D&D 5E Monster Manual Expanded III HARDCOVER/PoD is FINALLY OUT! Get it now from the DM's Guild!

[Ibrandul]

Holy smokes, I cannot believe the quality and quantity of these illustrations. This book is going to blow the lid off the DMs Guild.

However, I am still contemplating on a PDF for a month only release at first so as to ensure we catch all typos and errors from customer feedback.

If you're still considering doing this, I'd like to encourage it!

I'm a professional copy editor, so believe me, I know there's no such thing as an error-free first printing. But I recently learned that although the DMs Guild allows easily updating a pdf, you're stuck forever with the first PoD version you implement. That sucks, especially for a book that's destined to be a perennial best-seller for years to come.

I think we'd all appreciate it if you'd hold the PoD back for a month in order to catch as many errors as possible based on community feedback on the pdf—while making it clear from day one that the PoD is coming soon.

 

[Nixlord]

Holy smokes, I cannot believe the quality and quantity of these illustrations. This book is going to blow the lid off the DMs Guild.

If you're still considering doing this, I'd like to encourage it!

I'm a professional copy editor, so believe me, I know there's no such thing as an error-free first printing. But I recently learned that although the DMs Guild allows easily updating a pdf, you're stuck forever with the first PoD version you implement. That sucks, especially for a book that's destined to be a perennial best-seller for years to come.

I think we'd all appreciate it if you'd hold the PoD back for a month in order to catch as many errors as possible based on community feedback on the pdf—while making it clear from day one that the PoD is coming soon.

Thanks! Yes, we've already decided to release the PoD after 3 months. We will use 1.5 months to gather feedback and another 1.5 months for the PoD processing.

 

[Nixlord]

Monster Manual Expanded III Art Previews #21: Another trio of goblins will grace the pages of MME3: The Goblin Artificer, the legendary Goblin Ganglord (CR 4), and the Watcher of Maglubiyet!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

So, Nix... I own a FLGS (well, it's a comic store that sells tabletop games too). Is there any way to get your books in print, with a discount to facilitate some kind of mark-up? I think I could sell quite a few. I understand that POD might make that impossible.

 

[Nixlord]

So, Nix... I own a FLGS (well, it's a comic store that sells tabletop games too). Is there any way to get your books in print, with a discount to facilitate some kind of mark-up? I think I could sell quite a few. I understand that POD might make that impossible.

Hi Fitz. Unfortunately, reselling DMsGuild titles is not allowed. Titles must be sold exclusively through the DM's Guild platform.

 

[Ibrandul]

Hi Fitz. Unfortunately, reselling DMsGuild titles is not allowed. Titles must be sold exclusively through the DM's Guild platform.

Does the site actually try to impose a “no reselling” policy on purchasers (as opposed to content creators)?

I’m asking because, in the US at least, I don’t think that would be legal for books. If I purchase a book, I can turn around and immediately resell it at a markup to whoever (I think; caveat: I’ve resold a lot of books in my day but I am neither a professional bookseller nor a lawyer).

Of course, if the original seller didn’t offer me any discount, and the prospective buyer knows that the original seller is still offering new copies at the same price I originally paid, it’ll be tricky for me to make much profit off the endeavor. But I’m not at all sure that a policy trying to prevent me from reselling the book at all, or to penalize me as a customer for doing so, could stand up to a legal challenge.

I frequently see DMs Guild POD reprints of pre-5e TSR/WotC books for sale on eBay at a steep markup. I suspect many of the buyers of those are getting screwed because they mistakenly think they’re buying an original copy rather than a reprint (perhaps even when the product description clearly states otherwise), or else they don’t realize they could still get the same thing at lower cost from DMs Guild. Personally I think that kind of reselling is a bit sketchy, but I wouldn’t have exactly the same opinion about reselling community-created PODs (where there isn’t a more valuable original version for buyers to get confused about). At any rate, if DMs Guild tried to penalize those resellers (as customers of DMs Guild) I think they might be on shaky ground.

Ebooks/PDFs are different, of course.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Hi Fitz. Unfortunately, reselling DMsGuild titles is not allowed. Titles must be sold exclusively through the DM's Guild platform.

Bummer. I guess that's why I've never taken a serious look at anything on DMs guild. (I probably knew that at some point, and I've forgotten over the years). I've kickstarted a bunch of RPGs and tabletop products, though. It's a shame that you can't use both models. DMs guild is more community-based, which I like the idea of, but Kickstarter is more business-based, which is more useful to me (even though I prefer smaller community to bigger business, if you know what I mean).

Does the site actually try to impose a “no reselling” policy on purchasers (as opposed to content creators)? ... if DMs Guild tried to penalize those resellers (as customers of DMs Guild) I think they might be on shaky ground.

Yeah, I don't think that's a problem. I have little interest in marking stuff up from retail. In spite of being a comic store guy, I hate what I feel is "gouging" unknowing customers when they could get the book themselves cheaper directly. (Within reason, obviously, I'm not a foolish businessman). Still, like you say, it's a huge part of ebay and Amazon and other markets. There's no way to enforce anything against it, and I doubt that anyone would want to.

I'm sure Nix just means that DMs guild is designed for direct sales and they don't want to get into selling the books at stores, so they have made it against-the-rules.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Bummer. I guess that's why I've never taken a serious look at anything on DMs guild. (I probably knew that at some point, and I've forgotten over the years). I've kickstarted a bunch of RPGs and tabletop products, though. It's a shame that you can't use both models. DMs guild is more community-based, which I like the idea of, but Kickstarter is more business-based, which is more useful to me (even though I prefer smaller community to bigger business, if you know what I mean).



Yeah, I don't think that's a problem. I have little interest in marking stuff up from retail. In spite of being a comic store guy, I hate what I feel is "gouging" unknowing customers when they could get the book themselves cheaper directly. (Within reason, obviously, I'm not a foolish businessman). Still, like you say, it's a huge part of ebay and Amazon and other markets. There's no way to enforce anything against it, and I doubt that anyone would want to.

I'm sure Nix just means that DMs guild is designed for direct sales and they don't want to get into selling the books at stores, so they have made it against-the-rules.

I don’t think Nix can offer you a retailer discount, but you could purchase them and still resell them I believe. I would say there is some value there that could be worth a small markup on your part.

 

[Ibrandul]

I don’t think Nix can offer you a retailer discount, but you could purchase them and still resell them I believe. I would say there is some value there that could be worth a small markup on your part.

If I (in the USA) purchase a hardcover POD book from DM's Guild today, I can expect it to arrive in three to five weeks. It might get here sooner, but according to the site's FAQ at this moment, there's currently a twenty-four-day delay for USA/Canada POD products to be printed.

There would certainly be value in being able to purchase it from a local shop today instead. For me, probably not enough value to justify the markup the shop would have to put on it. But maybe.

 

[Nixlord]

Apologies to Fitz and Jeremy if my response came a bit too strong. To clarify, when you submit a product to DM's Guild (which allows you to use WoTC IP), you enter into a contract that makes your product exclusive to DM's Guild (the author's cut is 50%, DMG and WoTC get 25% each I believe). While it's permitted for us authors to send complimentary copies for the purpose of promoting the product, making orders (at cost at DMG's expense) for the purpose of selling them for profit (as Uni stated) is in direct violation of the contract (because DMG doesn't earn from it). The DM's Guild community manager made this clear when I first inquired about this last year (after several folks reached out to me with the same inquiry Jeremy had).

As a consumer though, I don't see any issue if you purchase a book directly from DMG and then sell it with a markup (again, as Uni mentioned). I believe this is what several international FLGS did (and are still doing I think), ordering by bulk (to minimize shipping costs) and then selling them at a markup that was reasonable for secondary consumers (who found it more affordable than purchasing directly from DMG).