Freelancer Guidelines
Thanks for your interest in writing for Kobold Press! As a small press, we work with freelance game designers, editors, cartographers, and artists to produce high-quality, fully-playtested adventures, design guides, and setting materials. This means the Kobold crew is often scouting new talent.
We’re looking to find a new generation of writers, while drawing on the best existing talent. Maybe we can work together.
Queries and Submissions
Kobold Press is taking queries for PDF releases from Kobold Courier readers, from Kickstarter backers, and from established freelancers in the tabletop RPG field—people who are familiar with and excited about Kobold Press releases. Pitches for larger print releases are taken from open call contests (such as the Valhalla Calling contest) and closed calls from backers of our Kickstarter projects.
It’s up to you to decide what you’d like to query, though the editors ask that you not query more than one project at a time. Anything sword & sorcery, tabletop RPG, and Midgard-related will get a hearing.
Please send your queries by email to Wolfgang, and include “Query” in the subject line, plus a brief description of the PDF topic, approach, rules set, and likely word count.
What We’re Looking For
On the one hand, as its own small-but-fierce enterprise, Kobold Press has won many ENnie and Origins awards, and it already has a stable of regular authors and its own voice. Check a recent release in print or PDF from the Kobold Store to see what sort of materials we publish, but don’t just rehash something we have already done.
What does a Kobold editor really want? Your best stuff, meaning exciting adventures, short player-focussed rules expansions, or generic or Midgard-friendly sourcebooks that work at the game table for both GMs and players. Since it’s a small shop, provide clean, snappy text that doesn’t require a ton of development. “Good idea, lousy execution” will get a rejection every time.
- Short player-focused materials on a single race, school of magic, or class, such as the New Paths series provides.
- Mini-adventures! We’re especially interested in adventures for Pathfinder RPG, Dragon AGE, and maybe D&D Next. They need to work with a single map, and under 7,500 words.
- The easiest to break into print is with blog entry (see the web guidelines below). The hardest areas to break into are the printed projects.
What I’m NOT Looking For
I’m not interested in long-form adventures, poetry, fiction, character writeups, CRPG material, or game reviews. All of those are great things, but for other sites.
KQ does not hold a license to use copyrighted material from the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Greyhawk, and other campaign settings. Kobold Press won’t (and can’t) publish official game material for them.
Requested Manuscripts: Length and Formatting
If your query is accepted, you’ll be contracted about length and a contract with a deadline. Your manuscript must come in on time. Generally speaking, please send your completed article as a Word or RTF attachment with minimal formatting (no weird fonts, columns, or similar nonsense). Include your name, address, and the total wordcount on the manuscript. Also, use page numbers. Allow 1 inch margins and at least 10 point type. The editors are generally looking for items under 2,200 words, and under 1,500 is better.
Pathfinder RPG monsters should be formatted using the Paizo style, as shown in any recent Pathfinder adventure.
Check your manuscript for spelling and grammar, as well as for rules consistency. If you include material from a d20 or Open source, note this in your cover email and in the manuscript.
Payments and Rights
Rates and payment varies depending on the press’s ability to pay (we’re broke at all times is our motto). However, we hold to a strict minimum payment of 1 cent a word for all PDF and printed material; Web content is typically unpaid.
Depending on the article, Kobold Press acquires all rights or first worldwide rights. For first rights, this means that all rights revert to you after publication. All Midgard-related articles are all-rights-only to allow for free development of the shared world without legal obstacles.
Web Submission Guidelines
Web submissions are largely held to the same standard as print submissions, but follow a slightly different process for submission and publication.
These articles should be 500 words or so, with a strong headline or title. These posts do not require a query. You can submit them directly to the Web editor, Miranda Horner. Most web submissions are unpaid; a few long-running series or specially-commissioned articles are paid 1 cent/word.
Artist Guidelines
Kobold Quarterly will be commissioning paid art from existing Kobold Press artists and a few selected artists from the field.
If you’d like to be considered, please send a sample file and/or link to an online portfolio to the Kobold Art DirectorMarc Radle, or query for details.
Last Updated: March 31, 2013
