Indie Sales Numbers
Ron Edwards:
1. You can always report my posts to me as moderator. You wouldn't be the first. I sort of rely upon it, actually, although it doesn't happen often.
2. Your impression of this discussion as mirror images talking past one another is incorrect. I have said nothing about hard-core emphasis on distributor sales being borked or wrong. The only issue is whether a publisher needs to understand the difference, and to strategize accordingly, and not to line up every company in a row with "sales numbers" as a single non-transparent variable for purposes of comparison. I say a publisher absolutely needs to do that, as a fundamental starting point in publishing RPGs. That is my single and only point in this thread.
Best, Ron
Adam Dray:
Is anyone addressing the OP any more?
Quote from: drkrash on November 02, 2010, 03:06:48 AM
Golly. I was just looking for projections of what sales numbers people were individually happy with for their own work. :)
I think it's Christopher, right?
Christopher, why do you want sales numbers in terms of number of copies sold rather than profit dollars? If you sell 1000 copies at $1 profit (gross: $1000), do you consider that more success than selling 200 copies at $10 profit (gross: $2000)?
I realize that some designers have motives other than profit. However, if there's a price on your product at all, then profit is likely to at least rank on the motives list. (Though you might charge just enough to cover expenses, meaning $0 profit per unit.) Other motives: community, vanity, practice, experience...
I also realize that motive isn't a binary switch. You can want to make a profit but not prioritize it. Getting your book into as many hands as possible might be more important than making money, but you might want to make a little money to cover expenses and fund your air fare to GenCon.
How do YOU define success? What are your priorities?
drkrash:
Quote from: Adam Dray on November 05, 2010, 07:37:28 AM
Is anyone addressing the OP any more?
Quote from: drkrash on November 02, 2010, 03:06:48 AM
Golly. I was just looking for projections of what sales numbers people were individually happy with for their own work. :)
I think it's Christopher, right?
Christopher, why do you want sales numbers in terms of number of copies sold rather than profit dollars? If you sell 1000 copies at $1 profit (gross: $1000), do you consider that more success than selling 200 copies at $10 profit (gross: $2000)?
I realize that some designers have motives other than profit. However, if there's a price on your product at all, then profit is likely to at least rank on the motives list. (Though you might charge just enough to cover expenses, meaning $0 profit per unit.) Other motives: community, vanity, practice, experience...
I also realize that motive isn't a binary switch. You can want to make a profit but not prioritize it. Getting your book into as many hands as possible might be more important than making money, but you might want to make a little money to cover expenses and fund your air fare to GenCon.
How do YOU define success? What are your priorities?
Heh. Thanks for being back on point. And yes, it is Christopher.
I want to re-iterate that I am quite happy with my success both in numbers and in profit. Both are much greater than I expected and I know that that news alone can be affirming to others considering this "lifestyle." :)
I had read Gregor's report previously (before I ever started publishing), so I had (I think) realistic expectations going in. But I was kind of looking for other stories of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, of goals vastly exceeded or of disappointments from poor expectations, and what contributed to those results.
For me, I've hit over 250 sales in 8 months, and I'm pretty thrilled with that. The primary thing I credit this with is creating a niche game that is a popular enough genre to generate interest, with (I like to think) enough innovation to warrent considering it vs. any number of generic choices.
Adam Dray:
So you're happy with your 250 sales, but is that due to the sheer number of copies sold or because of the amount of money that 250 sales represents to you?
Put another way, would you sell another 50 copies at $1 profit ($50!) or sell another 2 copies at $50 profit ($100!).
drkrash:
Quote from: Adam Dray on November 05, 2010, 12:41:21 PM
So you're happy with your 250 sales, but is that due to the sheer number of copies sold or because of the amount of money that 250 sales represents to you?
Put another way, would you sell another 50 copies at $1 profit ($50!) or sell another 2 copies at $50 profit ($100!).
Honestly, given those options, I'd gladly take the 50 additional copies for a dollar apiece. With the money I've made on it, I'd rather be excited by people reading it, hopefully grooving to it, and of course, really hopefully, playing it.
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