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Look out! Incoming rant! Be careful what you wish for, Jim, because I think you've already got it. I think retailers started saying "no" to new publishers a year ago. We may try a likely-looking product here or there, but most of them are considered guilty until proven innocent. I just took...

A few thoughts. I find it interesting that one of trancejeremy's most important measurements of value is page count. (I have to tread carefully here, because I don't agree with that choice but I also don't want to dismiss it based on my own prejudices.) If that is a common buying strategy, then...

What Phil fails to note while he is busy being humble is what a kickass job he's done, both in layout and in holding the hand of a Certain Very Nervous and Overcontrolling Author. Think Virgil leading an especially clueless Dante, folks. I want to hear reactions on this one, even more so than...

Actually, I'm not sure we know that at all. I've been researching sales figures at a number of publishers lately, and that 10,000 downloads figure fascinates me. Most game books don't sell 10,000 copies. In fact, I think it's fair to say that 90%+ of what's on game store shelves doesn't sell...

If I may play a little bit of devil's advocate, though, I'm curious if some of that drop in sales can be attributed to stores backing off from ordering the book. Most booksellers are probably not aware of the Baen program, and I seriously doubt ANY of them care about it -- game sellers have...

Vrylakos: all the voices in your head are right. :) (Well, not about the payroll part. But that's just because Mike can't meet my unrealistic demands for bags of gold.) I assure you that I'm acting entirely in my own self-interest. Fortunately, my self-interest is best served by encouraging...

I had a chance to read through Empire a few nights ago, and it's now on my "Books Yo Mama Gonna Cry if You Don't Buy" list. It's got a simple, detailed, and fun realm management system, nice mass battle rules, and loads of good advice. It'll work perfectly with Dynasties & Demagogues and...

I don't know if this is necessarily the case. If it does contract, it's going to be due to larger economic issues such as unemployment and underemployment among the customer base. (Based on the tech layoffs that are happening in my area, this is a serious problem and is going to be for a while.)...

The expensive books are not taking away the sales. Books don't do anything; they're inanimate objects. What is happening is that customers are making choices as to which books they want. If you've got an issue with those choices, you need to convince more customers to choose the books that you...

I don't know if I've said this elsewhere, but I just wanted to note it if I haven't. We started with about 50 grand. If I had a do-over, I wouldn't touch this business with less than $100,000, and would prefer $125K-$150K. Most of the problems we've had over the last 8 years would have been...

If that is the case, NLP, then tell me just how it is that books which cost more than $35 are going to prevent you from buying less expensive books? Because I'm really not seeing what you have to complain about. You've got books available at the price you want. You're allegedly not going to buy...

Nope. I sell a mix of books at a variety of price levels to a variety of people. The more I broaden those categories without overstretching myself, the happier I'm going to be. At the risk of offending Eric's grandmother, bull. You're telling me one thing, but you're doing something else. You...

LEARN GAME DESIGN FROM THE PROS Space-Crime Continuum Hosts Dungeons & Dragons Design Seminar NORTHAMPTON, MA -- On Sunday, October 12 at 2 p.m., professional game designer Mike Mearls will visit the Space-Crime Continuum bookstore to lead a seminar on designing roleplaying games. Titled...

And then ignore it. He's an idiot. (Sorry, rough day at work. :))

Cool. Then enlighten me on how many of those millionaires play roleplaying games. (Because if there's a whole bunch of them, maybe I should be looking into selling them more expensive games.) That's also cool. On my shelves, as of 2 minutes ago, there were 75 different D20 titles costing $25...

Yep. For the first time in its history, the RPG industry is a competitive market. Which means that any publisher who can't put out a book that's so good, so pretty, and so well-marketed that it is well-nigh irresistable is in for a world of hurting. I think this is a good thing. I think in the...

Oddly enough, no. Even if you don't accept JD (Wiker?)'s thoughts on the subject, which I think are quite reasonable, what Wizards does and what they allow licensees to do does not have to be the same thing. Wizards owns D&D. They can do what they like with it. The rest of us have to ask...

Dagnabbit Clark, quit exposing my game plan! :) Seriously, after examining the market for a while and doing a more conventional adventure to get the feel of the format, I've come to the same conclusions. Once I get my decks cleared of other projects (which is going to be a while :(), I'm going...

And I guess I've totally failed to communicate my concern. Never mind; please pretend I never asked. yours, Chris Aylott

I agree, it's an extreme example. Just to quell your disbelief a little, let's throw out something a little more possible. I start using the Alternate D20 logo. Several months after I put out my books using the Alternate D20 logo, The Valar Project decides to put out The Book of Erotic Fantasy...