DriveThruRPG Exclusivity

[Pramas]

Does this mean that we won't be seeing any digital versions of GR products in the near future?

Our focus is print publishing. That said, we do have some plans in the digital arena. Some of our out-of-print books will return in PDF form, for instance, starting with Death in Freeport Revised (which 3.5 updates our very first d20 offering). We've already done one PDF-only release (the Spaceship Zero adventure Slaveship of Despair) and may do a few others.

 

[Steve Wieck]

QUESTION FOR STEVE and/or DTRPG: Any idea what the average queue time is for getting answers to problems reported with the site?

Unfortunately, the flu laid out our main customer service gent for a few days, but he's back on his feet now, shouldn't be long.

Steve

 

[Steve Wieck]

Adobe 6 computers

Per questions early in the thread:

While I'm sure some experiences will vary, when we've tested the call in to Adobe to de-register computers on an account there was no wait time for the call (it was answered immdeiately) and (as I understand it from our techies) the de-register process is done by computer not by title so it's very hassle-free.

Steve

 

[Steve Wieck]

Baen Model

On some forums and this thread, people have mentioned Baen's program for free and also subscription based (unsecured) e-Books as evidence of the positive impact the superdistribution of pirated or free product can have on publicity and thereby sales.

In my opinion, yes this can be a very valid business model but only in the short term. Unlike music, books still benefit from their non-digital versions (print books) being more appealing in some important ways to most readers vs. their electronic versions.

When (not if) that changes, that business model dies because then the superdistribution of digital copies no longer leads to increased printed sales, it merely puts the now preferred format (electronic) into readers' hands.

And when is not so very far away, for example:

http://www.eink.com/graphical/index.html

Steve

 

[2WS-Steve]

Per questions early in the thread:

While I'm sure some experiences will vary, when we've tested the call in to Adobe to de-register computers on an account there was no wait time for the call (it was answered immdeiately) and (as I understand it from our techies) the de-register process is done by computer not by title so it's very hassle-free.

Steve

Thanks for the update. That's significantly less hassle than I was worried about.

I'm confidant that electronic delivery of books can do a lot to help the bottom line of companies and give customers access to the unique stuff out there that's too often hard to find in a local gaming store.

I suspect that PDFs are the new evergreen products, given that even my rather minor, DM focused and non-mainstream book released as a PDF nearly two years ago has averaged 3 sales per month since January. I can only imagine that companies with a higher profile and more marketable products do substantially better than that.

I just hope that the technology can continue to develop in such a way as to make both the customers and publishers comfortable with using it.

 

[Funksaw]

On some forums and this thread, people have mentioned Baen's program for free and also subscription based (unsecured) e-Books as evidence of the positive impact the superdistribution of pirated or free product can have on publicity and thereby sales.

In my opinion, yes this can be a very valid business model but only in the short term. Unlike music, books still benefit from their non-digital versions (print books) being more appealing in some important ways to most readers vs. their electronic versions.

When (not if) that changes, that business model dies because then the superdistribution of digital copies no longer leads to increased printed sales, it merely puts the now preferred format (electronic) into readers' hands.

And when is not so very far away, for example:

http://www.eink.com/graphical/index.html

Steve

What the hell are you talking about?

First off, even if you go all-electronic, the "superdistribution" of digital copies will *still* lead to increased sales, so long as the legal product is as useful or more useful to the customer as a pirated one. The fact that you're switching from print to electronic doesn't enter into it - Adobe has known for years that pirated copies of Photoshop have driven up demand and made it a graphics standard, and their product is all-digital also. Yes, they sell CDs, but they also sell the product to be downloaded from their website.

Second of all, what makes you think that roleplaying print books will only be sold in electronic form in the future? You can't expect us all to have laptops, reading PDF files on a screen while trying to play. Sometimes you need a book. This isn't "ludditism" - I buy PDFs from RPGnow, after all. But if I'm traveling to my friends to play say, Exalted, it's *still* easier to carry all the books in the trunk of my car than it is to use a laptop. I *do* print my PDFs.

As for "e-ink" - I wouldn't buy an E-ink roleplaying game product. E-ink will always involve some sort of computer, and computers have a tendency to crash unexpectedly. Even Linux has kernel panics. You spill coffee on your roleplaying game books, you're out maybe $40 - but it's much more likely that you'll still be able to use the coffee stained books. I wouldn't rule out that E-ink would be cheaper than paper - but I also wouldn't bet my life that it would happen anytime in the next two decades.

At the end of the day, you're trying to justify limiting today's consumers to the standards of possible technologies in the future. I'm not going to stand for that and anyone following YRO issues shouldn't have to stand for that either.

 

[Conaill]

I wouldn't rule out that E-ink would be cheaper than paper - but I also wouldn't bet my life that it would happen anytime in the next two decades.

Two decades is perhaps a little pessimistic. But it's definitely not going to become a serious issue within the next five years. If you're still selling hardcopies of your 5-year-old books at that point, good for you... but I wouldn't count on it!

There's no reason to stay away from PDF's now, because of new technological developments that might become relevant five or more years from now. Heck, if that were the case, we should all stop buying computers right now, because you *know* they will be seriously outdated five years from now!

If you agree that the "Baen" model can be a very valid business model, but only in the "short term"... well guess what, the short term is where your profit lies! Most rpg books will sell for only a couple of years, with the majority of sales in the first year or two (if you're lucky). If and when e-books seem to be catching up with print books, you can still stop putting out unprotected PDFs for you new products at that time. And because of the speed with which RPG books age, you only need to look ahead for a year or two, *not* 5 years to two decades...

 

[Brown Jenkin]

New from the DTRPG site

Can I take my eBooks to a print store and get them printed?

Yes, though the process for this may vary from one print shop to the next -- in some cases, you may need to activate your DRM account on the computer in question. One popular print store is Kinko's, and the following is a list of instructions for printing your books there if you are using a PC.

Go to http://www.kinkos.com/kfp/kfp_download.php, then download and install the Kinko's file prep tool.
Open Adobe Reader, go to eBooks -> My Bookshelf, and open the book that you wish to print.
Go to File -> Print...
For "Printer Name", select "Kinko's File Prep Tool" from the list.
Make sure "Print to file" is NOT selected.
In the bottom left, click on the Advanced button (it should be next to the Printing Tips button).
Check "Print as image" if it is not selected, and click OK.
Click OK to print. This part will take a while. This might be a good time to check your email, crack open a Mountain Dew, or call your mother. (Our tests averaged about 5 seconds per page.)
Kinko's File Prep Tool should open automatically and display the output. Click on Save, and save the resulting KDF file to a location of your choice. Note that this output file will be considerably larger than the original PDF.
Take the resulting KDF file to Kinko's to be printed.
If you are on a Mac, the process is slightly different, since the File Prep tool is Windows-only. Here is the process Mac users should follow:

In Adobe Reader, open the eBook you wish to print.
Go to File -> Print...
Click on the Advanced button in the lower left, and make sure "Print as image" is selected. Click OK.
Select "Print to file"
Under Output Options, select "PostScript File" as the output type.
Click OK to output to a PostScript file.
Copy this file to a CD or other media, and take it to your print shop of choice to be printed.

I find it somewhat amusing that the solution they came up with is remarkably similar to how to crack the DRM (especialy for the Mac) and have a regular PDF to use and take to be printed. I would even argue it is easier to crack the Windows PDF than it is to get it ready for print the recomended way.

 

[Bagpuss]

As it is, many publishers are sitting on a lot of fairly valuable intellectual property that they can't move because they can't justify another print run....

Well in that case it isn't as 'valuable' as they think.

 

[DaveMage]

Well in that case it isn't as 'valuable' as they think.

Heh. Nice shot, Bagpuss...