Publishing an RPG
guildofblades:
>>I never undervalue the opinions/advice of people who have knowledge to share, no matter how they came by that knowledge.<<
Words of wisdom.
I published the Guild of Blades' first gaming item (a club zine) back in 1994 and the Guild's first game in 1996. I would say I've been around the block a few times now. But I still frequent many of the small press lists and communities, as new ideas are born all the time, as are new ways of doing business, and there is often great value in discussing these things with others.
Ryan S. Johnson
Guild of Blades Retail Group - http://www.guildofblades.com/retailgroup.php
Guild of Blades Publishing Group - http://www.guildofblades.com
1483 Online - http://www.1483online.com
castus nigh:
Well, back into the mix. As stated in an earlier email, the outside publisher Antediluvian Studios, seemed to have abandoned me. Turns out that they were being sold to another publisher. New publisher scrapped all projects, save one - Medieval The Experts Gaming System. A team has been assigned to review the system- headed up by a member of the previous publisher who I was originally dealing with. Things are looking up. I want to thank everyone for the advice and I will continue to check things out here at The Forge, hopefully 'blades crossed' you will soon see Medieval in stores! Any other advice you have to offer?
I know, I know but I have to keep a positive mental outlook and believe things are going to happen. I knew the system was sound and playtesting revealed just how good it is. So, I stand by it and honestly believe that it will go into print!
Castus Nigh
Jake Richmond:
Hi. My name is Jake Richmond. I'm reading what you are saying and it's sounding very familiar to me. I said the same thing a few years ago. I had an epic fantasy system that I really, really thought was fantastic and revolutionary. All my friends loved it, and so did the complete strangers I showed it to. My friend and I decided to publish it. We put together a few thousand dollars and published a nice looking game that I was convinced was going to be a hit, in at least a modest way. Turns out I was wrong. Over the first year we sold maybe 200 copies. Over the next 4 years we sold another 100. To this day my publishing partner has 1000 copies of the book sitting in his garage. No one wants them.
Here's what I learned. It doesn't matter if your fantasy game is good or bad. There are hundreds of fantasy games on the market. Your game can't stand against them. It will get lost. It will die. Maybe, maybe it will gain a small following and sell a few hundred copies. Selling more then that will require that your game is excellent, will require a good amount of money and will require more sweat and tears then any person should be forced to give. Really.
So here's an alternative. I decided to treat my first game as a learning experience. I decided that I would make another game. My thought process was that if I could create something that was different from anything else that was available, something that filled a need and want not currently filled by any other game, then I would have a unique and sellable product. That was my first step.
My second step was to not spend any money. Or very little money, anyway. I bought some cheap webspace to set up a site where I could advertise and sell my book. I generated hype for the project by posting here and on several other sites. I took some pre-orders for the book, although not many. I used that money to print a small run of books. I used a POD printer and had about 100 copies printed. My total out of pocket cost for launching my new game and company was about $80. My thought on this was simple. If I don't spend any money, then I can't lose any money.
I sold my game as both a book and PDF on my site. I also offered it through several other outlets, including IPR, key 20,
e23, Arima, RPGNow and Drivethru RPG. I sold copies at every convention I went to. I established relationships with retailers by visiting their stores and calling them. Eventually I started selling the book through regular distribution as well.
I was an aggressive sales man. the initial printing of the book sold out in 5 days. We sold 6oo copies inside 3 months and about 1200 over the first year. The book has been out of print since then. I've been to busy with otehr projects, and I've lost the desire to reprint.
The lesson I learned is simple. You can publish a successful product without spending a lot of money. Anyone here can tell you that. the real lesson is that no one wants your game if it looks like every other game they've ever played. If you have something new, something that your customer has never seen before, they'll line up to give you money.
Here's my advice. I know you want to publish this fantasy game, despite the fact that the market is flooded with fantasy games and every single one of them has a bigger production and advertising budget then you. Nothing we say is going to stop you. So go for it. Test the waters first. Offer the game for free and see if anyone takes it. Build some hype and interest. Offer it as a PDF on one of the big PDF stores and see if anyone buys it. If you can establish a small audience by doing this, then go ahead and print a very small print run or start up the website you were talking about. Be conservative. If people like what you have and are willing to spend money, then expand slowly. If no one bites then do what you can to spread the word without spending money.
Another bit of advice. If you haven't already, take a look through this forum. There's a wealth of real and solid info here. I learned from the mistakes lessons of Luke and a bunch of otehr guys, and you can too. It's all here if you have the time to read it.
Jake
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