What kind of Sales can you expect from PDF?

[HellHound]

If there was ever a thread worth resurrecting every now and then, this is it.

Individual title sales -have- significantly slowed for us since this thread was launched. There are more and more PDF titles out there, and because this part of the industry isn't entirely front-list heavy, a new product is not just competing against other new releases, but is also competing against everything already out in PDF.

The good news is that PDF sales continue to climb month-to-month if you are lookig at total sales at RPGnow. What makes this particularly impressive is this is happening even with successful competition in the market.

 

[Vascant]

I know from my own view point being very new to this side of the industry, it has become very interesting on a day by day basis. Watching where information will get posted about your product and then seeing the effects of that. I can say this, I was shocked over the entire initial experience, what I expected to sell in the first month or two months ended up being accomplished in the first week.
Though things are very young at RPGAttitude, there are some interesting trends already starting to form; being on ENworld news is worth a few sales everytime thus far. From talking with people it would seem money is not even an issue, my real goal is how to not just effectively but quickly get person to understand that NPC Designer is not JB's NPC Generator (Don't laugh because I am quite serious). The 3 main sources of NPC Generation have tainted the market to a point where people have become blinded that there can be another way to do this.
One of the key things my users state about buying habits, they are not worried about something that they can do themselves but the end results is does it save them time and is it of a quality they can trust. PDF or Software does not matter, gaining that trust takes time and effort. Hellhound made a good comment which lends to this, people learn to trust a product line and therefore buy it.
Teaming up has helped RPGAttitude, we cannot say if it has helped UKG Publishing yet because we are not that far along in our combined efforts. They have d20 rules and we have a way for GM's to quickly insert them into their game. I think over time we will be able to gain some ground on marketting but also lend to the trust factor. For UKG Publishing, NPC Designer becomes more then a tool for their products it becomes a marketting engine not to mention their own designers now have a tool they can use to develop new material in shorter time with consistant solid results.

 

[Cathix]

The good news is that PDF sales continue to climb month-to-month if you are lookig at total sales at RPGnow. What makes this particularly impressive is this is happening even with successful competition in the market.

And at this point, has anyone seen an increase in POD sales? I can't judge yet because I have only one POD product, that's 5 weeks old. (out of 3 products total) We've sold twice as many pdf versions than POD, but I'm not complaining yet.

As an aside, we ordered a proof copy of the POD and holy cheez-whiz! Very nice print quality.

 

[HellHound]

Twice as many PDF as PoD?

Crazy!

Our peak products would sell 10% of the initial offering in PoD format for large releases. Smaller releases result in less PoD sales, in my experience.

On final count, well under 3% of our sales are PoD. Some months this is skewed by an interesting release or two, but typically, PDF is becoming more accepted and thus print seems to be a lot less important than it was two years ago.

 

[Cathix]

typically, PDF is becoming more accepted and thus print seems to be a lot less important than it was two years ago.

That may be true, but I still believe people enjoy a printed book that they can add to their collection. It just takes a higher standard of pdf-turned-printed book to get them to buy our offerings in POD form. I also believe that standard is being reached now more often.

Don't get me wrong - I'm thankful for the pdf market, and I believe the convenience and flexibility of pdf will keep that market going for a long time. If it weren't for the pdf rpg market there's no way I could have started a company on as little seed money as I did.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

If it weren't for the pdf rpg market there's no way I could have started a company on as little seed money as I did.

Amen!

 

[frobnic8]

A poster with a single post bumps a thread that's 2 and a half years old?

Odd.

Well, I've been accused of worse, but the topic seemed important to me. Though, if it makes you feel better, I've been working dilligently to get my post count up above 5.

 

[nittanytbone]

I wanted to resurrect this thread and inquire about sales now that 4E is out.

1) How are sales for OGL/D20 products these days?

2) Has anyone published anything for 4E under the GSL yet? How are sales?

Thanks!!

 

[Morrus]

2) Has anyone published anything for 4E under the GSL yet?

No. It's not October 1st yet.

 

[dmccoy1693]

1) How are sales for OGL/D20 products these days?

Last I heard, the few companies that were still putting out 3.5 material were doing reasonably well, but not excellent. Companies that stopped putting out 3.5 material altogether saw there sales plummet.

But that information is a little old.