. After the deadline passes, the line dev makes the final writing assignments based on what was proposed and what the company wants out of the project.
To the publisher, the most important parts of the project spec are project title, lead developer, final due date, target total page count, and target total word count. Page count, word count, and final due date are crucial pieces of information. Let's look at each of these in reverse order.
Final Due Date: The company is making a very specific hole in its publishing schedule for this book. If the due date is not met, then the entire schedule slips. Printers have their own needs and schedules. Not only do they have a limited number of employees, but the printers accept work based on when their equipment is free. When a publisher goes to a printer, the publisher gets put on that schedule, sandwiched in between all the other clients. If the book schedule slips, then the publisher misses its opportunity to get printed, then has to wait for all the other clients that got their work in on time.
Page Count / Word Count: Not only is this information crucial for the printer (so it knows how to allocate machine time, employee time, and supplies), but these numbers are vital for the publisher. RPGs are printed on such a thin margin that the publisher has to account for every single penny of the budget. If they go over budget, they probably won't make any money off the product. If they go under budget, then something else is going wrong. Budgeting for books is an art form and a science. Businesses that constantly overestimate or underestimate their needs often end up closing.
After the company-relevant information comes the writer-focused crunchy bits. These include a high level description of the book (the "what this book is" bit), project milestones (due dates for the individual portions of the book), references (a list of past books for proposal research), vision (the "why people need this book" bit), the format (how this book will be laid out), and a detailed synopsis.
The "references" section can be misleading. It is rarely intended to be a complete list of everything needed for a project. Some books are put on the list as a base knowledge library (recent themes, events, and rule changes). Some books are added because they are style references (we want the book to follow this format or be written in this voice). The references section is intended only as a "quick and dirty" resource for proposals. Once writing assignments are handed out, the authors are expected to do more research and use the entire library of Shadowrun products for their work before they hand in the final drafts.
Finally, the detailed synopsis is a section-by-section and chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book itself, including word counts for each chapter (very important!) and the general idea of what each chapter is expected to include. Catalyst likes to share the love among multiple authors, so each chapter is essentially a separate proposal. While authors can propose for the entire book, it's not likely that one author will get the whole thing unless A) it's an adventure module or B) it's a very small source book.
End of Spoilers
The detailed chapter bit, BTW, is the thing that tripped me up when I first started freelancing. I took those details too literally and that’s why my very first proposal was rejected hands down. I didn’t take enough of a risk. Keeping that lesson in mind, my entire freelance career has been one of “I’m going to suggest adding this one tiny crazy-a$$ thing in the middle of all this not-so-crazy stuff and see what Jason says!”
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I’ve gotten a heck of a lot published under this theory. In fact, Sacrificial Limb was one huge risk. It touches on an old Shadowrun plot that shocked fans when it was first introduced before the plot ran its course and fell out of favor (around when Third Edition came out). I proposed SL to Jason Hardy knowing it was 90% likely to get rejected. Then he approved it. Really, if he keeps approving my ridiculous notions, I may one day actually get my dragon colony on Venus and my Awakened penguins in Antarctica! (If anyone sees flying pigs and ice in hell before I do, please let me know. That’s when these ideas are ripe for real pitches! @=)
I’m extraordinarily excited about the current project. There are certain ideas I’ve long wanted to add to the core rule set. As I starting playing with the spec, there were two sections I definitely wanted to add my voice and ideas to. I started a “spitball” list, writing down every crazy and new idea I could think of. Then I scanned the Fifth and Fourth Editions books to match the spitballs against existing items. The obvious stuff (ideas I thought were unique but I found existed under a different name) were removed from the list. The non-obvious stuff I left in.
Then I came up with three items that may break the new system. Oh My Gosh! I was dancing when I found those ideas hiding in the nooks and crannies of my brain. Okay, so they break the system as an initial idea, but that doesn’t mean they are bad ideas. I played around a bit with them, came up with possible counter measures, then added them to my proposal. What’s the worst that can happen? Jason rejects my entire proposal. But then there’s the possibility that he accepts my proposal and says “no” to those three items or that he accepts my proposal wholesale and lets me play with AWESOME NEW STUFF.
Yeah, I’m a little excited about this project. Perhaps way more than I should be. That’s the thing I love most about writing, though. Throwing spitballs at the wall (publisher) and seeing what sticks.
UPDATE: The Shadowrun Introductory Box Set, one of the very first projects I worked on for CGL (way back in the day) has finally come to light and will be published soon. Amazon even has a page bookmarked for it. Be prepared for amazing, folks. This thing ROCKS.
*Since I’m bound by NDA, I can’t discuss particulars about projects and project specs, however, I did get pre-posting permission to discuss CGL’s project specs in generic terms.
