Rewriting for Gaming Company

rachelm · Dec 24, 2006

Hi Guys,

I'm a newbie, so let me first say howdy. This is a reposting from the comic/graphic novels subforum. Peedee thought you might have a better idea about rates for this.

Thanks in advance!

Rachel
p.s. The gaming company is looking for editors through a 3rd party firm that did the translations. So the rate they mentioned is probably a bit less than it would normally be.
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Hi Guys,

A friend of mine asked me if I might be interested in working for a Korean gaming company that is looking for writers. Basically, they want someone to take text that has been translated from Korean, proofread it and polish it according to linguistic guidelines. It's a fantasy role-playing game so the characters are elves and other races. For example, the elves use a higher register and sound sort of 19th-century British.

Does anyone have ANY idea what kind of rate per word people get for this type of writing? I think what they are trying to pay is way under market, but I'm not sure. The rate is 4-5 cents a day. They say some of their better writers can edit 10000 words a day.

I've always worked by the hour and not by the word, so I want to make sure that the rate is at least in the ballpark.

Thanks,

Rachel

Christine N. · Dec 24, 2006

Hmm. Sorry, I can't help. I do this same job for a manga company, for their Light Novel line, so I understand the work involved.

I get paid a flat rate per book, and it's pretty fair. For me to do a good job, there's no way I do 10,000 words per day, unless I'm not doing anything else and work an eight or nine hour day. I get through about 20 manuscript pages, double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font per day, and I go over each 20 page section twice, then do a total read through before I turn it in.

Now, .05/ per word, how many words are the manuscripts? If I did an average light novel for that rate, well...*gets out calculator* that's a good deal. It's more than what I get, which I'm pretty happy with. (Light novels average 30-40K words, so you do the math)

Hey, if they need anyone else, you're more than welcome to drop my name

PM me.

rachelm · Dec 24, 2006

Thanks, Christina. Yes, that 10,000 words a day seemed like a lot to me, too. My 'edit head' doesn't work well after about 5 hours. But that depends on how fun/well-written the text is. Badly written text--3 hours and it's time for "calgon, take me away"...

LeslieB · Dec 24, 2006

You might try contacting gaming companies and asking their rates for similar work. The only contact I can give you is Dave Gaider with Bioware. He's very approachable. I worked with him on an unofficial project a few years back.

icerose · Dec 24, 2006

Four to five cents a day??? They're kidding right? I could see per word as magazines pay around that give or take a few cents depending on the publication. In editing sense I'm not sure what the rate is but that is beyond lousy. Four or five cents a day, I can find that many on the street.

johnzakour · Dec 24, 2006

Hi:

I did sort of the same thing for Frogwares software when they were converting their game 80 Days into English. I polished up the English and added jokes. I think I worked at between 3000 - 5000 words a day but the English on those wasn't bad to begin with.

I assume you mean the rate is 4-5 cents a day / word. Which mean you make about $45 / 1000 words. Which I would think is a little low.

Christine N. · Dec 25, 2006

But then a 30,000 word game, at .04/word would pay $1,200, which is more than I get for a Light Novel. The work really isn't hard, depending on how much work it is to fix up the manuscript. I find some are more work than others.

rachelm · Dec 25, 2006

Hi,

Thanks for the response. And thanks, Leslie for the referral. Based on some of the responses I got, I think I've got a pretty good idea of where this job fits in rate-wise.

Sorry about the bad cut and paste job. It's 4-5 cents per word. That really would be slave labor if it were 4-5 cents a day.

Four-five cents/word still seems a bit low for the San Francisco Bay Area. But the work doesn't sound hard. I know the localization firm and from what I can tell they hire good people. I'm just not sure I can slog through 10,000 words per day. Still, it sounds like it might be fun work.

Several people wrote me to ask for this company's contact info. Unfortunately, I signed an NDA with the localization firm, so I can't divulge that information. When/if they hire more editors, I will let you know. It's possible they will need some people in the new year--it's a big project.

Thanks again for all your responses!

Happy Holidays!

Rachel

LloydBrown · Dec 25, 2006

Hi, there. I write a monthly column on freelancing in the RPG industry over on RPG.net.

Editing for pen & paper RPGs runs $.005 to about $.02/word. This relatively high rate they're offering makes me wonder if this isn't a) someone who doesn't know what they're doing, which makes payment iffy, or b) not a pen & paper RPG.

If it's a computer RPG project, the rate seems more accurate for work in that industry, but I don't have much experience there.

johnzakour · Dec 26, 2006

rachelm said:
Four-five cents/word still seems a bit low for the San Francisco Bay Area. But the work doesn't sound hard. I know the localization firm and from what I can tell they hire good people. I'm just not sure I can slog through 10,000 words per day. Still, it sounds like it might be fun work.

It is fun. It's also fairly fast work. I always figure if I can put in 40 hours and make $1500 -- $2000 that's a nice week.

Rewriting for Gaming Company

rachelm

Christine N.

haz a shiny new book cover

rachelm

LeslieB

Geek Unique

icerose

Lost in School Work

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

Christine N.

haz a shiny new book cover

rachelm

LloydBrown

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard