I worked hard at a draft for a ~2.5k word history of adventure games, then based on the quality and breadth of my writing was asked to make it way longer (for an increased fee) and to add more detail about the actual experience of playing the games.
Here is that article: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/01/history-of-graphic-adventures/
@MossRC you're making me wistful for the arstech of yesteryear, before it turned into ..... well, what it is now.
@MossRC FORTY cents per word!! Whoa! That's one heck of a rate!
@earthshaking And it's still one of the better rates I've been offered, too. Most of my work for Ars ended up being nearer to 30 cents a word, which made them one of my higher-paying clients. No idea what they pay now, but it's horrifying to think about the steady drop in typical freelance rates in the past 25 years.
@vga256 They still show flashes of their old form, but I'm not sure it'd be financially viable for Ars now to be like it was in its peak years.
@MossRC yeah, a lot of finance-driven artistic/writing decisions are made like that now. i watched my favourite ars writer go from writing about vintage computer hardware to writing about AI/ML overnight
@vga256 I learnt very early in my career that if you want to survive as a creative professional, you have to be ready to adapt to what the market demands — and quickly. Sometimes there's a way back to getting paid for your passion, sometimes not.
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@MossRC this has thrown my entire understanding of total recall into disarray
benny: victim of martian economics or opportunist?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dhjmSp30jc
@MossRC Thank you for sharing and for... everything you wrote!