Digital Publishing Platforms

[Lalato]

I've spent a few weeks now cataloging 5e campaign settings. I've found them in all sorts of places, but there are things that I have questions about. I'm not a publisher, so I don't know why one would choose one platform over another. But here's what I've seen from my "reasearch" (in scare quotes because this is not exhaustive as it only relates to the 250 or so campaign settings I've found so far).

And I wonder which platform is best for publishers... and why they end up choosing whatever is they end up going with.

• DriveThruRPG/DMsGuild
  • Is the largest of them all. I would think that every publisher would put their content here, but that's not the case at all. Some do, some don't. Some only have partial content here. I assume, for now that this is because DtRPG probably charges the most for hosting. But I'm not a publisher so I don't know for sure.
• Kickstarter/BackerKit/Indiegogo/Etc
  • In some cases, the only place to find a product is via whatever fulfillment method they used for their Kickstarter. This seems odd to me because most people don't go back to completed Kickstarter to order additional product. No clue what these platforms charge, but there must be a reason why some publishers never switch away from it.
• Itch.io
  • Lots of oddball indie stuff here with the occasional larger release mixed in. My assumption is that selling on this platform is cheaper and creator focused. But it seems like the reach for potential audiences is smaller.
• Personally hosted websites
  • This is fairly common for larger publishers, but I see it for smaller ones too. Where I get caught off guard is when it follows a successful kickstarter. And nothing on the kickstarter page points to the publisher's site. So, for all intents and purposes, anyone searching for the product will never actual find it for sale. The cost of hosting isn't free, and I would think that the lack of traffic would push publishers to other more popular platforms, at least as an advertising mechanism.

At any rate, this is what I've encountered out there. Are there other platforms that I might have missed? Publishers... which do you choose and why?

 

[Zaukrie]

I think for small teams (or one person shops), that drivethru is the best bet. That said, if you can KS / Gamefound for around 500-1000 and pay for art and editing, then sell later on drivethru, that's the goal.

DMSguild does not allow you to sell anything you post there anywhere else, and it takes a larger cut than drivethru. It is also DnD only, and not even all DnD, though you can use most WotC IP there....

personal sites? I'd most likely have a site, but link to the product on drivethru, as taking payments and stuff is a bear (sales taxes, all that stuff, yuck).

 

[Morrus]

Kickstarter is the big one. It serves as ad platform and store at the same time. DTRPG should always be a core part of the mix.

Own sites? We have one and we sell more there than anywhere else except Kickstarter; plus there are no royalties to the store, as you own it. The payment processing can be handled easily by something like Shopify. But you do my ve to manager your own inventory.

I haven’t tried itch.io.

 

[Lalato]

I think for small teams (or one person shops), that drivethru is the best bet. That said, if you can KS / Gamefound for around 500-1000 and pay for art and editing, then sell later on drivethru, that's the goal.

DMSguild does not allow you to sell anything you post there anywhere else, and it takes a larger cut than drivethru. It is also DnD only, and not even all DnD, though you can use most WotC IP there....

personal sites? I'd most likely have a site, but link to the product on drivethru, as taking payments and stuff is a bear (sales taxes, all that stuff, yuck).

Interesting, I didn't realize the DMsGuild took a bigger chunk than DtRPG. But now that you mention it, it makes some sense. I see several publishers have 5e compatible stuff on DtRPG, but not on DMsGuild.

I've seen a few personal sites where they link to DtRPG or to Backerkit or KS. Basically using the personal site to promote their work while leaving all of the transactional fulfillment work to a larger platform.

Unfortunately, I've also seen personal sites that describe the work, but have no shop... and also don't link to where you can buy the product. It's the worst of all possible options.

 

[Lalato]

Kickstarter is the big one. It serves as ad platform and store at the same time. DTRPG should always be a core part of the mix.

Own sites? We have one and we sell more there than anywhere else except Kickstarter; plus there are no royalties to the store, as you own it. The payment processing can be handled easily by something like Shopify. But you do my ve to manager your own inventory.

I haven’t tried itch.io.

I guess once you have a successfully fulfilled Kickstarter, it kinda makes it the default place to promote your next project. If everyone is happy with the first successful project fulfillment, you have direct access to those folks and can more easily grow from there.

What doesn't entirely make sense to me is how often (typically smaller/new) publishers don't seem to have a post-Kickstarter plan for their products. Once they've fulfilled the Kickstarter, it's difficult to find the product for sale anywhere, even when the product is a PDF.

Super interesting that hosting your own site ends up getting more traffic than if you just hosted something on DtRPG. I would have guessed the opposite. I wonder if that is more true for ENPublishing than for someone who might only have one product. But losing 5% for Shopify vs 30% for DtRPG definitely seems like a no-brainer if your site is getting the traffic.

This brings me back to completed Kickstarters. So many of them simply don't provide any links to where someone might order the product after the KS campaign is long completed.