tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post2533521042813158051..comments2023-10-08T12:40:01.752-04:00Comments on In the Mind of a Mad Man!!!: The Brick & Mortar PDF Guarantee by Evil Hat and Rogue Games is a bad idea and here is why…LMPjr007http://www.blogger.com/profile/08789902828046077032noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-60950953133417071592010-05-25T20:59:21.357-04:002010-05-25T20:59:21.357-04:00@Steve: The email mailing list is the one of the B...@Steve: The email mailing list is the one of the BIG advantages I have found with RPGNow and DriveThruRPG. That kind of direct marketing is hard to beat. That is something I can not do with a retail store sale normally.LMPjr007https://www.blogger.com/profile/08789902828046077032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-31831031843772578642010-05-25T20:53:25.108-04:002010-05-25T20:53:25.108-04:00There is another point no one here is talking abou...There is another point no one here is talking about. Your helping to turn your retial customer into a potential direct customer or digital customer as these sales end up on your dirvethrurpg mailing list,<br /><br />"If its good they will hear about it" <br />Bull; Is Obsidian Twilight good? Is Neo-Exodus? well none of my players have ever heard about it. Why? because they dont' buy digital books, they go to the Flgs and buy it or they go to conventions and see it.<br /><br />Its a good idea so long as you you have not reached a market saturation point, which I don't thing either company has. And even then its good will, which can get you better placement in a companies store. <br /><br />Also i will point out LPJr design is not a huge direct sales company, you use One Book Shelf (you keep 65%), Paizo (you keep 75%) and Lulu.com (you keep 75% minus production cost), With retail you charge more and keep (44%). Those are your distributers.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09120212960358539072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-58764471221141545532010-05-25T15:29:59.346-04:002010-05-25T15:29:59.346-04:00I don't think it's a bad idea, I think it&...I don't think it's a bad idea, I think it's a different goal.<br /><br />The goal isn't sales, obviously, but rather instilling goodwill among retailers.<br /><br />It's my opinion that retailers are going the way of the dodo, and direct-to-consumer is the way to go, but the reality is that for right now, retailers are still a factor and I can see the logic of keeping them happy as they slide into irrelevance. :)<br /><br />-GarethGareth-Michael Skarkahttp://www.gmskarka.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-75793006897454451622010-05-25T15:15:00.354-04:002010-05-25T15:15:00.354-04:00Um, you totally misunderstand what we do at Rogue...Um, you totally misunderstand what we do at Rogue Games. The guarantee is not retailer only. Anyone can take part. If you bought one of our books via Amazon.com, all you need to do is show proof of purchase and you get the PDF for free. I deal with all, store owners, gamers, etc. <br /><br />In addition, Rogue Games is a publisher. We put no limit on the medium. We release original eBooks and print books.<br /><br />If you think PDFs are an after thought for us, nothing I will write will convince your otherwise.Richardhttp://www.rogue-games.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7306620386900409890.post-18492891454849408612010-05-25T13:52:44.912-04:002010-05-25T13:52:44.912-04:00Trust me: No one is laboring under the misaprehens...Trust me: No one is laboring under the misaprehension that there's big money in retail. Fred's gone out of his way to keep the EHP numbers transparent over at deadlyfredly.com and it's impossible not to notice that we see much less money per unit from a book in distribution than we do a direct sale (or even an indirect sale through someplace like IPR).<br /><br />(That said, it sounds like you're thinking the PDF guarantee is _only_ for people who buy through retailers. I maybe misunderstand, but that would be crazy, from our perspective)<br /><br />I'm afraid that, at least for EHP, you're looking at it upside down. We're _already_ successful with direct sales and connecting directly with our fans. It is from this position that we've reached out to retailers, not because we see it as some kind of treasure trove, but because we value the good brick and mortar stores a LOT, and we're willing to step up to partner with them because we like the outcome. <br /><br />The business math on it? Enh. We got some number of sales we wouldn't have gotten, certainly, but enough to offset the cut in profits? No real way to tell. And that would be a potential cause for stress if that was our priority.<br /><br />You're absolutely right that retailers need to change with the times, and you're similarly right that companies benefit from doing things themselves. But that doesn't mean that we need to position ourselves in opposition to the retailers to succeed.<br /><br /><br />-Rob D.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14216103531396452644noreply@blogger.com