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General Tabletop Discussion
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RPG Evolution: RPGs Have a Health Problem
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<blockquote data-quote="Sacrosanct" data-source="post: 7826375" data-attributes="member: 15700"><p>It’s like the saying, “The best way to end up with a million dollars in the RPG industry is to start with two.”</p><p></p><p>I don’t think I’ve ever made money as a whole putting out products, and that includes my game that went into full distribution (Impressions distribution) with a 5,000 print run. But I am OK with being a hobby publisher. I do it because I like to do it. For example, the superdungeon in my sig has sold roughly 1000 copies so far, mostly pdf with some hard copy. But not even counting my own time and effort, I spent over $3000 to get it completed. Almost all freelance art and editing. I did all the writing and layout myself, or the costs would have been much higher. And those 1000 copies are over a five year period.</p><p></p><p>So unless you have boat loads of money to build up a huge library of products right up front, it takes a long, long time to have produced enough to make a total business profit, let alone enough to do this as your sole source of income. Or you have to be lucky to catch the right attention at the right time and have your product become viral.</p><p></p><p>It just isn’t that big enough of a hobby. And like any other hobby (like crafting, or woodworking, or leatherworking (two of my other hobbies), it’s near impossible to make a decent living, let alone be able to pay for good healthcare and retirement. Until we go to universal healthcare, I don’t see that changing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sacrosanct, post: 7826375, member: 15700"] It’s like the saying, “The best way to end up with a million dollars in the RPG industry is to start with two.” I don’t think I’ve ever made money as a whole putting out products, and that includes my game that went into full distribution (Impressions distribution) with a 5,000 print run. But I am OK with being a hobby publisher. I do it because I like to do it. For example, the superdungeon in my sig has sold roughly 1000 copies so far, mostly pdf with some hard copy. But not even counting my own time and effort, I spent over $3000 to get it completed. Almost all freelance art and editing. I did all the writing and layout myself, or the costs would have been much higher. And those 1000 copies are over a five year period. So unless you have boat loads of money to build up a huge library of products right up front, it takes a long, long time to have produced enough to make a total business profit, let alone enough to do this as your sole source of income. Or you have to be lucky to catch the right attention at the right time and have your product become viral. It just isn’t that big enough of a hobby. And like any other hobby (like crafting, or woodworking, or leatherworking (two of my other hobbies), it’s near impossible to make a decent living, let alone be able to pay for good healthcare and retirement. Until we go to universal healthcare, I don’t see that changing. [/QUOTE]
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