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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="knottyprof" data-source="post: 7659015" data-attributes="member: 6715607">As a tiny (one person) publisher/writer/artist I have been approached once by another free lance writer with some ideas he would be willing to create for my company and I knew there was no way I could afford him so I turned him down but thanked him for presenting the opportunity.  As with many other smaller and even successful companies (thanks Jeremy Smith on the reality check even for a company like Dreamscarred Press which is much more successful than my current run) I have to produce my own material, do my own editing, layout, and either rely on "cheap" stock art or make my own and work a full time "paying" job to make ends meet.I would like to know what qualifies as an "established" writer.  After all I have been publishing for over a year now, have over 20 PF products out now and my yearly sales last year were over a grand so my numbers are not huge but I do get sales (that and most of my products range between .99 and 3.49).  For me, it is more about getting my ideas out there in a professionally looking product.  I haven't done print yet, all PDF but I try to use the latest technologies (mainly Adobe) and all of my current products include the ability to turn off background layers to make it easier for people to print out.  I do have a full time job that pays really well, but my passion there is quite lacking compared to what I put into creating game product material.  Right now I just try to make enough to pay for the subscriptions I have for the software (Adobe CC, Microsoft Office 365) and pick up other publisher's material on DriveThruRPG.Also, in regards to the expectation that PDFs should be cheaper than print books I have a strong opinion (and not what you would think it would be as a publisher).  My hang up with pricing PDFs as much as actual print books is that the cost to produce such items is a lot less than a traditional book.  Sure there are costs for writers, art, editing, etc. but I know that a majority is in the actual production of the book itself.  If a publishing company can produce a hard cover book for $50 I know much of that is in the actual creation of the physical book.  For a PDF such costs are not incurred so as a consumer why should have to be charged for a cost that has essentially gone away.  I think Paizo gets that in that most of their core PDFs are much less than the actual physical product.  Also, from what I recall of my economics classes pricing is determined by supply and demand.  In this digital age, the supply of PDFs is infinite (there is no cost for production of individual files once the original one is created) so it is mainly a demand driven market.  If the demand is not there then no money is made.  Demand can be driven up by offering a cheaper pricing model, so a publisher has to determine what is the optimum price point based on demand.  Would you rather make $100 by selling a $1 product 100 times or $10 for selling a $10 product once.  And this would trickle down to paying freelance writers as well.  Just my two cents on the matter and how it relates to the original article.</blockquote>

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