On Monday my Starter Adventures was featured on RPGNow's Deal of the Day. I submitted to be one of the Deals of the Day about two months ago and was just about ready to email them to see where I was on the cue and more to the point, to see if I was on the cue. I didn't send the email, because on Sunday I received an email telling me Starter Adventures would be Monday's Deal of the Day. Normally it sells for $7.99, but for the day it was priced at $4.
I did some light spamming on Google+. A few good folks reshared my post and helped me get the word out. Tenkar used his bullhorn to get the news out which always helps.
My Expectation: I wanted to sell 12 to 15 copies to consider a success and if I got 20 sales I would be extremely pleased. Well, I got 50 sales. Wow. Thanks to everyone who grabbed a copy.
One Detail Fixed: For some reason Starter Adventures was listed in the 5E category. I must have clicked the wrong category when I posted it. Then when I tried to change it, it wouldn't. But I see it is fixed now. Yeah! Before the sale I always received an email or two about how that stat blocks were not set up for 5E play.
Interesting Numbers: When I started the sale I there were 68 copies in wishlists and 9 in shopping carts. When the sale ended there were 74 copies in wishlists and 8 in shopping carts. So the sale did not seem to make a dent in those that already were interested. And to my surprise there were more. I would figure if you were interested trying something out when its 50% off.
Suggestions & Conclusion: If you have any products on RPGNow I highly recommend signing up for the Deal of the Day. Be patient because their waiting list is long. I waited two months. But in the end it is worth it. It costs a lot of promo points, but they well spent and WAY more effective than homepage impressions to get people to look at your work. If you plan on doing the Deal of the Day I would select one of your higher end products. Or a product you really like, but it never took off. I plan on doing Deal of the Day again. I'm not sure exactly what the promo will be for, but once I figure it out I'm spending some promo points and getting back in line.
Thanks: A huge thanks to those of you who helped spread the word, +Erik Tenkar, +Denis McCarthy, +Peter V. Dell'Orto, +Frank Turfler and I know I'm missing a couple more.
PDF
my pleasure as always Tim :)
ReplyDeleteI can proudly say I was responsible for a dozen of those copies ;)
ReplyDeleteI still want to see what happens if you publish a review of Technical Grappling. I'm in the "long tail" of one or two sales each month so any sales will be signal, not noise.
DeleteHappy to thump for what's good.
ReplyDeleteHappy to thump for what's good.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to keep in mind about the wish list section is that it does not always kick it out of the list if you have bought it. Periodically I scan my list and will find titles I have bought still sitting in the list. So it can be a little misleading.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Having that book to hand when I had someone choosing between GURPS and Basic Fantasy Role-Playing at the very last second was handy. He went GURPS, but I know if he went Basic I could be ready in a minute or two with a session-long and well-written adventure. Anything I can do to highlight good materials, I am happy to do.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations. It's good to know these sorts of things work.
ReplyDelete