[IMAGER]http://www.enworld.org/forums/images/pdfpubs/arp.jpg[/IMAGER] This week's Friday Five is with Dana Jorgensen of Alternate Realities Publications.
Give us an overview of your product line(s).
[bq]Our flagship line is Big Bang: The Mostly Illustrated RPG Guide to Modern Weapons. This is an ongoing series of books that bridge the gap between reference books and game books, borne out of inadequacies I find in both reference books and game books dealing with weaponry. Along with providing extensive reference material on each weapon, the Big Bang series is written with a number of game systems in mind, including our house system, CyberThriller, FUDGE, and both existing OGL rule systems. Most importantly, it is probably the first product line aimed at taking advantage of the PDF format for more than just widescreen layouts. Being paperless, the books have not cut corners or content to reduce page count and we have been the first game company to utilize the multi-volume indexing capability of Acrobat.
Our second product line, Lost Destinations, is a series that takes modern myths and legends and converts them into D20 scenarios and locales. The first volume of the series focuses on the wierdness that can be found in New Jersey, from a neighborhood whose resident vanished mysteriously (rumors say they were murdered by a satanic cult), to a crashed air force jet that apparently was never built, to a mysterious grove of metal trees deep in the woods that no one knows where they came from, all in the same town.
Our third product line, CyberThriller, has been long announced and equally delayed. It is a modern setting suitable for the modern technothriller and cyberpunk genres. It is a dual system series, providing a core rulebook for our house system, a second, smaller core book for D20 Modern, and all supplements developed to cover both.
I also produce a variety of "experimental" products. I've released a few paper miniature products focusing on vehicles, as well as an alternate magic item booklet for D20, and strangest of all, a cookbook dedicated to feeding larger groups of individuals on a tight budget. This is also the "product line" under which the works of other authors get published, since I'm not looking to pick up any new dedicated product lines.[/bq]
Tell us at length about your most recent project (upcoming or just released).
[bq]Our latest project is Volume 6 of Big Bang. This particular volume of the series focuses on small arms used by Germany during World War II. This won't be the only volume of the series with this theme, but in all, this and related volumes will eventually cover over 250 different weapons used by the wehrmacht, kreigsmarine, luftwaffe, waffen SS, volkssturm, german national police, and the foreign volunteer divisions and legions culled from the occupied countries. Volume 6 covers about 70 of those weapons.[/bq]
What is your main target audience and how much of a spread beyond that do you feel is likely, first for your line(s), then for your most recent?
[bq]My main target audience is modern and historical gamers. I also expect some reasonable spread to history buffs in general as well, as the extent of my research and diligence to the subject matter is giving me a very strong reputation for accuracy. With my latest release, I'll be tapping the thriving market for World War II materials.[/bq]
What is the main thing about your company that makes you most proud?
[bq]What makes me the most proud? I guess recognition of the quality of the content I produce. To be honest, my books aren't the prettiest out there. I'm not big on using color, let alone all the flash most other books use with page borders and the like. Yet the Big Bang books regularly get 4 and 5 star reviews. I've even seen it referred to as the "Roleplayer's equivalent to the Jane's Guide to Infantry Weapons". And it looks like people are buying it for reference as well, since at least one in ten buyers is a fellow game developer.[/bq]
Where do you see your company one year from now?
[bq]Publishing on paper, selling well in the stores, all three product lines going strong, and getting back onto the convention circuit.[/bq]
Give us an overview of your product line(s).
[bq]Our flagship line is Big Bang: The Mostly Illustrated RPG Guide to Modern Weapons. This is an ongoing series of books that bridge the gap between reference books and game books, borne out of inadequacies I find in both reference books and game books dealing with weaponry. Along with providing extensive reference material on each weapon, the Big Bang series is written with a number of game systems in mind, including our house system, CyberThriller, FUDGE, and both existing OGL rule systems. Most importantly, it is probably the first product line aimed at taking advantage of the PDF format for more than just widescreen layouts. Being paperless, the books have not cut corners or content to reduce page count and we have been the first game company to utilize the multi-volume indexing capability of Acrobat.
Our second product line, Lost Destinations, is a series that takes modern myths and legends and converts them into D20 scenarios and locales. The first volume of the series focuses on the wierdness that can be found in New Jersey, from a neighborhood whose resident vanished mysteriously (rumors say they were murdered by a satanic cult), to a crashed air force jet that apparently was never built, to a mysterious grove of metal trees deep in the woods that no one knows where they came from, all in the same town.
Our third product line, CyberThriller, has been long announced and equally delayed. It is a modern setting suitable for the modern technothriller and cyberpunk genres. It is a dual system series, providing a core rulebook for our house system, a second, smaller core book for D20 Modern, and all supplements developed to cover both.
I also produce a variety of "experimental" products. I've released a few paper miniature products focusing on vehicles, as well as an alternate magic item booklet for D20, and strangest of all, a cookbook dedicated to feeding larger groups of individuals on a tight budget. This is also the "product line" under which the works of other authors get published, since I'm not looking to pick up any new dedicated product lines.[/bq]
Tell us at length about your most recent project (upcoming or just released).
[bq]Our latest project is Volume 6 of Big Bang. This particular volume of the series focuses on small arms used by Germany during World War II. This won't be the only volume of the series with this theme, but in all, this and related volumes will eventually cover over 250 different weapons used by the wehrmacht, kreigsmarine, luftwaffe, waffen SS, volkssturm, german national police, and the foreign volunteer divisions and legions culled from the occupied countries. Volume 6 covers about 70 of those weapons.[/bq]
What is your main target audience and how much of a spread beyond that do you feel is likely, first for your line(s), then for your most recent?
[bq]My main target audience is modern and historical gamers. I also expect some reasonable spread to history buffs in general as well, as the extent of my research and diligence to the subject matter is giving me a very strong reputation for accuracy. With my latest release, I'll be tapping the thriving market for World War II materials.[/bq]
What is the main thing about your company that makes you most proud?
[bq]What makes me the most proud? I guess recognition of the quality of the content I produce. To be honest, my books aren't the prettiest out there. I'm not big on using color, let alone all the flash most other books use with page borders and the like. Yet the Big Bang books regularly get 4 and 5 star reviews. I've even seen it referred to as the "Roleplayer's equivalent to the Jane's Guide to Infantry Weapons". And it looks like people are buying it for reference as well, since at least one in ten buyers is a fellow game developer.[/bq]
Where do you see your company one year from now?
[bq]Publishing on paper, selling well in the stores, all three product lines going strong, and getting back onto the convention circuit.[/bq]
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