Are there plans to release in book form?

deanjday · 05-04-2021, 11:06 AM

Are there any plans to release in book form collections of such pdfs as the power up series or social engineering series any time soon?

Or in fact any of the great pdf books that take the system forward or add to it such as the realm management pdf product? I guess I am asking what are the future print plans over the next year or so.

I myself vastly prefer using a product in print form. I know GURPS has become a much more pdf system for new supplements (not including all the great reprints available for amazon). But what are the candidates for print production in the future (if any) due to successful sales of the pdf version?

Þorkell · 05-04-2021, 06:04 PM

I find it highly unlikely because it'd probably be more work than can be justified.

Let's suppose that they wanted to do that with a pdf series such as Action. There are 7 pdfs in the series and in order to put them in a (physical) book they'd have to make sure all internal references lined up. Also to make it worthwhile economically they'd have to be sure that goofballs such as myself who have already bought the pdfs would be willing and able to buy the product once it hits paper (and just to be clear, I'm not willing. The pdfs are plenty fine enough).

Pretty sure there are other factors as well. Those are just the two that came to mind first.

Anaraxes · 05-04-2021, 06:25 PM

It would be a fair amount of editing and possibly more layout work if they're going to do anything more than just glue all the PDFs between a common cover.

It's perhaps worth mentioning that SJG grants players the right to print a copy of your PDFs for personal use. You can make your own hardcopy book -- or just put all the Action PDFs in a common cover, if you want them collected. The forum has some past threads on services and various projects people have done. Make your own decisions as to color, binding, soft- or hardcover, and how much you want to pay.

My understanding is that only gets cheaper for SJG to print and sell the book than just doing one-off Print on Demand when they can order around 10,000 copies, which means selling about 10,000 copies. And that's not easy.

I think Douglas Cole has also posted a few times about the economics of publishing some of the supplements he's done, which also give some insight into the process. Might be on the Gaming Ballistic site instead of here, though.

05-04-2021, 11:06 AM	#1
deanjday Join Date: Jan 2021	Are there plans to release in book form? Are there any plans to release in book form collections of such pdfs as the power up series or social engineering series any time soon? Or in fact any of the great pdf books that take the system forward or add to it such as the realm management pdf product? I guess I am asking what are the future print plans over the next year or so. I myself vastly prefer using a product in print form. I know GURPS has become a much more pdf system for new supplements (not including all the great reprints available for amazon). But what are the candidates for print production in the future (if any) due to successful sales of the pdf version?

05-04-2021, 06:04 PM	#2
Þorkell Icelandic - Approach With Caution Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Reykjavík, Iceland	Re: Are there plans to release in book form? I find it highly unlikely because it'd probably be more work than can be justified. Let's suppose that they wanted to do that with a pdf series such as Action. There are 7 pdfs in the series and in order to put them in a (physical) book they'd have to make sure all internal references lined up. Also to make it worthwhile economically they'd have to be sure that goofballs such as myself who have already bought the pdfs would be willing and able to buy the product once it hits paper (and just to be clear, I'm not willing. The pdfs are plenty fine enough). Pretty sure there are other factors as well. Those are just the two that came to mind first. __________________ Þorkell Sigvaldason Viking kittens \| My photos \| More of my photos

05-04-2021, 06:25 PM	#3
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Are there plans to release in book form? It would be a fair amount of editing and possibly more layout work if they're going to do anything more than just glue all the PDFs between a common cover. It's perhaps worth mentioning that SJG grants players the right to print a copy of your PDFs for personal use. You can make your own hardcopy book -- or just put all the Action PDFs in a common cover, if you want them collected. The forum has some past threads on services and various projects people have done. Make your own decisions as to color, binding, soft- or hardcover, and how much you want to pay. My understanding is that only gets cheaper for SJG to print and sell the book than just doing one-off Print on Demand when they can order around 10,000 copies, which means selling about 10,000 copies. And that's not easy. I think Douglas Cole has also posted a few times about the economics of publishing some of the supplements he's done, which also give some insight into the process. Might be on the Gaming Ballistic site instead of here, though.