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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mythusmage" data-source="post: 857726" data-attributes="member: 571">I'm an overweight 49 year old college drop-out with Clinical Depression, Panic Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, and a 50 milligram a day Paxil habit. Beat that. (The time I got Groucho Mark royally ticked at me is another story, so we'll skip it.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />)Now that we've gotten the chest beating out of the way<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />...I ran across a PDF distiller that'll do PDFs three ways; screen, ink-jet printer, professional press. (The last about 6500 dots per inch) And all for $100.00 U. S. a license for the Mac version. Makes it easier to go from PDF to hardcopy publishing.My preferences are: Good layout, text dense, skinny outer margins, well placed appropriate art, good writing on an interesting subject.Right now I'm using AppleWorks for laying down and laying out the text, charts, and tables. When I can get the manual printed out (503 page PDF) I'll start working with an app known as Nisus writer. Let's me do stuff I can't with AW.Once the dang book gets done I hope to have it out in PDF both in the 8.5 by 11 format, and as a series of booklets using a Post Script driver I got from Adobe. Figure $20.00 U. S. for the standard, and $3.00 U. S. each for the booklets (11 total). (It's a long book, I'm figuring around 400 pages for the full length PDF). With the booklets hitting the market first.BTW, I do have a publisher showing an interest (he's posted on this thread), and he's forgotten to answer I question I asked, and I reiterate, "Can you handle an AppleWorks file? AW6 that is."Well, enough of the crass self promotion.I don't buy much in gaming material these days because I don't have the money. So I look for stuff that has good content, well presented, that I can rip o... ...adapt to my own purposes. If you don't have enough material to fill a 48 page book without large type and huge margins, then publish a smaller book. If you end up with enough white space to fit in another 500 words in 14 point Helvetica, then publish a smaller book.Have I ever mentioned I hate excess white space?Good writing can make up for a dull subject, an interesting subject can make up for dull writing, but nothing makes up for a bad layout.My goals are to produce a good product, and make enough to get a new iMac. In that order. Everything else will be gravy. Do what you like, do it well, and make sure it stands out in a field filled with mediocrity of one sort or another.One thing before I end this, and you know who you are. Would you start rejecting artists? So he's an old time gaming buddy and you still have the first character portrait he ever did of your first paladin/sorcerer/druid/bard. He aint that dang good, and he aint getting any better. You need art, and you can't find anybody who can do professional grade work, use clip art. There's tons of it out there, and some of it is real good. You don't need to publish anybody who can scribble a vaguely human form. You want to publish a professional item, use a professional artist. Even if it is his first paying gig.And with that rant out of the way, I'm off to find a place to hide until folks are merely irate.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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