It is the beginning of the year although, from where I sit in the City of Angels, there is a fair amount of unfinished business from last year hanging over our heads. E that as it may, work must proceed. I noticed this opportunity from one of the freelancer forums for the magazine World Forge (http://www.worldforgemagazine.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=65), which now apparently offers the princely sum of one half of an American cent per word. The actual amount does not matter to me that much – as I have said elsewhere possibly ad nauseam – if I were interested only in making money I would not be doing any writing at all. I will add this to the list of magazines that I will be trying to be published in this year, in one of several different fields in which I hope to be active. In this case, I hope to use the magazines as a target for pieces which occur to me now and again and which do not seem to be suitable for sustaining for a lengthy piece.

One thing I have concluded from listening to a number of different games blogs over the last week or so, and which should not come as much of a surprise to anyone, is that there is a wide range of different interests not just for types of game or types of support for a particular support but also for style for particular types of game support. Some people seem to enjoy modules with parts that can be cut out almost whole and transported to other games, while others have specific requirements for combat, railroading the players, monsters and guns and just about every other facet of the game-playing experience. Given this situation, what if anything should the freelance writer do? Well, the obvious thing to say is that while a particular style will not please everyone, it seems unlikely to be able to cobble together a portmanteau style which will please everyone. Consequently, rely upon editors to ask for what they want and, for self-motivated pieces, choose potential publishers with care and persistence for the long-term.

Back tomorrow.