Welcome to the first ever Creator’s Corner post!
This is where we let another small RPG publisher or freelancer let loose on the blog in the spirit of supporting each other and spreading the word. The RPG scene is filled with amazing creatives and products and this is me doing my part by trying to help ‘rise the tide to lift all boats’.
#supportsmallrpgpublishers #creatorscorner
Please support these folks if you can, check out what they do, and if you can’t support directly, please help share this post. Thank you for stopping by and supporting the creatives in the scene, Glynn
With further ado, over to the magnificent Skeeter Green of SGP with some excellent encouragement and advice!
For the sake of transparency: I have had the pleasure to work with Skeeter on his recent product – Crypt of the Science Wizard.
Face Your Fears
Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12902/Skeeter-Green-Productions
Hey all, Skeeter Green here. For the last few years, my company, SGP, has been making it our mission to get the word out to new authors, artists, creatives, players, GMs, and whomever else will listen to me rant, about getting involved in small publishing and rpg writing. I go to several conventions during the year, and I always get asked (a few times) “How did you get started?” or “I think it’s cool you write for D&D. I could never do that.”
And I am heartbroken each time I hear something like that.
I ran a small seminar at North Texas RPG Con in Ft. Worth in 2019, Skeeter Green takes on Small Publishing, just so I could answer some of these types of questions and give a little encouragement to people who are interested in writing. I can’t cover all that info here (it went for over an hour!), but I’d like to start a series of talks about such things, and answer some questions from the crowd, if you’ll ask.
The biggest thing I tried to get across to the people who attended; you can do this. I am by no means special, no more talented than you, or particularly clever with my game design. What sets me apart from the people who ask the question is simple; I went for it. I have never been afraid to fail (Hell, done it plenty!), and writing is something I always wanted to do. I have been very lucky with some opportunities I have been given, but I was lucky because I took advantage of those opportunities and TRIED.
I don’t mean to make light of anyone’s efforts, and if you HAVE tried, and failed, welcome to a fact; you just received your cheapest (I hope) lesson in what not to do next time. Every failure is a chance to find out what not to do next time, as long as there is a next time. Keep your head up, keep writing, or drawing, or painting, or whatever you want to do. Very few people get it 100% right the first time. You just have to keep going for it. After that, it’s just fine tuning (I still do that every time I write).
And if you get frustrated, never be afraid to ask someone whose work you like or admire for a tip or some advice. I’ve met several “big name” people in the industry, and they have never failed to talk with me, or give some advice. Sometimes, you can’t get them to shut up (I’m a talker, lol)!
So, ask for advice when you’re stuck…because you will get stuck.
Go Forth and Conquer!
Skeeter
