Some people have been reminding me that TSR should have an interest in my work, my writing skills, or something. Inspired, I decided to give it another shot. On 18 June 1998 I sent the following to the new guy in charge of TSR's Greyhawk novel line, plus the new woman in charge of TSR's Greyhawk module/accessory line:
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 14:29:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Thomas Miller
Subject: the Greyhawk setting
To: woofer@wizards.com, pathans@wizards.com
Hi there. I was referred to you by a friend who mentioned
to me that some of my AD&D/Greyhawk-related interests might be
worth turning into official Greyhawk products. I'm not sure
what new directions you might be interested in pursuing for
the Greyhawk line, but I figured I'd give it a shot.
I'll try to keep it simple and quick. Since 1991, I have
been writing and distributing, via the internet, a series of
stories called "The Adventurers." They started out as a loose
adaption of a campaign I ran in the late 1980s and early 1990s
but since then, the stories have evolved and grown in many new
directions. Along with the writing, which is done in a play/
script format but could easily be converted into prose, I have
created dungeons, NPCs, new monsters, new magic items, new
spells, entire towns, and more. Numerous readers have told me
that I should try and get my work published, but until recently,
TSR didn't seem approachable so I didn't try.
Anyway, I have a mailing list (a new episode comes out every
week) with over 400 members and a series of web pages whose
front end gets about 1200 hits a week. The best thing I can
do is point you there in case you want to take a look at what
I've done to this point. The Adventurers page is:
http://www.gatech.edu/oit/oe/design/thomas/adv/adv.html
The "fan mail" section in particular might give you an idea
of how people would react to my work if it was in print even
in its current semi-raw form.
I have also made several other pages for TV shows, comic
books, etc which will give you an idea of my organizational,
grammatical, and creative skills. An index of these is:
http://cimmeria.ns.gatech.edu/www/
To sum it up, I have done a lot of work on subjects I enjoy.
The Greyhawk AD&D setting is one such subject and many people
have told me my work is good enough to be printed in official
products. I've got a lot of ideas and a good bit of time to
write them up; I'd be more than happy to discuss any of them
with you in further detail, if you think there's a potential
match here. I'm excited about the idea and look forward to
pursuing it.
Thanks for your time,
Thomas Miller
tmiller@cimmeria.ns.gatech.edu
I got this response back the following day:
>Mr. Miller,
>
>Thank you for your interest in and support of Greyhawk and the Greyhawk
>fiction line. We're approaching this new line of Greyhawk novels with a
>plan. What we're starting with are "novelizations" of the classic
>AD&D/Greyhawk adventure modules. From there, over the next few years,
>we'll be looking at the relative successes of those books and expanding
>the Greyhawk line from there. When launching a new line we have to look
>toward authors we know can do the job, and who have some level of name
>recoignition. As the line matures, however, we will be looking for new
>authors. If you're serious about writing fiction for us, and it certainly
>sounds like you are, here's how to proceeed:
>
>First of all, work hard to see some of your work in print. Obviously, you
>can't use Greyhawk or any other TSR/WotC trademarks, but there is a market
>for original fantasy fiction. You might also want to contact our own
>periodicals: Dragon, Dungeon, and Amazing Stories. These magazines have
>served as the "foot in the door" for a number of authors and game
>designers. Write to Jesse Decker, Wizards of the Coast, PO Box 707,
>Renton, WA 98057 for guidelines before you submit a story.
>
>I will also give your name and e-mail address to Lizz Baldwin, who is the
>keeper of our "proposal list." I can't promise you that we'll be throwing
>the Greyhawk line open to proposals in the next year, but when we do, you
>will receive specific information on how to submit a novel proposal. In
>the meantime, please e-mail her your mailing address and let her know that
>I'd asked her to add your name to the proposal list. You can get in touch
>with Lizz at lizzard@wizards.com.
>
>I have to be honest and let you know that "breaking in" to the TSR book
>lines can be a difficult proposition, but talent and hard work tend to
>find ways. It is a very rare thing for a novel to be someone's first
>published work of fiction. As for game products, that's not my department.
>You should contact Lisa Stevens at woofer@wizards.com, if you haven't
>already.
>
>Best of luck to you, and we may just work together someday!
>
>--Phil Athans
>
It gets better, though - on 25 June 1998 I got the following from TSR's Greyhawk accessories manager:
From: LISA STEVENS
To: Thomas Miller
Subject: Re: the Greyhawk setting
Thomas:
Thanks for your interest in writing for Greyhawk. Unfortunately, I have all
my assignments for 1999 being done by in-house designers. In the future, I
may try to do a product that will involve GH fans, but right now, I just don't
have any room on my schedule.
Thanks again.
--
Lisa Stevens
Brand Manager and Head DM
Greyhawk
TSR Inc.
My conclusion? It's clear that they are unable to work outside the lines they have been given to operate within. Unfortunate, isn't it?
The only thing I can say now is that I will endeavor to bring you the various accessories outlined in my "Sneak Previews" section.
Here was my parting shot to them:
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 08:17:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: Thomas Miller
Subject: Re: the Greyhawk setting
To: woofer@wizards.com
> Thanks for your interest in writing for Greyhawk. Unfortunately,
> I have all my assignments for 1999 being done by in-house designers.
> In the future, I may try to do a product that will involve GH fans,
> but right now, I just don't have any room on my schedule.
You're booked solid through the end of next year?
Wow. I was a little more optimistic than that, but such is life in
the industry, I guess.
I guess I'll just write the material anyway and give it out for free
on the web. There should be a few thousand people out there who will
enjoy it and make use of it.
Thanks for replying,
tm
Well, I thought that was it, but on 7/14/98 I got this:
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 14:08:19 +0000
From: LISA STEVENS
To: Thomas Miller
Subject: Re: the Greyhawk setting
Thomas Miller wrote:
>
> You're booked solid through the end of next year?
>
> Wow. I was a little more optimistic than that, but such is life in
> the industry, I guess.
Yep, we work REALLY far ahead of schedule. The product "Return to the Tomb of
Horrors" was actually finished in early 1997. I am working on the year 2000
right now. :) I know, it is hard to believe sometimes.
>
> I guess I'll just write the material anyway and give it out for free
> on the web. There should be a few thousand people out there who will
> enjoy it and make use of it.
>
> Thanks for replying,
>
> tm
Yes, I encourage you to put stuff on the web. We will be opening up a
downloads area on the Greyhawk page of the TSR website in a few weeks. I will
make an announcement. I am hoping to get a whole horde of great fan-created
material to put up there to share with everyone. Let me now if you are interested.
--
Lisa Stevens
Brand Manager and Head DM
Greyhawk
TSR Inc.
...to which my reply was:
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 07:41:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Thomas Miller
Subject: Re: the Greyhawk setting
To: woofer@wizards.com
> Yep, we work REALLY far ahead of schedule. The product "Return to the Tomb of
> Horrors" was actually finished in early 1997. I am working on the year 2000
> right now. :) I know, it is hard to believe sometimes.
Well, like I said, I'm a little frustrated. I don't expect anything
I write to make it into print right away - that would be preposterous -
but at the same time, it looks like a long hard road and a lot of red
tape to get one's work into print. I don't mind hard work but from my
point of view right now, it looks practically impossible to get work
into print for TSR.
Did you (or the other TSR person I sent my original mail to) even
look at the web page I sent you?
> Yes, I encourage you to put stuff on the web. We will be opening up a
> downloads area on the Greyhawk page of the TSR website in a few weeks. I will
> make an announcement. I am hoping to get a whole horde of great fan-created
> material to put up there to share with everyone. Let me now if you are
> interested.
Does Dungeon (or Dragon) accept Greyhawk-oriented submissions?
Honestly, what I'm afraid of is that I'll put a lot of work into
something and send it in...and then at best it will be put in the
stack to maybe use later...and then I'll be waiting, not knowing
what will happen but unable to do anything else with my work.
tm
Still no answer as of 8/5/98...