What to start with?

[Eisho]

Hi,

I have some experience writing d20 / RPG / wargame material and want to take things a step further and start running a small e-publishing company; more for the fun, experience and challenge of it than anything else...at least right now.

I wonder if more experienced publishers could give me some advice?

What kind of products do you consider it best to start with? I would like to write some shorter PDFs to gain experience with formatting and layout and the whole process from production to upload to selling. I was thinking about prestige classes / advanced classes. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Eisho

[EP]

Write what you want to play before anything else. If it sounds good to you and you would pop it in a game in a heartbeat, that's what should go on the screen. You can always tell the passion someone has for their products because you can see they've thought out a lot of detail as a player/DM who has laid this out and tried it for himself. Rather than just deciding to design a bunch of prestige classes, think about something in particular - even just ONE PrC, if you like - that really gets your juices flowing, and put down as much as you can on that topic. It will create better material and create better sales.

Everything else is hit-and-miss after that.

[GMSkarka]

Originally Posted by Eisho

I have some experience writing d20 / RPG / wargame material and want to take things a step further and start running a small e-publishing company; more for the fun, experience and challenge of it than anything else...at least right now.

I know that some may think I sound like an old broken record at this point, but this really is good advice:

If you have experience writing, that is not really the same thing as publishing. You should only consider starting up a company if you are serious about running a business, dealing with vendors, performing market research, creating brands, dealing with freelancers, accounting, taxes, etc. When you're a publisher, you have very little time to actually write.

Being publishED and being a publishER are two different things. Be very sure of what you're getting into.

With all due respect, don't start a business for "fun" -- there are too many amateurs in this industry already, and it only weakens the market.

[Eisho]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to post the advice you offer.

I think I'm probably going to go with Pick 'n' Mix to begin with and get a few classes, magic items and monsters up then take things from there.

Once again: thanks!!

Best wishes,

Eisho