Using PDF sales to raise money for printing costs

[Jim Butler]

Re: Re: Advice

I heard science fiction does not sell well on PDF through RPGHost. Is that true. Do you you know any publishers doing sci-fi that sells well on PDF? How does Darwin's World do in your opinion?

The size of the science fiction audience is about one-third to one-fourth the size of the D&D audience. A large amount of that science fiction audience is tied to Star Trek and Star Wars.

If you go off on a wonky genre of science fiction, expect your sales to be significantly less. If your world is so complex that the reader must learn an entirely new language to understand what's going on around him, you should also expect sales to be lower.

This is somewhat the curse of science fiction gaming. While there are games that can do well (Traveller, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.), the learning curve is pretty brutal.

I suspect these numbers would carry forward into the realm of PDF publishing as well. The numbers for the Star*Drive online release were about par with teh figures above, though.

 

[DSC-EricPrice]

Dragon Scale Counters is entering the Science Fantasy and Space Opera pdf market this fall. Our first release is Lost Mine of Cavet. Some of the territory is new and some of it has traditionally been an area of low sales and micromarkets. As a result, we elected to use pdfs to minimize our costs. Especially in light of the perceived acceptance of pdfs as a viable medium for adventures.

 

[tensen]

Dark Quest's Cyber Style line has 3 of the products in the top 40 of rpgnow. However truthfully it doesn't pay the costs to the writers, let alone our staff artist, editor, or even considering print.

 

[Cergorach]

Things i would do:
1.) Hire a damn good editor, so many good concepts go to waste because the book was badly edited. Ask anyone how valuable a good editor is, and they'll tell you "Damn important!". If you think of writing the product yourself and editing it yourself, don't. Do either one or the other, not both, your editing will suffer if you don't.
2.) I think good art is important, others don't. If your like me, make sure that the art style is consistent and don't accept anything subpar. Color is good, good b/w is better. (good color is even better)
3.) Don't skip on layout. It's as important as good art. You could do it yourself, but don't if your not really familiar with layout work. Don't use Word for layout, i might shoot you.
4.) Start small, think BIG. Start with something smaller than 256 pages. It should be able to capture your setting and ideas, but can be produced much quicker and cheaper than a large book. Also, people might balk at a 256 page pdf priced at $15-$20 by an unknown publisher.
5.) If it contains rules, playtest. Let others playtest the rules, etc. You don't want to be criticized for 'bad' rules.

Can't think of anything else from the top of my head...

 

[PosterBoy]

From The Darwin's World Publisher

OK, I'm the Darwin's World Publisher, so I'll lend my 2 cents.

PDF publishing has been very good to RPGObjects. Sure it doesn't make as much money as print, but it's has pretty low operating costs.

Now DW was the #1 selling PDF for many months. Its number #7 now, and most of our other DW pdfs are in the top 25. (we just recent combined 3 books into 1 so at one point 4 pdfs were in the top 25). So I consider that when I say I think you CAN pay for a print run with PDFs sales if it sells well. I don't mean to say your profits will pay for the print run, but the total sales might. So you'd invest money into developing the product, and then wait until the total sales equals the cost of the print run.

Of course, there are other factors to producing a print product, such as finding a fulfillment house (who sells to distributors, who sells to retailers). And the word is that fulfillment houses are quite full of clients.

However, for the record, I didn't really use that strategy. I just felt that it was time for DW to go to print and found the funds to do so.

Your best bet is to produce a great PDF product and offer it to another publisher to do the print run.

One nice benefit to doing PDF products is that you can update them. Developing a new d20 game isn't easy. DW has changed in many significant ways since its initial release. The people that buy your products love to give feedback, especially when it gets used. DW wouldn't have become what it is today if it weren't for the great feedback from the people who purchased the PDFs. So doing PDF products is a greater way to help refine a game.

 

[Orcus]

start up

BB-

Here are some thoughts on the subject of start up:

The death of most small companies is up front costs, as you are learning. That leads most people to try PDFs first. Good idea in theory, perhaps bad in the long run.

You would think that an industry of gamers would be a forward thinking, computer friendly bunch. But that isnt really reflected in the choice of media. Print is king. Though you may hear an active pro-PDF voice on these boards, the reality is rather grim and these boards unfortunately are not even close to a representative sample of the gaming public. Plus, while many people _say_ they will buy PDFs, few do.

If you sell 600 copies of a PDF you are doing very well. That wont raise much money for print costs.

PDFs are good as a "calling card", a way to show what you can do and what you are all about.

Plus, launching a huge product is a mistake. You need to rethink your product strategy. Start with a small product, but plan on how that will feed into other products. DO NOT start with a 256+ book.

Thus, there are a few things you should do:

1. Keep it short. A 256 page PDF is a horridly bad plan. Too big to download, too long to print for the user since they have to pony up the paper, too unwieldy of a file size for easy view on the computer (since many like PDFs for their portability and ease of use), too expensive for you to get art for (more on that in a minute). So focus on a short product--a 32 page gazetteer for your setting, an intro adventure for your setting, etc.

2. Keep your layout smooth and simple but professional. Remember, people will be wasting ink on the print and one of the most common gripes is that the layout--while interesting--took two cartridges to print.

3. Limit your art. Have a nice b/w line art cover and a small number of interior b/w pieces. If you want to splurge, do a color cover, but make sure it looks nice printing in b/w, which is how your purchasers will do it.

4. Take the extra time to playtest and to make it rules tight.

I hope I have talked you out of a 200+ PDF. That is a plan doomed from the start.

But here are a few tips.

As you noticed, the killer for a startup is upfront costs. So make sure you "back end" as many costs as you can.

For example, I saw you were about to blow half your seed money on art. DONT DO IT! You need that money to print. If you have $7000 you can go to print on a small product. So you just need to back load your costs.

Here is how you do it: there is a freelance glut right now. There are hundreds of writers and artists looking to break in. Post an open call on these boards for new artists to send you sample work. If you are going to print, you will find many new artists who are looking for a break who will be willing to do art for you for a percentage of the profits. That means you dont pay them until you make money and you use your seed money to go to print. Plus, people will be more willing to take a percentage off a print product then off a PDF since they know print does better.

You also need to line up distribution, either through a fulfillment house or directly with distributors (which will be rather difficult). I cant recommend any fulfillment house right now since I am not familiar with the current situation. It used to be that everyone used Wizards Attic, but there have been some problems, or so I have heard.

Do your homework. Contact distributors/fulfillment houses. Revise your product strategy. Work on your manuscript. As you get closer, post for artists. But whatever you do, DON'T spend money now that you dont need to spend. DON'T get art first. Heck, if things fold you will be out that money with no product.

Hopefully these thoughts have helped.

Clark Peterson
Necromancer Games

 

[BigBastard]

If I was to go the PDF route I think I would break the main book into three smaller ones that will someday be formed into a single game book. Sort of like they are doing for Darwin's World. I guess I would do a setting book, a race guide, and an equipment guide. I have at least six settings and this might br the way to go for them. Thanks to everyone who answered my question.

What would you say the optimal page count for a PDF file should be for an easy download? I also plan on picking up some PDF games from RPGHost to give me a general idea how to do things. Any suggestions on what to pick up? I already plan on picking up Darwin's World. Thanks once again.

 

[Jim Butler]

Re: start up

BB-

Here are some thoughts on the subject of start up:

Do your homework. Contact distributors/fulfillment houses. Revise your product strategy. Work on your manuscript. As you get closer, post for artists. But whatever you do, DON'T spend money now that you dont need to spend. DON'T get art first. Heck, if things fold you will be out that money with no product.

In addition to the great advice that Clark gave, I'd also add to check and double-check your pricing. Don't fall into the trap that pricing extra low will result in a huge influx of sales. With few exceptions, it just doesn't work that way.

Accept that you're going to miss a few costs that might not be apparent. Taxes. Damaged items being returned. Attending conventions to promote your product. Plan accordingly...

 

[BigBastard]

First off I would like to thank all those who gave me some useful advice and did not use it as an oppertunity to insult me like on some other game sites when I asked similar questions .

I will put this information to good use by doing my first PDF game in a series of books instead of doing just one big book. I am going with the PDF format to test the waters to see if there is intrest in my Sci-fi setting. If not I have at least 6 other settings I could use, two of which are fantasy.

What would be the ideal page count per pdf file for an easy download and how much art can I put in without slowing down download also? I'll put most of the artwork towards the print format if I decide to go that route. I also just ordered Darwin's World from Rpghost to get an idea on how to set things up. By the way I am having my order put on CD-Rom my internet connection stinks.. Once again I thank you.

PS/ Sorry for this second post the first one I did that was similar to this one did not register on my computer. I have had problems posting here before where posts did not show up. Any suggestions on what to look for in an editor and layout design person for a print run?

 

[mooker]

BB:
I would suggest about US$5 for 32 pages, or 8-10 for 64 pages.
It doesn't matter about the artwork; more the size of the file. Some are as large as 3-4 MB. I don't think people mind that much when it's big. They know they're getting more bang for their buck rather than a fast download. I'm on broadband so it's fast for me to download.

Have a 4-5 page preview PDF where people can check your stuff out.