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<blockquote data-quote="SteveC" data-source="post: 9151937" data-attributes="member: 9053">This is some really interesting stuff. I don't know what's going on in the background, but on the surface, this really sounds like a bad idea. It's as if someone at WotC thinks that they can do what Penguin/Random House does cheaper. That's unlikely at best. Let me explain a little: when I am not in the RPG world, I do some editing and general work for someone who writes and has their own writing career. I've worked with him and other associates for over 20 years. Getting meetings with Random House for distribution was a dream for them because that gets their books anywhere in the world. Random House knows their ... stuff ... and has been doing this for a very long time. They have people who can go into pretty much everywhere in the world and get products in there because they have the connections.I don't know what the expectations were about this but in my (limited) experience, this is not a relationship you would want to throw out. It seems like a decision from someone who doesn't have experience in this part of the business world. Everything I've seen about WotC management is about video games and online distribution. That is not the world of books at all.&nbsp; And if you want to get out of physical publishing and just go online (hey, that's the theory, right?) , this is sort of burning the ships to the old world. It is a lot harder to get back into this business than to stay and just reduce your stakes with it.Importantly, I don't know the whole situation, so what's happening may actually be radically different than how I'm interpreting it. So take what I'm saying with a big grain of salt. I just think if you look at Diamond distribution over Random House/Penguin ... there is no comparison.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="SteveC, post: 9151937, member: 9053"] This is some really interesting stuff. I don't know what's going on in the background, but on the surface, this really sounds like a bad idea. It's as if someone at WotC thinks that they can do what Penguin/Random House does cheaper. That's unlikely at best. Let me explain a little: when I am not in the RPG world, I do some editing and general work for someone who writes and has their own writing career. I've worked with him and other associates for over 20 years. Getting meetings with Random House for distribution was a dream for them because that gets their books anywhere in the world. Random House knows their ... stuff ... and has been doing this for a very long time. They have people who can go into pretty much everywhere in the world and get products in there because they have the connections. I don't know what the expectations were about this but in my (limited) experience, this is not a relationship you would want to throw out. It seems like a decision from someone who doesn't have experience in this part of the business world. Everything I've seen about WotC management is about video games and online distribution. That is not the world of books at all. And if you want to get out of physical publishing and just go online (hey, that's the theory, right?) , this is sort of burning the ships to the old world. It is a lot harder to get back into this business than to stay and just reduce your stakes with it. Importantly, [B]I don't know[/B] the whole situation, so what's happening may actually be radically different than how I'm interpreting it. So take what I'm saying with a big grain of salt. I just think if you look at Diamond distribution over Random House/Penguin ... there is no comparison. [/QUOTE]

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