Reprinting GURPS 4E books?

[ArchonShiva]

Originally Posted by Ronnke

Why does SJG not use Lulu.com as a PoD solution for out of print books?

I seem to recall prices were prohibitive.

[Ronnke]

Originally Posted by ArchonShiva

I seem to recall prices were prohibitive.

Far from. I had Lulu print a whole bunch of my GURPS Classic PDFs. I got them as B&W softcovers with full colour, glossy covers. The price worked out to around US$5.50 each + delivery. Obviously if SJG used Lulu they would need to make a profit to pay writers and such, so they would add their margin on top of the book cost. If they can sell a GURPS Classic PDF for $9.99 then I imagine they could sell the same book on Lulu for $14.99 -ish.

EDIT: Lightning Source are another PoD service and I think this is what RPGNow use for their PoD. I can't comment on those books as I've never used them.

[Ronnke]

These are some of my GURPS Classics prints from Lulu. Only one of the books shown in the picture was bought from the store, guess which one.

My Lulu prints of some GURPS Classic PDFs

The Answer

Spoiler:  

GURPS Swat was purchased from a store, the rest are Lulu prints.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Pretty much this. Our unofficial intelligence-gathering suggests that the biggest issue is the phenomenon of one gamer per group, usually the GM, buying a copy of the book, which then sits on the table for all to consult. This discourages sales of additional copies to that group. Digital supplements get shared illegally, we know, but we still sell more than one copy per group.

Also don't forget that there are really two kinds of people in this hobby: Those who GM and those who don't. And to a large extent, it's the GM who chooses the system.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by otghand

What I most want to see are electronic versions well formatted for tablets and e-readers, and very well indexed.

GURPS PDFs read fine on regular size 9.7 inch diagonal iPads, but not so well on the 7.9 inch diagonal iPad Minis. And really, it'd be nice to have some kind of reflow-based layout that was convenient to check on a current-size smartphone (such as the 4.7 inch diagonal iPhone 6). A natively reflow-based format, as opposed to PDF.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Ronnke

Far from. I had Lulu print a whole bunch of my GURPS Classic PDFs. I got them as B&W softcovers with full colour, glossy covers. The price worked out to around US$5.50 each + delivery. Obviously if SJG used Lulu they would need to make a profit to pay writers and such, so they would add their margin on top of the book cost. If they can sell a GURPS Classic PDF for $9.99 then I imagine they could sell the same book on Lulu for $14.99 -ish.

I have all the GURPS Classics I really want, I think (might be missing 1, but unlikely), but if not then $10 per volume would indeed be very attractive.

And a somewhat higher price for 4E products would also still be attractive. trans-Atlantic shipping would hugely add to the cost, though, so there really needs to be some analogous PoD service set up somewhere inside the EU, otherwise it'll only be attractive to a very narrow set of potential buyers.

[Prime Evil]

Originally Posted by Ronnke

These are some of my GURPS Classics prints from Lulu. Only one of the books shown in the picture was bought from the store, guess which one.

My Lulu prints of some GURPS Classic PDFs

The Answer

Spoiler:  

GURPS Swat was purchased from a store, the rest are Lulu prints.

Wow...they turned out very nice!

Roughly how much did it cost per book to have them done by Lulu? How does the binding stand up to use?

And what's the process to get them to produce them like that - I wasn't aware that you could use them as a print shop for your private documents. If you can get them bound professionally, that might be a better option than the local Kinkos...

[Ronnke]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

And a somewhat higher price for 4E products would also still be attractive. trans-Atlantic shipping would hugely add to the cost, though, so there really needs to be some analogous PoD service set up somewhere inside the EU, otherwise it'll only be attractive to a very narrow set of potential buyers.

Shipping is very affordable. I'm in Australia and shipping for one book is about $6:50 more books in the same order doesn't change the shipping much. My last order which was 8 books shipped for just under US$12.00. Express rates are obviously more.

[Ronnke]

Originally Posted by Prime Evil

Roughly how much did it cost per book to have them done by Lulu? How does the binding stand up to use?

And what's the process to get them to produce them like that - I wasn't aware that you could use them as a print shop for your private documents. If you can get them bound professionally, that might be a better option than the local Kinkos...

About US$5.50 for a GURPS Classic style book, US$19.50 for a hardcover like Ultra-Tech with B&W interior and US$54.50 for a full colour hardcover like Infinite Worlds.

There is a bit of messing around to do the covers, but the process is not too difficult, and Lulu has all the instructions easily available.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Kromm

The "attract new players" angle is a serious concern, and we're quite aware that having books in shops is the commonly accepted solution. However, it's evident that there are alternatives to be found in some mix of social media, blogging, and crowdfunding.

I sometimes fear that SJGames scared and scarred themselves badly by making their first plunge into Kickstarter a large, expensive, complex project. I have a number of very nice, full-colour, hardback RPG books on my shelves that I know only exist in that form because they could be run through Kickstarter (and there are more on the way). And I don't think that the systems or settings involved are all much more popular than GURPS, either.

I'm fairly sure that Kickstarter could get a fair number of new GURPS print books of one sort or another into existence, creating a bit of a buzz around the whole line in the process. And in the worst case, failure wouldn't be overly expensive. Not all kickstarts are Ogres.

Originally Posted by Kromm

It's just that those tools are so new relative to printed books and brick-and-mortar shops that the "best" approach hasn't surfaced yet. To be continued.

I also think it's a crying shame that a combination of the GURPS move to mostly PDF and the rise of Munchkin has effectively all but severed the link between the Men in Black program and the RPG line. The company has a full-scale field demonstration system, that's doing next to nothing for GURPS.

Oh well. I can claim responsibility for something that should get GURPS back into a bunch of shops, in physical form, later this year. I just need to get out there signing a few copies.