madelf
First Post
I've been lurking here for a while, now I think I'll throw out a question.
It's regarding mixed product (print and PDF) sales.
I'm wondering if anyone has tried something I'm thinking of and, if so, what results you experienced. The idea has quite a bit in common with the POD option at RPGnow, but the slant is slightly different.
As some background, I've got an upcoming game product (or products actually) that I plan to release in print. But, for many reasons, going through traditional distribution is probably not going to be an option. So I'll be looking at internet sales primarily, which normally would make PDF ideal. The book will be fairly substantial (200 pages, give or take) though, so I don't think it would do all that well solely as a PDF product.
Yet it seems to me that one of the biggest things PDFs have going for them is the instant gratification of being able to place an order and have the product in your hands more or less instantly. That's an area where a print product is at a serious disadvantage. You order it and wait days, if not weeks, for the book to get to you. I suspect it takes away a lot of the impulse buying that a PDF product might expect. I don't know if that's a big factor or not, but I'll assume there's something to it.
Now what I'm thinking of doing is promoting my game as a print product with the PDF version as a bonus. You buy the book on line and it gets shipped to you along with a PDF version on cd. This will give the buyer the best of both worlds, a nice quality printed book and the ability to print sections from the PDF for quick reference, handouts, store it on a laptop, or whatever. There would also be an option where the person could download the PDF (instant gratification), for no additional charge, immediately after purchase of the book.
My theory is that this would provide the benefits of offering both a PDF and a print product without the issues of having the two versions compete with each other for sales.
Any thoughts?
It's regarding mixed product (print and PDF) sales.
I'm wondering if anyone has tried something I'm thinking of and, if so, what results you experienced. The idea has quite a bit in common with the POD option at RPGnow, but the slant is slightly different.
As some background, I've got an upcoming game product (or products actually) that I plan to release in print. But, for many reasons, going through traditional distribution is probably not going to be an option. So I'll be looking at internet sales primarily, which normally would make PDF ideal. The book will be fairly substantial (200 pages, give or take) though, so I don't think it would do all that well solely as a PDF product.
Yet it seems to me that one of the biggest things PDFs have going for them is the instant gratification of being able to place an order and have the product in your hands more or less instantly. That's an area where a print product is at a serious disadvantage. You order it and wait days, if not weeks, for the book to get to you. I suspect it takes away a lot of the impulse buying that a PDF product might expect. I don't know if that's a big factor or not, but I'll assume there's something to it.
Now what I'm thinking of doing is promoting my game as a print product with the PDF version as a bonus. You buy the book on line and it gets shipped to you along with a PDF version on cd. This will give the buyer the best of both worlds, a nice quality printed book and the ability to print sections from the PDF for quick reference, handouts, store it on a laptop, or whatever. There would also be an option where the person could download the PDF (instant gratification), for no additional charge, immediately after purchase of the book.
My theory is that this would provide the benefits of offering both a PDF and a print product without the issues of having the two versions compete with each other for sales.
Any thoughts?
