Depends on the product but I would be shocked if sales were as low as 150 for any PDF product. I've only sold a few hundred of the Whispering Woodwind adventure, both as a 3.0E and 3.5E, since December of 2001, but the 3.5 SRD Revised Bundle, which is actualy a dozen+ PDFs and a five star product, has sold more than 2,000 copies since July of 2003. Many of my other offerings hover just above or just below WW's 300 and freebies like the cooperative dungeons have over 10,000 downloads, of course.
This is more encouraging. Btw, congratulations Mark!
*except possibly the ones that were a bit too niche (such as Hyperconscious or When the Sky Falls); Sean, do you know what was the volume of sales on Skreyn's Register?
Hmm, it's been a while.
I'm pretty sure it sold out its print run, but I honestly don't remember how many copies that was or how long it took (longer than a year, I'm pretty sure).
And it's still selling a few PDF copies every quarter, even now (I think it came out in 2004). But I don't have numbers here, and my quarterly royalty reports from Malhavoc Press include Anger of Angels so my mental math is confused.
The New Argonauts (which I published myself, thus I can actually look up the numbers) was PDF-only (okay it had a POD option but I don't think anyone ordered any) sold about 360 copies in two years before I made it a free book (because sending out royalties every quarter when it was just selling 1-4 copies per month wasn't worth the hassle). Not bad for a low-magic niche mini-campaign setting. Of course, since then it's had over 2200 downloads as a free PDF.
I don't know why this is hard for people. Of course cheap pdfs hurt stores that sell more expensive hardcopy. An alternatives to purchase in stores hurts stores. Cheap, convenient alternatives to purchase in stores hurts stores more. This shouldn't be controversial.
Actually, I think the people who will buy a lot of PDFs and use those PDFs exclusively are not customers of a brick and mortar store to begin with, so the store loses nothing: they never had those people as customers in the first place.
The fencesitters are probably going to be happy with the free beta PDF. They're not store customers either.
The people who buy it to check it out will almost always want the hardcopy. The PDF may be cheaper but convenient it most certainly is not; there's a good reason I've never seen a laptop inside our FLGS. Some people love using PDFs at the game table but the people in our group who have tried it (myself included) find it simply leads to more fiddling and looking than with a hardback.
So, these people are going to turn into customers for the FLGS.
Unless of course you consider that any company that offers any product for sale over the net to be enemies of the FLGS (which means all but the poorest and most incompetant game companies are all enemies of the FLGS).
I'm that kind of customer, actually. I'll never purchase anything at the FLGS except as an impulse purchase because tax in my city+county+state is 10%. With rare exceptions, buying online is always a significant discount for me.
I don't know why this is hard for people. Of course cheap pdfs hurt stores that sell more expensive hardcopy. An alternatives to purchase in stores hurts stores. Cheap, convenient alternatives to purchase in stores hurts stores more. This shouldn't be controversial.
But it is controversial. I buy many PDFs and books. However (just pretending that Amazon is my FLGS as I have none local) my PDF purchases in no way effect my hardcopy purchases, except in the positive. I would never buy Book X at print price but I would at PDF price. There is no lost sale at all. However if I get a preview PDF or a PDF of some rules set (cos it is cheap) and find I like it then I may buy a hard copy of other books.
I know I am not everybody, I even have a very good PDF reader. However there is no proof or even logic that says cheap PDFs have to have a negative effect on hard copy sales. At all. So, you see, it is controversial because lots of people don't agree with you and there is absolutely no study/proof/etc to say which if us is incorrect!
I'm pretty sure it sold out its print run, but I honestly don't remember how many copies that was or how long it took (longer than a year, I'm pretty sure).
And it's still selling a few PDF copies every quarter, even now (I think it came out in 2004). But I don't have numbers here, and my quarterly royalty reports from Malhavoc Press include Anger of Angels so my mental math is confused.
The New Argonauts (which I published myself, thus I can actually look up the numbers) was PDF-only (okay it had a POD option but I don't think anyone ordered any) sold about 360 copies in two years before I made it a free book (because sending out royalties every quarter when it was just selling 1-4 copies per month wasn't worth the hassle). Not bad for a low-magic niche mini-campaign setting. Of course, since then it's had over 2200 downloads as a free PDF.
Interesting figures. Thanks for the post. XP for you.
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