Hey Wulf! Question about HOHF: Anthology

[DrSpunj]

This is what's posted on your website:
The Heroes of High Favor: Anthology combines material from all five previous books in the series with unpublished material from each race, as well as with tons of all new "general use" material for the ubiquitous race of Humans. This enormous collection of feats, skills, and over 150 prestige classes covers every race and every multiclass combination, including psions and psychic warriors, and combines it all into a single hardback reference.

I'm very happy with Dwarves, Half-Orcs and Elves, and looking forward to Gnomes and Halflings. BUT the way this blurb on the Anthology reads makes me think that everything in the first 5 books is going to be merged and then even more stuff added. The Anthology sounds great, but can you tell me what I get from buying the Gnomes and Halflings books separately if I plan to buy the Anthology HC when it's available? Why shouldn't I just save my money and wait the 5 months until the Anthology is released?

Also, I noticed you're not the author for the Halfling book. Just couldn't bring yourself to work with Pecks, huh?

Seriously, does Jeremy Baldridge have an EN World handle/account that I might recognize/know? I was just surprised to see someone else's name listed as the author, since I've just come to think of HOHF as *your* series.

Thanks for your time!

DrSpunj

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I'm very happy with Dwarves, Half-Orcs and Elves, and looking forward to Gnomes and Halflings. BUT the way this blurb on the Anthology reads makes me think that everything in the first 5 books is going to be merged and then even more stuff added. The Anthology sounds great, but can you tell me what I get from buying the Gnomes and Halflings books separately if I plan to buy the Anthology HC when it's available? Why shouldn't I just save my money and wait the 5 months until the Anthology is released?

Ohhh, aye... This is the big question we struggle with, isn't it?

Our focus was really to concentrate on preserving the value of the individual Halflings and Gnomes books so that their sales do not suffer against the anthology.

With that in mind, here's a few reasons you might want those individual books over the anthology:

1) The individual books are smaller, more portable, and less expensive individually ($9.95 as always).

2) They also have their own unique covers-- if you particularly like Dwarves, Half-Orcs, Elves, Halflings, or Gnomes, you may appreciate having a nice cover designed for your favorite race. You can see the Gnomes cover on our website, and Halflings should be up shortly, as well.

3) The print runs on both Halflings and Gnomes will be much smaller than any of our previous print runs, in anticipation of folks who will purchase those books individually but have no particular interest in the Anthology. We know, going in, that Halflings and Gnomes may have a smaller following, but they have a more loyal following. So we are not so much printing those runs for the HOHF completists as we are for the specific fans of Halflings and Gnomes. (Though we appreciate every sale, of course!) Ultimately, the market will support a sell-through of those titles.

4) The content is not yet fixed-- I have not yet decided if I want to manipulate the content to preserve the value of either the individual books or the anthology. Since it's mostly open content, it doesn't really seem fair to me to do so, but unfortunately "fair" does not always mesh with "market realities."

Ultimately I believe that #3 is the key issue. For someone who already has all 5 individual books, the answer to, "Why would I want the anthology?" is much easier, since it contains so much new content in addition to whatever content we reissue from the previous books.

Also, I noticed you're not the author for the Halfling book. Just couldn't bring yourself to work with Pecks, huh?

Heh... No, just looking to help a fellow author-- and I don't mind easing my workload. I have still had a great deal of input on Halflings, don't worry, but I am moving out of the way on the front cover and through most of the writing. You may notice a different "voice" in the writing but the crunchy bits... you should recognize.

The real coup, however, was in convincing Andrew Hale to do the illustrations again. He has graciously offered to finish out the series and his work continues to improve and impress me.


Wulf

 

[DrSpunj]

Okay...

Similar to what my own thinking was.

Thanks for the response!

DrSpunj

 

[tensen]

Re: Re: Hey Wulf! Question about HOHF: Anthology

3) The print runs on both Halflings and Gnomes will be much smaller than any of our previous print runs, in anticipation of folks who will purchase those books individually but have no particular interest in the Anthology. We know, going in, that Halflings and Gnomes may have a smaller following, but they have a more loyal following. So we are not so much printing those runs for the HOHF completists as we are for the specific fans of Halflings and Gnomes. (Though we appreciate every sale, of course!) Ultimately, the market will support a sell-through of those titles.

Print runs for Gnoems and Haflings are smaller? They get the short shaft once again... poor little guys.

 

[Samnell]

Re: Re: Hey Wulf! Question about HOHF: Anthology

I'd honestly rather see all the stuff from the five books in the Anthology, plus the goodies advertised just for it. That way I have one convenient book, and I keep losing the little ones as is.

That said, if 100% of the individual books is in the Anthology, I have no reason to buy the Elf, Gnome, and Halfling books. I like the covers, but I don't like them so much that I'd buy the books just to get them and have the stuff sooner. The content is good enough that I'm willing to wait and get it all in one euphoria-inducing (ok, not really but still nice) rush when it comes in a neat carrying case.

So I'm probably undermining myself by saying this, because I'd surely buy the shorty books eventually if I couldn't get all their goodness in the anthology. Then again, if I can't get their stuff folded in the Anthology, it becomes less desireable to me even with the added content.

I'm inclined to either continue buying the separate books or stop doing so and buy the Anthology, but not both. I like to think I'm not alone there, but I know from experience my preferences can be a little strange.

 

[DrSpunj]

Re: Re: Re: Hey Wulf! Question about HOHF: Anthology

I'm inclined to either continue buying the separate books or stop doing so and buy the Anthology, but not both. I like to think I'm not alone there, but I know from experience my preferences can be a little strange.

Well, you're not alone this time. There are only so many gaming dollars for all of us to spread around, and a lot of d20 publishers have been at this long enough to find their niche and polish their products to the point that there is a lot of great stuff out there now and more coming.

While I'm definitely one of those people that likes to get books immediately upon release I just can't afford to do that with everything I want! I'll probably waffle a dozen times about spending the $10 apiece on Halflings and Gnomes between June and November, but I *KNOW* I'm going to buy the Anthology, and I, too, appreciate having all that goodness in one nice hardcover volume instead of the 3 slippery softcovers that I have now. They're nice and compact, but they've already been beaten up a little as they always migrate to the bottom of my gaming backpack and end up getting squished by the big, tough hardcovers.

I'll be watching to see what Wulf and company ultimately choose to do with the content, but right now I'm sold on the Anthology. It would have to be a pretty large chunk of material that *wasn't* going to be folded into the Anthology to make me consider the "shorty" books. Unless I win the lottery, of course!

DrSpunj