Lemma Soft Forums

Hi all,

Doujin circle Marble Syrup is constantly on the lookout for VN writers who may or may not be creative geniuses but most certainly are good at their trade, productive, professionally-minded, and know how to keep their deadlines bloody dead.

As a general rule, we don't ask for copyright transfers, exclusivity or even first publication rights. We're happy to work with already published material.

We are open to all kinds of ideas but our audience is particularly keen on fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and the like. And possibly super heroes.

We pay $0.04 per word, and we're looking for stories of 15K words and up. Depending on your credentials, we can pay part of the sum upfront.

Hit us with your ideas/synopses and links to previous work by PM or e-mail to [group name without space]@gmail.com

When you write 18+, am I right to suspect you're talking about adult entertainment, a.k.a. porn?

Well, yes, that's what we mean, but to be precise we're not talking about porn visual novels but visual novels with occasional sexual content. Story is key, not the sex.

How long are you thinking for the deadlines?

Also, you said 18+ as in sex present, but what about the other qualities for 18+, violence and language?

Maelstrom-Fenrir wrote:How long are you thinking for the deadlines?

Also, you said 18+ as in sex present, but what about the other qualities for 18+, violence and language?

Deadline depends entirely on the specific concept. Fruity language and violence is fine either way, nothing we specifically require obviously.

A word of warning: When you pitch ideas to these guys, better get it right the first time. I PMed them with some story concepts, none of which they found interesting, and when I tried to find out what in particular they didn't like and, even more importantly, what exactly they were looking for, that immediately disqualified me in their book - they called my behavior "defensiveness in the face of criticism".

I think these guys expect you to just pitch idea after idea to them until they find something that tickles their interest - a kinda "I can't tell you what it is but I know it when I see it" approach. If you have a problem with that, don't waste your time applying for a job you'll never get.

Seems I'm not the only one.

When I linked my introductory thread to them, I was quite surprised to get a reply questioning my age with minimal regard to my abilities. I'm over 18, yes I am. These guys are really missing out on some potentially great staff members due to their lack of manners and online etiquette.

Based on these experiences, I'd highly discourage anyone from 'applying' to this post. There are many projects and people in the world, and there's really no reason to risk your self esteem on someone as close minded as they are.

Well, glad I checked this post afterwards anyway, or else my self-esteem might've taken some damage. I'd love to have gotten constructive criticism instead of a plain and outright rejection, but meh. Not gonna fret over it.

Hi guys, sorry for hurting your feelings, but instead of just turning you down with a vague message of "we might get in touch" (which would have been the polite way, I suppose) we decided to explain why we did so, in plain language. Turning people down is never easy but I guess we should maybe work on our approach, judging from the way you guys chose to respond to it.

If you're afraid of getting rejected based on the comments above, well, then don't bother applying. We're not in the business of giving hand outs for "best attempt" so do make sure you have your shit in order. Your initial messages give away a lot about you. If you walk into an interview with the wrong attitude, you will be shown the door, and that's just the lay of the land.

Thanks.

skrotu wrote:Hi guys, sorry for hurting your feelings, but instead of just turning you down with a vague message of "we might get in touch" (which would have been the polite way, I suppose) we decided to explain why we did so, in plain language. Turning people down is never easy but I guess we should maybe work on our approach, judging from the way you guys chose to respond to it.

If you're afraid of getting rejected based on the comments above, well, then don't bother applying. We're not in the business of giving hand outs for "best attempt" so do make sure you have your shit in order. Your initial messages give away a lot about you. If you walk into an interview with the wrong attitude, you will be shown the door, and that's just the lay of the land.

Thanks.

It's not about hiring people just so you can spare there feelings. I've had to say no to others in terms of art, but I do it in a positive way. It's good you don't just say 'We might get in touch" and then not respond though. I've had that happened and it's actually really hurtful.

However, even if you're direct you have to do it in positive way. Given how you responded to the statements above, I wouldn't want to work with you just because you don't really seem to have a nice attitude which is actually important for a visual novel team.

Well, I hate being forced to be defensive here but we expect professionalism, and we're frank about it. We're not assholes, we just don't want to waste anybody's time, including yours. But sure, just like we have the right to turn anybody down for any reason, anybody is free to dislike our approach for any reason and and not apply. That's fine by us.

You wanna know what really grinds my gears? I approached you, openly asking what you're looking for not once but twice, and you've been either unable or unwilling to tell me. Instead, you shifted the blame on me, interpreting my questions as "being defensive" despite the fact that I obviously spent time finding your earlier projects on the web, seeing what they're about and trying to pitch you ideas I thought weren't too far off from the stuff you're making.

You call that "professionalism"?

It's always a good idea to do some research before criticizing anything. So I did mine and here's what I found.

It is precisely these kinds of companies (remember Sakura Spirit and Winged Cloud?) that is ruining the reputation of this industry and is shunning potential talents away from the true value of visual novels.

Please, for the sake of us all, do not apply. This is coming from the perspective of someone who is genuinely concerned for the future of original English Visual Novels--and not from someone who had their

skrotu wrote:feelings hurt.

Guys, this is getting vindictive. You've had your say already, no need for the campaigning.

The LSF forum rules allow recruiting for hentai projects, and the fact that Marble Syrup is a doujin circle specializing in said material is no reason to demean their work as VN creators. Commenting or criticising this specific recruitment thread is on-topic (public discussion, y'know), criticising the opening poster for being a creator of hentai is not on-topic.

Please, stay on topic, everybody.