A plan for more writers at Game File

I don't want to just bring in freelancers. I want to do something unusual.

I launched Game File in December 2023 as a lifeboat for my dreams. I love reporting, I love video games, and I love combining the two.

With uncertainty plaguing the media business as a whole—and with me in need of a new games reporting job—I decided to go for a sure (but potentially meager) thing: I would publish my journalism on my own and ask readers to pay directly for my work.

So far, it’s panned out. And, so far, it’s been more than meager. Revenue for Game File is closing in on matching the income I made at my last full-time gig. Short of a subscriber collapse, Game File will likely prove sustainable for me long-term.

But I didn’t really want to do this alone.

Reporting is more effective when there’s a team. Simply having a second reporter on a team can more than double what’s possible: how deep you can dig, how far you can reach… you get the idea.

Even when I started, in the back of my mind I had hoped that Game File would grow to the point that I could bring on more writers, at first with some freelance, and eventually just maybe another full-timer or two.

I figured that’d be a Year Three or even Year Four thing, as I write this less than halfway into Game File’s Year Two.

The media business, however is in shambles. Or, if you’re more optimistic, doing some intense reshuffling.

And the opportunity to expand Game File even just tentatively, feels suddenly present. Dare I say urgent?

So, I want to try something…

The Game File Freelance Reporter Plan

Starting today, I’m testing an approach with freelance writers at Game File that I hope will have both short- and long-term benefits to outside writers and Game File readers.

My plan is to pay freelance writers a guaranteed rate for articles at Game File—as well as a percentage of new subscriber revenue that their stories help Game File earn.

To explain my thinking, a bit about the economics of Game File:

• Game File is purely reader-funded, with no other revenue coming in from sponsors or investors. (It’s also 99% of my own income; in addition to a couple of freelance games reporting and editing tasks I took on in the past year).

• I publish one free edition of Game File each week and at least two paid.

• The free editions tend to generate free subscriptions (over 22,000 and counting).

• The paid editions, with maybe one exception since I launched, generate paid subscriptions (over 1,200 and counting).

• Paid subscriptions are monthly ($10/month) or annual ($100/year; with some people paying $250 for the founder’s rate; thanks, mom!)

• To my delight, I’ve seen that original reporting gets people to sign up for paid subscriptions. Reviews, criticism and analysis do, too, but I mostly report news and I’ve seen big interviews and big scoops drive big sign-ups.

• Monthly paid subscribers come and go, often signing up just to read a single story (and, frequently enough, canceling before the free trial period ends).

• Annual subscribers are more lasting and harder-earned, often coming from people who’ve been reading for free for a while before converting to an annual sub.

Given all that, I’m not quite in a spot with Game File’s budget that I can consistently pay freelancers high rates no matter how their stories may perform.

I do, however, believe I can pay them a fair wage for their labor, as a starting point. I think freelancers—whose work I’ll edit—can help attract or convert more paying subscribers. And I want them to reap some of the benefits if their stories bring a lot more people in.

So, my plan…

As a starting point, Game File’s freelance rates will begin at a guaranteed $300 per article, more for more involved reporting. In addition, I’ll pay 25% of revenue earned from new annual subscriptions gained by Game File.

Tracking the subscriptions gained by any one article is tricky. As noted above, monthly subscribers come and go, at times unsubscribing without paying. The publishing tools I have can’t perfectly detect why someone has signed up for a subscription (and they certainly can’t get in the head of a reader to determine which stories collectively made them sign up). I’m nevertheless hopeful that, as a starting point for testing this concept, I can rely on tallying all the annual subscribers Game File gains between the publication of a freelance piece and the next regularly scheduled edition of Game File (usually at least a 24-hour gap).

I’m going to take this slowly, so don’t expect a bevy of new bylines at Game File all at once. Slow and steady…

In the short term, I hope this plan will allow me to expand what Game File offers without irresponsibly sabotaging the site’s sustainability. I hope readers will welcome additional, interesting articles to read (at no added cost). I also hope Game File can be a platform to give more gaming reporters (critics, too, at some point?) decent opportunities that will provide them their fair share of their work’s financial success. Note: If you’re not a paid subscriber and want to support a favorite contributor of choice, signing up for annual sub via their next piece is a way to give them an added boost.

In the long term, I’d be thrilled if this plan accelerates Game File’s growth, allows me to up rates over time and even expand this site to a second (or more) full-time writer. I have no plans to increase subscription costs. Rather, I want readers to feel that Game File is giving them more and more value over time.

I think this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: While this post is mostly about the economics of additional posts, I am not interested in publishing more writers at Game File for the sake of “content.” This site’s been humming along just fine as a solo operation. [cue dramatic music.] But I believe that everything in society is improved when journalism is applied to it. Journalism is a means by which we may better know the truth of a thing. It is a way of revealing what needs to be exposed, of challenging us about what we thought we knew, and of enriching our understanding of each other and how every corner of this world works. It might even be a path to someday learning, with certainty, the intended relationship between Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong. Because of this, I’m going to do whatever I can to strengthen Game File as a platform for reporting about games.

There are probably five things wrong with my plan and five other things I’m missing, but I want to give this a shot and am excited to have some reporters get on board with me. Ready?