Ransom/Pamphlet model
Seth M. Drebitko:
So I have the rough draft of "Story System: A novel game" and while I connect the dots of it all I want to start gearing up for how I want to publish it. My goal is to create small pamphlets of around 16 pages that would basically be a little lady black bird game, with a "What is a Story Game?" intro to the hobby at the beginning. The idea is that I would ransom the games with the intent that people could they if they so chose print them out and leave a little booklet around. A single core book would be available for purchase so the booklets themselves would also act to expand on what was already presented.
I am thinking with the money ransomed from pamphlets I will invest in one of these bad boys http://www.stapleheadquarters.com/booklet-maker-auto.html and a laminator. My goal would be to invest the ransom into the next pamphlet, and then make money on the core rules, merchandise and super low cost versions of the pamphlet including a short story with the pregens of that particular pamphlet as the actual money makers.
Now I already know this is most likely is not going to get me "rolling" in it but the main point is to create more tools to grow and expand our hobby, and possibly retain some customer loyalty for some of my other projects. My question is how could you see this model improved upon, or any criticism you might have against it.
Eero Tuovinen:
Tell us more about the ransoming steps you refer to, I'm not sure I grasp all the implications. Do you mean that you'll publish a series of short booklets as pdfs, but do it using the ransom model - set an amount of money others need to pitch in before you'll publish, and the work is available to everybody after you do that?
If your primary goal is to use guerrilla marketing with booklets to find new people interested in roleplaying, then figure out a role for other people in your marketing scheme. If somebody else wants to help, what sort of role, advice and renumeration do you have available for them? Think up something compelling, something that has responsibility and rewards built into it. Try to make it so that you'll just need to create the content yourself, with others doing the marketing for you.
Ron Edwards:
I'll be a little bit blunter: by "ransom," in your post, it looks as if what you mean is "buy." Am I missing something about that?
I do like the idea of little booklets. One of my minor publishing fantasies is to have a bunch of them for Sorcerer about who-knows-what each. So whatever you discover about their production, please let us know.
Best, Ron
Seth M. Drebitko:
Production is pretty easy if you can shell out for the above mentioned machine does the work basically and can handle larger sizes than we probably could by hand.
The "sale" process would probably go as follows:
1."Traditional Ransom" of the file to be freely obtained on the intrawebs, along with the option to purchase a more quality printed pamphlet that would include a short story written using the characters within the pamphlet “The Golden Argosy” version.
2.Rats you missed out on being able to contribute well no worries we have a Core book, more pamphlets to ransom, or you could always print out staple together the game and leave it for some other passerby to enjoy as much as you did.
While I would love for people to post actual plays I would rather not promote that and let it happen on it's own; by encouraging people to print out a copy and either easily staple or print bind it together then leave it for someone it serves its purpose of spreading the hobby better.
The benefit of increased pamphlets aside from a sales end (which would probably be minimal any way) would be that hopefully any one could find something to their liking.
MatrixGamer:
As I understand randsom models you wait for people to pay money before doing the project. When you reach a certain $ value you make it. Looks like you've already done the work so would you really not publish if the randsom was not paid?
The machine looks cool but you know you can do that by hand and use a manual saddle stapler for something between $50 and $100. They would look the same. Also lanimating booklets leads to a lot of delaminated film. You might get better results brushing on an acrylic varnish. Email me and I'll let you know products I've worked with. Much less expensive than lamination and looks fine. Both can give you shine.
Chris Engle
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