POD on RPGNow

[pawsplay]

So, RPGNow has decreed that Lul is now a "competitor," even though the POD thing does not yet work, and last I checked, they were not offering standard book sizes.

What do you guys think about the service from what you know so far?

 

[bySwarm]

Link?

 

[Ebonyr]

did you mean Lulu.com vs. RPGnow.com?

 

[bySwarm]

Yeah, sorry. I'm trying to find a reference to it, but I can't. I've heard previously that RPGNow intends to enter the PoD market, but I hadn't heard anything official yet.

 

[Morrus]

I'm aware there's a new POD option in the publisher menu, but I haven't really paid any attention to it. I don't plan to use the service (perfectly happy with Lulu).

 

[pawsplay]

From the February newsletter:

WHAT'S UP WITH POD?

The testing and integration process has been far slower than anticipated. FAR slower. We are very sorry for that, but as I said at the very beginning of this, we know there is much too much at stake here for us to dare let this launch without having every single duck we can manage to wrangle into a row. It won't be perfect, but we're going to get as close to that as we can before we put this into play.

There are some hard lessons that have been learned in the RPG POD marketplace in the past; we aim to learn those lessons, and not repeat certain mistakes.

To that end, we are ensuring that the vast majority of the format, graphic, and other choices made by you - publishers, art directors, and other creators - will export through Lightning's processes as cleanly as possible, with end-user expectations met with regularity.

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

I keep saying "we're closing in," and I am not going to say that anymore. I am simply going to say that there is currently no other project underway that is more important to our team than this. Additional folks have been brought in to assist in making this work. Challenges have been met and overcome, and we are almost all the way there.

 

[pawsplay]

Has anyone experimented with POD from RPGnow?

 

[EP]

I'm currently waiting for a test copy from them. So far, there's been some issues finding out the specs but that's just because the sample files appear to be made in InDesign CS4 and I'm only working with CS2 at home.

 

[pawsplay]

I am really not sure about the whole nonstandard paper sizes thing. As much of a pain as it is just to prepare a cover for Lulu, I really don't want to have to have lay my whole book out again for POD at OBS. And then there's the whole prepping for print process, that apparently involves them reviewing the files. I am not crazy about the idea of jumping through all those hoops.

However, OBS/RPGnow is the big gorilla, no question, and whoever is willing to do all that, and help them test out their new system, is in a position to reap a lot of benefit when it goes live.

 

[dmccoy1693]

My current business model is to do an offset print run and once it has sold through, to put the book up for POD, so I haven't experimented with the POD option as of yet.