$$$$$$
Money Money Money Honey
Its a rich man's world
The biggest problem we had at TLG is money. Everything had to be shoestringed at first.
We all had day jobs (8-12 hours a day). None of us made enough money to spit at but we plied ahead, went without beer, food and other entertainments for a while and put together our first product.
And what I mean by money is not just getting a good publisher. Money buys time. The more money you have, the more time you can focus on the problem at hand. This equates to a good product. It also means you can buy good art, reliable printers, good programs, and maybe hire a designer or two, an editor, a layout person etc.
This gives you more time to spend with the core product - the information contained in a module - more time to playtest, to check layout, presentation, better ideas, bounce around thoughts etc.
The good news - this is surmountable.
Equal but placed second is a good product. (I put this second because without the first this is impossible) I don't think many people produce crap just to make money. I could be wrong. MOst people think they have a good product. I can not tell you what a good product is. I know what I like. I like some things other people don't like. I have products here that I use that were created by 3rd party publishers in the 70s and 80s that I still use ( and I wish they would produce again as they are all falling apart). But good product. And improvement through criticism. We took some hard knocks on several products and will correct those problems in future releases. This is the area all your energies should go (thankfully this summer two of us get to work full time at TLG - me and Steve - hoo dee doo - all product and product improvement)
The Good and Bad News - your product will make or break you
Getting into the distribution ring is the third biggest hurdle. Good luck. Conventions and meeting people. Especially GAMA.
The Good News and Bad News - Glut, dropping sales across the board, reluctance to pick up new producers, and mergers. But, Good products are alsways needed
Finding those people who like your products. This is through the internet and beating the ground. Word of mouth is the best advertiser in this business. There are people who will like your product. How many is always the question. And how many you can reach is another problem (I mean, look how many people bought beenie babies????)
The Good News and Bad News - Build and They will come, but how many
I hope that money thing did not go over as strong as it sounds on a second reading. A good product is a must, but I consider it a given. If you don't think its good I don't think you'd be considering publishing. Anyway.
The OGL and WOTC have proven to be the least problematic aspect of the business. The absolute least!! My printer gives me more headaches than the OGL and all our contact with WOTC has been pleasent, professional, etc. As have all contacts with other publishers of D20 material.
The Good News - it ain't goin' away
davis
trolling trol lord
) I'm curious about which aspect specifically presents the biggest challange. As I'm sure many people have, I toy with the idea of someday entering the elite ranks of D20 publishers and I'd like to know what some of the unexpected pitfalls are.
There should be a balance between good "flavor text" and solid rules. There are a few companies and authors who do an amazingly good job of striking this balance: Green Ronin and Chris Pramas, Monte Cook and Malhavoc Press, Mike Mearls, Matt Collville, FFG games (After Traps & Treachery... a great book plagued by classes that don't follow the basic rules for attack and saving throw advancement), etc. If more companies can do the same thing, then I'll be more willing to integrate their products into my campaigns.
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