RPGNow Sales Numbers Update

[jmucchiello]

And our revised editions HAVE been selling particularly well. Although I think the revised sales of Everyone Else are merely because the product itself made it back onto the front page of RPGnow. This is a product that sells itself it seems, quite popular as long as people see it on the front page.

I credit the front page with most of my initial sales. Falling off the front page at RPGNow must cause an immediate dip in sales. Once a product leaves the page and falls off the top ten very few sales occur.

The day James added the Microtactix back catalog to RPGNow I felt sorry for everybody who had new books out at that time.

 

[Brian K. Moseley]

What I'm learning is that the more generic I make a PDF, the more copies it sells. This should have been something I knew from the start (hell, it's obvious when I actually think about it).

Good observation, Phil. I agree with you. My four floor plan sourcebooks (Inns & Taverns, Castles & Keeps, Temples & Shrines, and Mansions & Manors) were published months before my latest three campaign series (Visira, City of Sorrows, Maelstrom Campaign Setting Worldbook and Pantheon), but the floor plan books have maintained sales. Sales for the campaign series is sluggish, and in comparison is a small percentage of the floor plans' total sales.

My conclusion is that the campaign series is much more specific, and simply doesn't have the initial title appeal that the more generalized "floor plans" has. Ironic, as I believe Visira to be my best work yet. I suspect most consumers' initial reaction is that they do not need "another campaign world" or "another city".

Sales for the month of January:

Inns & Taverns: 26
Castles & Keeps: 26
Temples & Shrines: 21
Mansions & Manors: 20
Visira: City of Sorrows: 8
Maelstrom Campaign Setting: Worldbook:10
Maelstrom Campaign Setting: Pantheon: 3

Sales of the campaign series have been disappointing. I believe the more specialized the product, the smaller the number of persons that will be interested in it. Advertising is always helpful though.

I credit the front page with most of my initial sales. Falling off the front page at RPGNow must cause an immediate dip in sales. Once a product leaves the page and falls off the top ten very few sales occur.

I agree with you completely, Joe. As the sheer volume of pdf products continues to grow, I suspect increasing numbers of RPGNow visitors glance at the front page much as many people look at the newspaper headlines. If they see something that interests them, they'll delve deeper. For the majority, content not on the front page goes unnoticed.

 

[philreed]

Ways to keep your PDF in front of the customer . . .

Revise/Expand -- This one's already been mentioned. When Christopher Shy and I revised and expanded 101 Mundane Treasures I saw a large spike in sales on the product. 101 Arcane Sales Components is now being revised and expanded (the editor recommended a great new feature that's going to take me some time to write but I think people will love it). I'll report on the effect this revision has.

Free PDFs -- I like to create short PDFs and release them for free. People like to get free stuff (I know I do) and if you gear the free stuff to act as a supplement or teaser to a PDF you'll get a few more people to track down the related PDF.

New PDFs -- As we've already mentioned, new PDFs do drive sales of old ones. An impressive feat would be to have a new PDF on RPGNow's front page at all times. I don't know how someone would go about keeping up that level of output. If I didn't have my day job I could probably release a new PDF every two weeks. If I didn't have my day job I'd probably be spending more time hunting for a new job than I spend at the job each day.

Buzz -- I have no clue how to get "buzz." One weekend my PDFs were mentioned in the Necromancer Games forums . . . that caused a spike in sales. I don't know who mentioned the PDFs over there but I do appreciate everyone who came out in support of what I was doing.

Marketing -- So far I haven't had much luck with marketing PDFs. The D20 Munchkin Master's Guide that I worked on includes an author bio for me. In the bio is my website address and a very blatant plea for people to hit the site and buy PDFs. (It's a funny book so the entire bio is humorous.) We'll see what that does.

Maybe what needs to happen is a group of PDF publishers need to unite under one banner. Assiging duties to each member and setting the company up as a corporation would allow members to pool resources (including talents) and start producing PDFs under one company name. This would allow the company to always have a new product on the front page (usually more than one) and a large back catalog.

 

[tensen]

Re: Ways to keep your PDF in front of the customer . . .

Maybe what needs to happen is a group of PDF publishers need to unite under one banner. Assigning duties to each member and setting the company up as a corporation would allow members to pool resources (including talents) and start producing PDFs under one company name. This would allow the company to always have a new product on the front page (usually more than one) and a large back catalog.

I don't think more than 1 on the front page would be that helpful. if you note.. the other products by this vendor only show 5 products at random. You need to get the customer to click on your company in the drop down to see all your old products, if you release at a fast rate. Therefore you lose some of the sales to your backlist by releasing too frequently.

 

[MEG Hal]

I will tally today my numbers and get you an update...

also Phil I have been e-mailing you as well and getting no reponses....?

 

[MEG Hal]

Had time right away

Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside--226 (price went up no effect)

Right Beneath Our Noses--280 and is free.

Both of these numbers are for RPGNOW.COM only. Hope that helps.

 

[philreed]

Free PDFs

Good idea. I hadn't even thought of posting numbers for free stuff.

A Dozen Free Spellbooks -- 792
Assassin's Guide to Poisons -- 546
The Cursed Temple -- 676
The Mad Merchant's Shop of Curious Wares -- 173

I'm hoping that by sharing these numbers, and communicating, we can improve sales for everyone and help each other. I know I could post all of this on secret industry lists but I feel that it's important for everyone involved (including the gamers who support us) to have some idea of what the PDF industry is really like.

 

[philreed]

Re: Re: Ways to keep your PDF in front of the customer . . .

I don't think more than 1 on the front page would be that helpful. if you note.. the other products by this vendor only show 5 products at random. You need to get the customer to click on your company in the drop down to see all your old products, if you release at a fast rate. Therefore you lose some of the sales to your backlist by releasing too frequently.

Good point. Part of what I'm thinking, when it comes to backlist sales, is that every PDF should include some mention of other PDFs. A catalog page or something in each PDF. The page never has to be printed (and shouldn't be included in page count) but for those who want to know what else is available, they have it in the file.

 

[Arnix]

Has anyone added any advertising at the end of the PDF. Sort of like a banner exchange on a website?

This could increase pdf sales.

 

[Storminator]

Perhaps someone can build a site with all the various pdf publishers that frequent the boards, and list all their products. Include the RPGNow links and get Morrus to host it. Then there would always be a place to browse the pdf market.

Would be a bit of work, but it's always work to sell products (as I'm sure you already know better than I).

PS