WotC Should WotC buy a Fantasy Novel Publisher like Tor next?

[gyor]

Since WotC is now in the mode of buying other companies again (like when they bought TSR and Hasbro bought Avalon Hill and gave it to WotC), with WotC now having bought Tuque Games, should the next purchased company be a novel publishing company like Tor or Del Ray? and if so which publishing company should WotC buy?

not only would a novel publisher allow WotC to publish their own novels for MtG, D&D, ect..., again, but it would get WotC fresh IPs (well fresh to WotC) which they indicated they want via their new Texas office headed by Ohlan.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Not.

Publishers are struggling to compete with Amazon Kindle and self publishing at the moment, any business would be stupid to aquire one.

And it's authors who make novels, not publishers.

 

[jasper]

Indie is a thing. Kindle is a thing. So why buy the overhead?

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

I'm actually not too familiar with the publishing business so I'm confused. Wizards already publishes their own RPG books. Is there a reason they would need to purchase a different company to publish novels?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm actually not too familiar with the publishing business so I'm confused. Wizards already publishes their own RPG books. Is there a reason they would need to purchase a different company to publish novels?

Right?

It's a bloody confusing thing to suggest. They are a book publisher! We need a "scratch head" emoji reaction option for posts I swear.

Also re: IPs, the fact is, WotC don't want to publish other RPGs. That's why they don't. WotC tried the whole "Let's publish other RPGs than D&D" thing. They tried it for what, over a decade? Well it's over. They gave up on it. Am the only one who has noticed this? There's no 5E-style d20 Modern for a reason, people. They have the money, they have the infrastructure, they have the skills. They don't want to make other RPGs. Presumably because they think it just cannibalizes the D&D market and is unprofitable? Who knows?

But they don't.

So the idea about other IPs going past them is irrelevant. They're only interested in making D&D, Magic, and a few other non-RPG games which don't compete with those. Board-game spin-offs of D&D and the like, sure, but actual other RPGs?

And 90% of the SF IPs that go through Tor and the like are not really suitable for anything but an RPG. And all WotC would get would be effectively a slightly early chance to negotiate for that IP anyway. Publishing a book is not the same as owning the actual IP.

But again, they don't want to make other RPGs. The Broken Earth novels, for example, aren't with Green Ronin because WotC couldn't get them. They're with Green Ronin because companies like WotC aren't interested.

 

[Dausuul]

not only would a novel publisher allow WotC to publish their own novels for MtG, D&D, ect..., again...

Again? Wizards published a M:tG novel two months ago. They publish the occasional D&D novel too. They don't need to buy a publisher. They are a publisher.

As for picking up IPs, that doesn't work the same way as it does in the video game world. Bantam Books publishes "A Song of Ice and Fire," for example, but if you buy out Bantam, that doesn't mean you now own the IP of Westeros. George R. R. Martin owns Westeros. He has signed a deal with Bantam to publish certain works in that setting, but both the works and the setting belong to him. If you buy Bantam, you get those publishing rights--which are worth a lot of money, don't get me wrong--but whenever GRRM produces something that isn't covered by an existing deal, you have to talk to his agent just like anyone else.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

If you buy Bantam, you get those publishing rights--which are worth a lot of money, don't get me wrong--but whenever GRRM produces something that isn't covered by an existing deal, you have to talk to his agent just like anyone else.

This is exactly it!

And WotC aren't interested in making RPGs any more. They're interested in making D&D. And most of these settings don't fit into a D&D mould, so it's not like they could be sourcebooks.

The market as a whole has changed, too - it seems like licensed settings are increasingly going to smaller, more boutique-type game publishers. I can only speculate as to the reasons - could be that they aren't as profitable as people had hoped, could be that the fact that many SF-fantasy authors are ex-or-current RPG players incines them towards companies they think will do the setting/IP justice, because it's not going to be big bucks either way.

I mean, at the really high end of licensed, it's interesting to me that Star Wars is no longer with WotC. I somehow doubt that FFG outbid WotC because WotC didn't have enough cash or something. Instead I'm pretty sure when the renewal came up, WotC were like "Ehhh, thanks Disney but we'll pass on that...". I have little doubt that a WotC-backed SW RPG would sell more copies than an FFG-backed one (because of cross-marketing with D&D and greater reach), but I strongly suspect WotC would see it as parasitic of D&D, and potentially fragmenting their own audience, so are not interested.

 

[Len]

Again? Wizards published a M:tG novel two months ago. They publish the occasional D&D novel too. They don't need to buy a publisher. They are a publisher.

But those aren't published by WotC. The recent Salvatore novels are published by Harper Voyager and the recent MtG novels are from Random House.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

But those aren't published by WotC. The recent Salvatore novels are published by Harper Voyager and the recent MtG novels are from Random House.

So? And? They could publish them if they thought it was profitable. And it isn't profitable. As noted, virtually all publishers are struggling.

 

[Umbran]

.... with WotC now having bought Tuque Games, should the next purchased company be a novel publishing company like Tor or Del Ray? and if so which publishing company should WotC buy?

As others have already noted - buying a publisher might net you the book publishing rights for the titles currently in publication. But it may not get you all fo them. And it WILL NOT get you the software, TV, or movie rights - those are separate, and you'd have to get them from each author (if they weren't already optioned out to someone).

Plus, the scales are completely different. Tor Books publishes new titles by the dozens each year. WotC does a handful. It would not just be about having a channel to publish, or content deals they actually wouldn't get - it would become about managing a whole separate business that they don't have the expertise in.