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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnNephew" data-source="post: 611359" data-attributes="member: 2171">Re: Re: Preview Monsters and Book PriceI won't deny, the Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary is expensive.The primary reason for the expense is what we are paying to the creative talent behind the book.  Yes, the printing is very expensive, but we will be paying more money to the writers and artists than we will to the printers.  And, in truth, the book should be MORE expensive than it already is; we're eating a lot of the added costs, by accepting a lower gross margin than usual on this book.If we had taken a number of steps -- such as paying authors only 1-3 cents per word (rather than the 4 cents we chose), recycling existing monsters rather than providing 100% original material, not illustrating each monster entry, or cutting back the number of monsters and using a larger typeface (the body type is only 8.5 points!) -- we could have reduced the price substantially.However, I stand by our decisions.Not a lot of d20 companies offer 4 cents per word on open calls. (In fact, I don't know if anyone else does; when I've looked, I've seen lower numbers, even from companies that are larger than us and likely to sell substantially more copies.)  I know it's tempting to offer minimal to no compensation, because there are so many people eager to be published, they practically invite you to take advantage of them.  But I strongly believe that this sends the wrong message, and is not the right way to run a business.  I think we should demand professionalism, and offer professionalism in turn, both in how we deal with writers (both veteran and novice) and in the rate of pay that we offer, even on an open call.  (And 4 cents/word barely qualifies as a "professional" rate.  I was making that as a novice writer for Dragon 17 years ago!)  D20 is big enough that it should be able to support those rates, and commercial projects that can't provide decent compensation to their creators maybe need to be rethought.We may well be pursuing the wrong strategy.  For example, D20 may now be in the state where the real path to success is recycling other peoples' OGC in new packages with the lowest possible price point. My hope, though, is that a book with the density of content and creativity found in the Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary will offer lasting value to D20 fans.</blockquote>

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