Mark Plemmons said:
Of course not - we're not a distributor.
We're a manufacturer. We write/edit/design/etc., send to printer, store in our warehouse, and ship to the distributors that order our books. (And yes, we send product release and/or promotional information to the distributors every month.)
Distribution is handled by those distributors, and (though I realize this will sound like I'm passing the buck), lately I've been hearing more and more horror stories of sales reps being completely ignorant (intentionally or not) about what their own company supplies from us game manufacturers. They prefer to push big name/fast selling products (such as D&D minis) to retailers and ignore the small stuff, since their commission will be much greater.
Whenever we get details of a specific incident, we jump on it immediately, but we only hear about them when customers/stores tell us.
We also intentionally pulled back on our release schedule a bit so we could work on developing the Aces & Eights RPG (coming this June).
Then you guys need to kick your distributors in their big fat butts, because they are not getting your, or Necromancers, products into the stores.
Or you need to go throttle a bunch of LGS owners throats, because they tell many that they can't get products from the distributor. So someone is lying, probably a bit of both the LGS owners and the distributors. A solution to this needs to be found.
Necromancer Update from Clark
This is also in the main thread I have here on ENWorld (post 93)
"OK, this is all my fault.
See, this is why companies dont usually share their thoughts and feelings before things are finally decided. Because stuff like this happens.
We are not dead. And it is my fault for sharing my thoughts on these boards. I should have just kept my mouth shut until Bill and I finally decided what we were doing.
There are still several options. Good ones, frankly. And we are exploring them.
I was just musing that the likely course is us winding down. And I was sharing that with all of you like I would with friends over a beer. The problem is, though these boards may feel to me like a talk with friends over a beer, they are public boards. And when I say the stuff I say, people take it as official pronoucnements. And I dont blame you.
The bottom line is this: if we HAD to stop, I am OK with that. I am proud of our accomplishments. And I dont want to just tread water. Necro is about more than that. And if that is the way things go, then that is how they go. And that is OK.
BUT this decision isnt final. Sorry if I have sounded gloomy. I have simply done a rational review of the circumstances.
I also agree with some of the prior posts that it would be great for Bill and I to do an adventure. We are strongly considering that.
I think all of this got started with the suspension of the Necro adventure path. With our partnership with WW ending, that threw that project into doubt. Until we had new and solid distributorship lined up I couldnt ask people to dedicate the time and expense to work on a project that might not happen. That is a very unique project.
Clark "