11-23-2018, 01:12 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Nov 2018
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
Rolling kickstarter-esque approach with final issues content based voting with your filthy lucre?
What gets published is what people want enough that it'll break even (at least). With a long enough hang-time on it, even the less popular content could get published when enough support is gathered..... |
11-26-2018, 07:20 AM | #12 | |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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11-26-2018, 08:33 AM | #13 |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
As one of many (though not very prolific) authors I concur with Kromm.
There are many issues where I never submitted anything because I could not come up with an idea. Had I been working on salary or otherwise obligated I could have come up with something. But it very likely would not have been as interesting as the times inspiration struck me. Far better to set an issue aside and wait to see someone else's inspired efforts.
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My GURPS publications GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits; GURPS Template Toolkit 4: Spirits; Pyramid articles. Buying them lets us know you want more! My GURPS fan contribution and blog: REFPLace GURPS Landing Page My List of GURPS You Tube videos (plus a few other useful items) My GURPS Wiki entries |
11-26-2018, 08:42 AM | #14 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
This is left unsaid too often in discussions of "Why doesn't [GAMING COMPANY] do [PROJECT] in [SPECIFIED MANNER]?" People seem to understand economic reasons, if only grudgingly at times, but not artistic ones. I've said it before: People I know of the same age as me with the same education and the same number of years of seniority at their posts earn two to three times what I'm paid . . . and I know I'm paid fairly well for the games business. Most of the attraction is working on what I find interesting; the salary simply isn't high enough to work on things I don't find interesting. For freelancers, the pay is even lower and the major and often only motivation is to have fun exercising their creative muscles.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
11-26-2018, 09:20 AM | #15 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
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2016: Lost about five grand ($5,000) 2017: Lost about twenty grand ($20,000) 2018: Thus far, on the way to the end of the year, I'm guessing $10,000 profit including both Dragon Heresy and Hall of Judgment. In terms of win/loss: Dungeon Grappling, my first book, was a clear win. It continues to sell, if slowly, and broke even on the Kickstarter. I've had to order mild POD reprints. I can't go into distribution on this one because POD cost is VERY high, and for a $15 book, it needs to be about $2.25 per book just to be self-sustaining. Lost Hall of Tyr, my second Kickstarter, wound up losing $1,000. Mostly that was a calculated risk: I invested $1,000 extra in a piece of amazing art from an artist with a very large following, with the expectation that 50 of his folks would come by and pledge, which would make up the risk, or more, which would be a return. That did not happen. Dragon Heresy, my third KS and vanity project. Probably cost me $35-40K all in, and I've made maybe half of that back. I do have something like 1,300 copies in my inventory, however, at both the warehouse and my home. At the expected distribution take for the book, if they all sell via distribution, I will bring Dragon Heresy to break-even. If they sell through Amazon, direct-to-retail, or through my store, it will be profitable. But that's likely years unless something happens to up the visibility of the core book. Hall of Judgment, my fourth project, was a smashing success. It cost relatively little to make, but roughly half (about $6.5K!) were printing and shipping costs, with shipping from overseas being the lion's share. Total revenue is on the order of $19-20K so far. So my return on this one has been good, but mostly goes "rearward" to pay for investment in Dragon Heresy. Looking *forward* rather than backwards, the GURPS/Dungeon Fantasy RPG community has been good to me and I intend to return the favor with more product. But you can see that other than my basic love for making games, I'd be utterly unable to do it at all save for a solid day job.
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My blog:Gaming Ballistic, LLC My Store: Gaming Ballistic on Shopify My Patreon: Gaming Ballistic on Patreon |
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12-01-2018, 02:57 AM | #16 |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Cidri (exact location withheld)
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
Bring it out as an electronic quarterly funded by an annual Kickstarter. Simple and I'd bet my GURPS collection there would be enough interest to get it funded. Reducing the volume to quarterly will hopefully solve some of the "lack of inspiration" problems.
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12-29-2018, 09:11 PM | #17 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: U.S.
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
Would some form of a moderated Patreon "-'zine" style site be feasible? The moderator could edit the work and so on, articles could be sorted by category, and each article would have a cost for access of a monthly cost for a whole category or the entire archive.
Authors would be paid a front end fee and a residual based on number of accesses.
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And all should cry, "Beware, beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice & close your eyes with holy dread for he on honeydew hath fed & drunk the milk of paradise" |
12-29-2018, 10:27 PM | #18 | |
Aluminated
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
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I've been making pointlessly shiny things, and I've got some gaming-related stuff as well as 3d printing designs. Buy my Warehouse 23 stuff, dammit! |
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01-04-2019, 05:08 PM | #19 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Orem, Utah, USA
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
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01-04-2019, 08:40 PM | #20 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: What would Pyramid Volume 4 look like?
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Also it might work as an effective test bed for new authors and content.
__________________
My GURPS publications GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits; GURPS Template Toolkit 4: Spirits; Pyramid articles. Buying them lets us know you want more! My GURPS fan contribution and blog: REFPLace GURPS Landing Page My List of GURPS You Tube videos (plus a few other useful items) My GURPS Wiki entries |
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