Does a publisher/author's interaction here influence your purchases?

[greymist]

Without a doubt, yes.

I will do my best to avoid purchasing product from people I think are jerks. I apply this to non-gaming purchases at bricks & mortar stores as well.

I don't necessarily buy from someone I think is nice, just because they are nice. But I will be predisposed to buy from them if I am looking for a product which they sell.

 

[JVisgaitis]

I don't think it matters so much that I won't buy something, but a courteous publisher certainly gets me to their website at least once and gets me poking around which could lead to a sale.

I'd have to be pretty unnerved not to buy something from someone because they were a jerk. Honestly, I can't think of anyone that I wouldn't buy from off of the top of my head.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I voted yes, because it is true for me.

In general, my belief is that ... occasionally, being a jerk might be a GOOD thing, at least in terms of sales and the like.

There seems to be an unspoken notion that creative people are, by nature, emotionally expressive and egotistical, and maybe a little reactionary. Not on ENWorld, but in the general public as well.

I mean, I met my wife through a particular webcomic ... I read it religiously, found it hillarious, etc. Talked to the author on his board a few times ... sort of got turned off by his personality. Met the guy in person once ... was definately turned off by his personality. Then HE attacked ME online over some comment and, well. But I still read the comic, and the wife still wants some merch, ...

And some people who had the same feelings as I did responded rather positively. They found him "passionate" and "unfettered" and the like.

I call it "The Steve Jobs Syndrome". Steve Jobs is one of those creative geniuses that are reported to just have absolutely horrific interpersonal skills. Not only do people put up with it, but quite a few folks seem to be drawn to it. Force of Personality, and all that. Sometimes, the more a creator shows his keister and acts out, the more people are drawn to him. Some people just like to be near very powerful personalities (charismatic leaders), some people figure that if somebody is willing to act like a fool in public about his work then it has to be worth looking at.

For my part, as a "creator", so far I've only got a single product on the market (and that still pretty young). I've had a presense on ENWorld since it was Eric Noah's Unofficial 3rd Ed News Site (though I had a different handle then). So I'm new to the dual consciousness aspect of being a poster AND a creator and possibly having one or the other "affect my sales". It has been interesting promoting my work (and, honestly, it has been alot of fun), but I'm just "me" with a new thing to talk about.


--fje

 

[eyebeams]

There are plenty of things to buy of the content and quality I demand that I can choose who I buy from. I don't need, nor choose, to buy from people who feel that civility is something that they don't need to bother with.

Handily, if you don't need to make a decision whether or not to buy my stuff than you are not the target for my stuff. I don't write "game supplements" as part of an amorphous quality of generic pap that could be switched out with something somebody else does.

That is the crux of it: Smart writers and designers are not "competing" for your dollar in the sense of, "Goodness me, which of these five duengeons adventures do I buy?" They work on a particular niche so that *you* decide whether you want the subject matter at all.

At the very least, an inability to be civil in a forum that deals with their product shows a lack of professionalism.

Conversely, I think consumer decorum has degenerated so badly in the past decade as consumers have swollen with a false sense of entitlement that, given a society that falsely tells them they are always right for no other reason than to toss another begging bowl in a world of artificially depressed margins, that reading something that doesn't take your fancy on the Internet strikes me as an excellent start.

I'm sure many people want to beat around the bush or in some cases, tell you comforting lies about themselves and the dealings they have with others.

I'll give you a concrete example:

There are two .pdfs about hacking and cyberspace for sale on RPGNow. I wrote both of them. One of them is from mean old Gareth Michael Skarka's company and the other is from ENPub member, and all-around outset of nice guys, Dark Quest games. Neal Levin sure is a nice guy! He always sounded calm and even tempered in email. Smmoth guy, for sure.

Skarka on the other hand . . . he says all kinds of things. He's blunt and makes no promises. He sometimes gets confrontational. I once saw him at Gen Con while I still didn't like him and nearly went off. Only the sedate manner of Mike Mearls kept me from making a dumb mistake.

What's the difference between those two guys? Well, it's that Gareth paid me what we agreed on. Neal didn't. Gareth paid me from deadline one. Neal released a first draft without my consent, didn't notify me and didn't pay me for a full year. Gareth sent regular statements and breakdowns. Neal didn't respond to multiple emails until I unilaterally offered a kill fee at an incredible discount for my services.

Oh -- and Gareth pays other people. Other people feel they've been screwed by Neal.

But Neal's nice, so who cares, right?

I don't feel there is a need for me to test to see if that person should feel profesional in other areas.

Then you would have bought from the guy who I think almost screwed me.

 

[BryonD]

Conversely, I think consumer decorum has degenerated so badly in the past decade as consumers have swollen with a false sense of entitlement that, given a society that falsely tells them they are always right for no other reason than to toss another begging bowl in a world of artificially depressed margins, that reading something that doesn't take your fancy on the Internet strikes me as an excellent start.

That is a complete straw man.
The only entitlement being claimed in the matter at hand is the entitlement to not buy a product. Would you call that a false sense of entitlement?

Beyond that, the whole "blame the customer" approach, while personally comforting, has never really been shown to be effective at generating sales.

Then you would have bought from the guy who I think almost screwed me.

There is more than one way to turn people off. I can think of cases of this type wherein publishers have received negative feedback. So I think it is false to set up one specific and unrealted case as a counter to the general concept of being polite to your customers.
Whether or not someone does "bad thing B" has no bearing on whether or not "bad thing A" has consequences.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

I generally try to divorce opinions about a creator from opinions about thier work. I do that with music, movies, gaming and just about any other creative product. So negative reactions and bad dealings with fans won't color my chance of buying a book that has content I am interested in.

THis is something i have a very hard time doing. I'm probably too concerned about where my money goes and who it supports so ever be able to do this.

On the other hand, positive view would make me look into something that I might not have otherwise. If I see a publisher / company rep being polite, helpful, and courteous, I just might take a look at a book thinking "if this person / company is so cool on the boards, maybe his book will be to." This could lead to extra purchases.

This has more often been my experience. Most publishers I have encountered are 'nice guys' and I like to see nice people do well. If it means buying a $4 pdf will help them out, and I like the content of course, then I don't hesitate to lay out my money.

Well, for me I have some comic writers/artists that I've gotten to know over the years -- and discovered that I really dislike them as people. I still buy their work, though, because I can separate the enjoyment of their work from the displeasure of interacting with them.

Does that make sense?

I guess it does but like I said I find it near impossible to be able to do that. I am probably missing out on a lot of stuff because of this but it's how I'm put together I guess (well that and the bubblegum).

 

[philreed]

Considering that my first PDF purchace was one of yours, and I decided to check out your work because of your frequent comments on these boards, then I would have to answer yes.

Which makes me think.

Okay, it seems that I was wrong and many people are influenced by the posts of publishers and authors. Does that mean that those publishers and authors that only post to promote their products are actually safer from hurting your impression of them since they don't get involved in discussions? After all, things are a lot less likely to turn ugly if all you ever do is pop onto EnWorld to announce a new release.

 

[diaglo]

Which makes me think.

Okay, it seems that I was wrong and many people are influenced by the posts of publishers and authors. Does that mean that those publishers and authors that only post to promote their products are actually safer from hurting your impression of them since they don't get involved in discussions? After all, things are a lot less likely to turn ugly if all you ever do is pop onto EnWorld to announce a new release.

i would've never known about some publishers if they had done only that. i don't pay attention to single posts mostly... just b/c there are soooooo many posts here.

the only way to get on the radar and get your information/release known is to have wider exposure... post more... on all sorts of topics, on multiple forums, or in the heated highly viewed threads.

but as you say it can be good and bad.

 

[Tinner]

Which makes me think.

Okay, it seems that I was wrong and many people are influenced by the posts of publishers and authors. Does that mean that those publishers and authors that only post to promote their products are actually safer from hurting your impression of them since they don't get involved in discussions? After all, things are a lot less likely to turn ugly if all you ever do is pop onto EnWorld to announce a new release.

Safer? Sure.
Are they doing as much as they could to promote themselves? Not so much.
Press releases help, but getting personal attention from an author means a LOT more.
Case in point - I asked for help designing a M&M 2e character a few weeks ago, and Steve Kenson popped in and pretty much handed me a ready to play PC. That kind of post builds an awful lot of good will.

 

[jaerdaph]

They were courteous, respectful, and good people. Because I was courteous, respectful, and did my best to be a good person. They are the same way online, as long as you are courteous, respectful, and do you best to be a good person.

But, if you're rude - either in response to what they've said or in your initial contact - they will respond in kind. A failing most people have. Then again, some people need to get their asses whooped.

My friend, I think you've hit the nail on the head.