[Hell for Leather RPG] Things You Gotta Do Before Printing
Sebastian K. Hickey:
Dear Diary,
I received my proofs yesterday and posted about them over on Story Games.
I wasn't happy with the layout of the text on the front cover (I hadn't foreseen how cropped it would look in print), but when I asked CPI how much it would be to make a change, they quoted £50 (which is around a $1.50 mark-up on each book. Not worth it (this time).
I've approved the proof, so now all I have to do is wait for the stock to arrive. There is one last printing job I intend to look at in the next month or two, but I think, unless something wild happens in the next two weeks, that this thread is now closed.
I hope it has been useful.
Kind regards,
Sebastian.
P.S. This might be a good time for anyone with questions to pop them my way. Perhaps there has been something I've mentioned in the thread that you'd like more information about, or perhaps I mentioned some process but never returned to explain it properly, and so on. While it's all fresh in my mind, I'd like to explore any questions you have (to make sure it is recorded for me here when I need to come back and review the process next time).
Sebastian K. Hickey:
Over on Praxis, someone asked me for a conclusion. I'm including it here.
Quote
Hi Jay,
I wish I could come up with something profound and useful in this closing statement, but I don't think there's much I can say. I suppose, if I was to do this again, I would probably print only in Europe. I had decided to print in the US and the UK to save on P&P charges to US clients. It turns out that there is very little pricing difference, really, and that by opting for two prints, I've had to pay two setup fees with two different printers. The intention was that IPR (and their big public profile) would help to shift a few copies and spread the word, and that this would offset and overcome any of the costs and profit cuts I'd take by using them. I think that my intention to use IPR was naive. I thought, somehow, that their marketing position would somehow lend itself to my game (by osmosis, of course).
The reality is that the game is going to sell on its own merits. IPR won't push the game. They have too many products. They will just make it available from their store front. I suppose that I had thought that there would be something more to it than that, but now I think I see it more clearly. If the game is going to sell, it is probably because I'll do monthly updates, visit conventions, do podcasts and playtest reports, jump into forums to remind people, create clever bundles, cross-promote and all that other marketing stuff I know nothing about. If that's true, then there was never any need for me to use IPR. That is, if the game is going to sell because of my work output, then why couldn't I have shipped the game myself and cut out the middle man?
So, that's what I would have done differently.
Also, mistakes-wise, I don't like the bleed on the cover. I think the text is too close to the edge of the cover, and now that I've seen the proof, I want to change it. But, of course, that will cost me oodles of cash. Which I can't afford. So I have to stick with what I've got. Therefore, the last word on this is straightforward: Make sure you preview, double-preview, and triple-preview your cover PDF. Make sure you look at it in the final format (by obscuring the bleed area). If you're not happy, change it. Once you order the proof you are basically signing the contract. This is the point where, unless there is a colossal fuck up, you're going to hold the book in your hands and wish you could change X, Y and Z. It's worth understanding that you can't fix everything.
A list of things I wish I had known before I started:
How to get my publishing software to warn me that I'm using Transparencies
That I should start painting my cover in CMYK mode
All of the ISBN stuff covered above
All of the colour profile stuff from above
That when they say 5-10 working days, they actually mean two weeks
Incidentally, the game is ready to buy from the shop. I had to get in last one plug. Sorry about that.
Ron Edwards:
Hi Sebastian,
This was a brilliant and powerful thread. I'll be pointing people to it routinely. Many thanks for including it here.
Best, Ron
Gryffudd:
It was a very interesting read. Lots of good information. Would it be possible to sticky it to keep it at the top, or would that be inappropriate/unecessary?
Pat
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