Tempering Expectations: Kinda Sorta a Timeline of My 1st Product

Lately there have been a lot of new folks getting into publishing their own thing, whether it is a zine, adventure or supplement.  What I've also seen, is the rumblings of disappointment in the sales.  I'm not an expert, but I have a few years under my belt with small press publications.  So everything I'm writing is from my experience and it may or may not pertain to you.

Everyone has their own idea of success.  Some measure success by a certain number of sales, others measure success by the amount of money they can put in their pocket and then there are those that feel that succeeded by getting their product published.  None of these ideas of success it wrong by any means.  They don't have to stand alone from one another, it can be a combo or two or more and other ideas of success combines. 

With more and more gaming material being released some of these folks are disappointed by the response.  While I can't tell you what is good and what is not so good I'll just share some of the experiences I've had.

My first product I published was Knowledge Illuminates (KI) back in February, 2011.  I'd been blogging for almost two years, getting to know the OSR community and I caught the self-publishing bug.  While I was very excited to release KI.  My expectations were low.  I thought if I could sell 25 copies it was a success and if on the outside chance I could sell 50, I'd be thrilled.  My friend +Rob Conley, who did the maps, proclaimed I'd sell a 100.  I covered my ears, "I can't hear you!"  I didn't want to get my hopes up that high.  I hadn't even sold 1 yet.

I released KI and immediately had to go back and edit it again.  My excitement to release the product made me jump the gun.  And I wrote a post about Why I Should Listen to My Wife. 

The sale jumped out of the gate very well.  I sold 37 copies in February.  Hell, KI was #1 on RPGNow for about 10 minutes, but it was there.  Within a couple of weeks I'd already hit my goal and then some.  The main reason why KI did well was:

• I had been around a couple of years and folks got to know me through my blog.  Got to know what I was about and were willing to give the adventure a chance.  
• The other reason was they did reviews.  I asked a bunch of folks if they would do a review and sent them a comp copy to do so.  This alone helped out tremendously.  
• And overall, the OSR was supportive and helpful, even when there was some controversy over the price I set.  I set it at $4.  My reasoning for that was, it was my wife's lucky number.  Who was I to deny the laws of the universe.  It got people talking and that helped.
• I did the best job I could do at the time.

In March I sold 15 copies.  The sales came in one or two.  By the end of the month they had dried up.  In April I didn't have any more sales until +James Maliszewski did a review and he was responsible for getting the 13 sales I had that month.  So in the first three months I had surpassed my expectation by selling 65 units.  Holy crap, maybe I did have a chance at a 100.

May 2011 - 4 sales

June 2011 - 3 sales

July 2011 - 1 sale

August, September, October 2011 - 0 sales

While the initial success was great, it tailed off very quickly.  My problem at the time was, I had no follow up product ready to go.  

Since I have been doing The Manor, follow-up releases are huge.  With each new release I get more sales from my older products.  I was doing the numbers for this month sales and 10 new folks picked up issue #1 of the Manor that was released 27 months ago.  On non-release months these tail sales add up and keep you motivated.

Because I kept at it, released new products, continued to blog and get involved with giveaway/contests/Kickstarters, to date Knowledge Illuminates has sold 416 copies.  WAY more than I ever thought it would sell.

No matter what your expectation is, the key to to keep publishing the best product you can do.  Publish what gets you excited.  And for god's sake, have fun with it.  If you can transfer your excitement, the fun you had with creating the process into a written form, you won't have to worry about sales.  They'll come your way, but just don't wait for them.  Move on to the next thing that is making you want to roll dice.

Publishing Struggles Sometimes Works Outs for the Better

Yesterday, I wrote about my struggles with getting approval from RPGNow, but that may be a good thing in the end.  While I am still struggling to find out what's wrong with my file, I don't understand the message they sent, and there have been a few very cool OSRians like +Joseph Bloch, +Rob Conley and +Pete Spahn have been helpful.

While the process is frustrating, RPGNow has always been fantastic to deal with and I've shot an email to Chuck, who apparently is the gatekeeper.

While I was frustrated, after looking it over...again...I found more small things I wanted to tweak.  A stat block shifted a few lines.  Another block cut off the last sentence in an entry and their are a few orphans I want to find homes.  Orphans are a single word of a sentence that has its own line.  So there is some cosmetic things I want to tweak and make it the best I can.  But its about as good as I can make it now so I need to get it out there or I'll start messing with it and screw it all up.

I write theses posts as I go through the publishing process to share with others.  I always enjoy reading these posts from others.  Because if I can get through this stuff it should be fairly easy for the rest of you.

Tonight I'll tweak the mistakes I found, shouldn't take too long and then get some assistance with the other problems.  It's a learning process.

Another Hiccup in the Process

I received a denial from RPGNow for Starter Adventures.  When I did it the first time, it was approved.  I made adjustments on the color of the cover and resubmitted it.  This time I was denied because the interior art was too low of resolution.  I hadn't changed anything in the interior.  Plus I'm not sure which image they are speaking about.  Here's the message:

Your product Starter Adventures (Softcover Color (Premium)) was rejected by LightningSource for the following reason:
Title Received - Contact CSR
B3 - 36 - Low resolution images in interior file
LOW RESOLUTION IMAGES IN INTERIOR FILE Lightning Source recommends images be 300 ppi.
B3 - 36 - Low resolution images in interior file

Not sure what that means, but I email Chuck to help me figure out what I need to do.  RPGNow customer service is top notch.  I've always had great luck with them.  I would just like to put this puppy to bed.  It's been a long wait.

For any of you out there in blogger land can speak RPGNow technicalese please let me know.  I thought it meant the image on page 36.  There's isn't an image on page 36.

Anyway, that happened.

Why I Publish (or Piggybacking Off of Dylan)

Yesterday, Dylan over at his Digital Orc blog posted Why Publish?.  An excellent post that goes into why he publishes and what he learned along the way.  If you haven't read it please do.  Mine can wait.  I warn you ahead a time, this is a bit of a ramble.

I can blame a lot of it on +Rob Conley for my gaming publishing bug.  I'd been tinkering in short fiction for years.  Rob and I used to get together on neutral territory and go over the writing we'd done for that week.  Fast forward a few years, Rob worked on a few projects with Goodman Games, I helped a bit.  It was the first time I saw where our ideas, from our game could come to life in print.

I published Knowledge Illuminates back on February 2011.  Hard to believe its only been three years.  Seems longer.  I hesitated putting it out there.  I was still a newb and for some reason I think there was some flame wars going on at the time.  No idea what it was about, didn't care either.  But after some discussion with friends Rob and Dwayne I released it and cringed.

I was hoping to sell 25 copies.  Thought that would be cool.  If I reached 25 then I'd do another.  Rob kept saying I'd sell 100.  I told him to give me whatever he was smoking so we could both enjoy the delusion.  I put it out there and a lot of cool people were very generous with their praise.  I surpassed my 25 in a short amount of time and before the year was out I'd sold 100 copies.  Hell, it hit #1 on RPGNow for a few moments.  It gulls me to say Rob was right.  What I learned from this was the amount of support I received.  To not worry about people liking it or not.  Just to trust yourself, make something you like and share it.

Then +Christian Walker...Mr. Walker...I know he'd been putting out zines for a long time.  Before I knew him.  My first experience was when he did 1 square = 5'.  I thought it was very cool, but it didn't trigger a light bulb.  Then he released Loviatar.  The sky opened and lightning struck.  Holy shit, I can do this.  I got a long armed stapler, a new printer and a crap load of card stock.

I can't draw a stick unless I photo copy a real one.  I needed art.  My budget for the zine was next to nothing, but I had a few coins rattling around.  +Jason Sholtis was someone I'd met and did the art for Rob's Scourge of the Demon Wolf, I asked him if he would be merciful on me and do the cover.  He did and drew me a incredible kickoff cover and then +Johnathan Bingham said he would do a picture.  And Mr. Walker himself helped me a great deal with finding my footing.  Again the support was fantastic.  It got a ton of reviews.  This one again showed me that people could get behind and get excited about something I did.  I received support from folks I didn't know.

By this time, I'd been out long enough that bad reviews started filtering in.  Bad reviews don't bother me, not everyone is going to like your product.  I appreciate the time they took to review it and hope they like the next one.  I think I only had one negative review where the person obviously hadn't read it and just complained about random things.  In those cases I just ignore it.  He didn't put much thought or time into his criticism so I just don't respond.  No need to.  And the great thing is most of the folks that have given me poor reviews I've spoken to and they are all good guys with honest opinions.  That is a good thing and some have bought follow up products and liked them. 

Most of those who read this blog know I'm very open with sales, costs, numbers.  I like sharing that hushed part of  the business.  Sometimes it gets to be a touchy subject about folks want to make a little money.  Ignore the nay sayers and booers.  I want to let people know it can be done.  Not that I'm the guy that will show them the way, but give them my experience and hope to see them release something. 

Lastly, the money itself.  I am a lousy accountant/record keeper other than the number I sell.  I know I spend more than I make on other gaming products.  And that's it, I mainly do this to get something I like out there, get the excitement of making a little cash for something I love doing and getting some extra scratch for all the cool stuff I want to buy.  Recently I've been saving a little more of my money off of projects so I can start paying my art dudes and dudettes a little more, pay people who contribute or help out.  I call it pizza money.  And the thing of it is most of them don't want any money, they just want a comp copy. 

The publishing thing doesn't happen in a vacuum.  I think nearly everyone needs the talents of others to get them to a good, completed product.  The OSR doesn't seem to have a limit of talented individuals.  I'm always fascinated by all the backgrounds and job skills people use to improve their gaming experience. 

I publish because I love to game.  To gather with friends and share something I put so much time and effort into along with the help of others.  I publish because it gets me revved up.  When I release a product I get adrenaline pumping and stay up late and painstakingly watch my email for orders.  I publish because I really need the creative outlet, and while I can do this in the privacy of my home there is a certain satisfaction you get when another person talks about it.  And I publish because, for me, the OSR is a community of folks who love sharing their ideas for a hobby they spend significant time (and money) on that invades nearly every part of their life. 

Putting a Jigsaw Puzzle Together in Water

Weird title. I like it. It was something I said to Ivy when we were talking about putting together a zine in MS Word. When I add one element into the mix the other parts disperse, and I have to spend time gathering them and putting them together...again.

 I'm not the most technologically up to date person. I never joined My Space when it mattered, don't tweet or Facebook. Not because I'm a curmudgeon, it just serves no purpose for me. This blog does what I like. Hell I even joined Google+ despite my initial urge to resist it. One of the things that irks me is when you have a perfectly functioning program (like Blogger) and they feel the need to fuck it up (like Blogger) because a 12 year-old had an idea during a wet dream. When I updated Skype recently it screwed up a lot.

Wait. I do have a point here. Somewhere. Oh, the jigsaw and water. I've recently DLed a trial version of MS Publisher. A program I last had in '95 I believe. I used it a lot back then. So I thought I would give it a try. Wow. Does it make putting together the zine much easier. I'm no longer in the kiddy pool, but over by the slide in the sandbox moving pieces around. One change does not make the other parts go bonkers.

I'm sure everyone out there knew this, but me.

 I did try the free programs out there, but didn't like them. I tried to do the newsletter in my fancy program, but didn't like it. Could never figure out the scale. Anyways, using MS Publisher should help cut down on my time producing my zine. I can spend more time coming up with ideas and polishing writing and pandering for artwork.

 It's my new toy to play with this weekend.

What Makes You Support an OSR Product...or Not?

I've been having a discussion with a few other OSR bloggers about the reasons why someone would support an OSR product or why they wouldn't.  Some of the factors that came up were:

• cost of the product
• saturation of the product
• quality of the product

Other factors, more personal, that come into play are:

• buyer's current financial situation
• like or dislike of the author
• personal interest in the product

I'm aware this is not a complete list, but base to use.  Besides I need to be to work a half hour so time is precious.

There are tons of OSR products out there and more and more folks are getting into the game.  Two of my personal favorites recently released were Weird Adventures by Trey Causey and Blasphemous Brewery of Pilz by Dylan Hartwell.  It should also come to no surprise I really like both of their blogs.  I can say that I bought Trey's because I've been getting samples of Weird Adventures on his blog for a while, I like the genre he selected and the art was fantastic, so my interest in his product was a done deal when it came out.  As for Dylan's adventure, he released his soon after he had a discussion on his blog whether to sell it or not.  I encouraged him to sell it.  Did I know much about it?  Nope.  I bought it purely because I wanted to see his style and what kind of adventure he would create.  I was not disappointed.

But there are a ton of other products which I can't list them all, but just off the top of my head, Micheal Curtis's Stonehell Dungeon and Dungeon Alphabet (Three Castles Award winner) and how could I forget Realms of Crawling Chaos.  I bought Stonehell in print because at the time I wanted to check out how a mega-dungeon was built.  Michael came at it from a fresh approach that I think is still one of the best ways to go.  The ever changing dungeon.  Dungeon Alphabet I wasn't all that interested in, but after the hype and chatter about it I got it on PDF.  I like it, but haven't used it for much.  Then the Realms Of Crawling Chaos, I bought on PDF and will buy in print in the future.  I really enjoyed this one and will definitely use it in the future.  I use Micheal's three products because most everyone knows them and the important thing, at least to the publishers, I bought all three.  I like supporting Micheal's products, because so far he is given me value for my money.  So when he releases his next product and I may not know many details, but because I have enjoyed his work in the past I'll probably get it.  The only real decision is whether get it in PDF or print.


One of my favorite OSR publishers is Expeditious Retreat.  Before I knew to much about them I bought A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe on PDF.  Than I immediately bought it in print.  Then I purchased several other items from Joseph Browning and crew, A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture in print, and one of my favorite bestiaries Malevolent and Benign which I lucked out and was able to purchase from the damaged bin with a few adventures.  Great stuff.  But his Sorcery & Super Science! has not interested me.  Again, not because I think its bad, just at this time I'm not interested in mixing genres like that for my games.  Hell when S3 came out and all the PCs were running around with laser guns I lost interest in the game.


Magazine wise we have Fight On!, the original OSR backed magazine.  Which I like, but if I only have enough for one magazine I prefer Knockspell overall.  And Christian's zine Loviatar is a favorite of mine.  But if I have money for both I usually buy both.  Because you really can't go wrong with any of them.  I know there are other magazines out there like Land of Nod and though I am a big fan of John Stater I haven't bought any of his magazines yet.  And this is due to I only have so much money to go around.  And those who saw my running total for 2011 it was long, but still I have only so much I can spend on gaming.  So for Land of Nod, which I still want, the only reason I haven't supported it was money.

Rob Conley had a great success with his Majestic Wilderlands.  I helped him out with a small portion of it.  He's been running the same campaign world forever and it shows in its depth.  I got a free copy because of my help, but also bought a couple of copies to give away to others, to help support him.  Rob and I have been friends for 20+ years and if he ever needs help with a project he knows he can always call on me and the reverse.  But, we dropped the ball on this one a bit.  Rob was giving me small segments to edit then would give me another small portion with some of the last portion that was the unedited version so our organization stank for that.  Then as time wore on I got a new job that required a ton of my time and the second half of the book shows that.  Because of this we changed our strategy, when he wrote Blackmarsh it was given to me as a complete manuscript, I did the edits and then we went over it together.  Then we sent it out to test readers to catch things both of us had missed.  Again, I bought two print copies to give away to support him.

I can't go through every product out there or the reasons why I buy or don't buy a product.  I think my two main reasons why I buy is does the product fit my interest and do I have the mula.  Why I don't buy a product, I admit that if I am not a fan of the person I am less likely to buy it.  This rarely is the case, but it does happen.  And the other reason why I don't buy a product is mainly there are so many to choose from and that you just have to pick.  Doesn't mean the others aren't fantastic, but choices need to be made.  We only have so much money and time.  And real life demands its share.  Just like now.  I have to go to work.

So if you get a chance let me know what influences you to buy or not to buy a gaming product. 

Do Adventure Game Systems Matter?

To me they do.  Since I am running a AD&D campaign right now I doubt I would buy a 4E module or 3.5 adventure to use.  Too much conversion.  But what about the retro clones and I am speaking mainly of the big three, Swords & Wizardry, OSRIC and Labyrinth Lords.  When someone puts out an adventure of Labyrinth Lords, but you're play OSRIC does that matter? 

Here is why I am asking.  I've been working on some side projects and I am currently stating them for S&W.  It would be very easy for me to release the same product for the other two systems.  I'm just curious how much of a difference this makes to people out there.

Expectations of a Small-Time Publisher

There has been some interesting conversations going on about Professionals vs. Hobbyists and I guess like me, most of us are both.  Some may sway toward one end or the other, but if you have put something out there selling, you are a professional.  My definition of a professional is you get paid for what you do.  Quality doesn't factor in.  I am sure you don't need any examples of books or movies where the person got paid a boatload of cash and the product completely sucks. 

Being a one of many in the crowd of small-time publishers I try to be as professional as I can.  None of the products I produce will be flawless, but I try to get them as close as I can.  I just had someone the other day point out a typo I missed.  Much appreciated.  Those damn things seem to spontaneously spawn.  If someone dislikes my product for whatever reason, I just hope they will stick around and see if they like the next one.  And then there are those times when you have someone hate what you've done, but have no real basis, other than personal or they just enjoy being a dick.  Those I won't waste my time on.  You let them have their say then forget them and move on to something more important. 

Then there is the matter of money.  I've been open about the profit margin on my products, how many I've sold and how much I made so far.  It's still listed above.  I can do this because I'm a one man show so far, but if I was producing more and had a few people on staff I would still be open about certain things, but be more private about others.  But the point I what to get to is charging for what you've done.  Some will say there is so much free stuff out there why pay for it?  And the answer is you don't.  There is a lot of great quality free stuff.  Part of what makes the OSR great.  But the other great part of the OSR is being able to self-publish and make some extra change.  I doubt many will get rich, but some people are making some serious mad money.  The public will decide whether your product is worth purchasing.  It's not like we don't have any shortage of people with opinions around here.

When Knowledge Illuminates came out I was hoping to sell 25 to 35 copies.  I kept my expectation low partly because it was the first thing I put out there and it was pretty much a one man show.  I think with my $1 sale, I've reach 90 paid sales.  I'm thrilled with that.  It was fun and a learning experience.  With Starter Adventure I am hoping to sell a 100 copies print/pdf.  To me that's scary high because it needs to sell word of mouth.  I have no distributor and don't have time to sell them by hand.  With assistance of Underworld Ink for the art and the maps by Bat in Attic I hope to produce a good quality book that people will have fun with.  I really won't know until I get it out there.

But to all of you out there that has no taken the plunge and have something they may want to publish I say take a look at it again, have you made it as good as you can at this time, if so publish it and don't be afraid to make some money.  Even if you only sell a handful enjoy the pizza you buy.  If you sell a 1000 then go ahead and plan the trip to Tahiti.  It's all good.  This is a game we are talking about.  Not a necessity.  Have fun with it and if done right others will have fun with it to.

Unfortunately I haven't had time to edit this post, the dogs are biting at my jacket and I am late to work.  Game night tonight here at the Manor and I'm looking forward to rolling some dice. And as I mention, once the guys finish the adventure I'll put it up as a free download.  It's Monday, it's raining and I would wish you to have a good day, but I doubt it.  Ha.

Hand Drawn Map

I leave the professional map making to Rob.  But when I do them on my own I hand draw the map then add the text in Paint or some other program.  And for the building itself I did a little work in paint.  This is the medium map.  There is an overview map and of course a more detailed map of the inside.  The overview shows the three main areas where a series on three one-shot adventures take place.  This is the map for the second one.  The first one, Mine of Rot & Disease, this one is called Ambrose Abbey and the third is yet unnamed.  Mine of Rot and Disease was going to be my first release before Knowledge Illuminates, but I opted for the latter.  The cool thing about this module is Whisk did some artwork for it so I am looking forward to getting it ready for publication. 

The Business of Gaming

Still being a complete newb to publishing my own stuff I am always on the look out for others who are doing it. Not just talking about the product, advertising, but the business involved also. The troubles, successes and the strategies used to keep a business afloat.

Then this morning I see Satyre of the Fame & Fortune blog (if you need some interesting inns & taverns this is the place to go) published a post about how Adamant Publishing tried an experiment of lowering its prices to get more business.

Gareth-Michael Skarka gives an honest, in-depth perspective of his struggles as a publisher.  If your interested at all in this kind of subject its interesting to see the maker of ICONS and Thrilling Tales, both titles seem to be battling for top spots at RPGNow is not doing well.  Anyway, thought it was interesting and pass it along. 

Expectations

Most of you who stop by my little corner of the world know I recently published an adventure called Knowledge Illuminates.  I plan on just yapping about the process that I've gone through.  Those of you that are already deep into the process will find most of this old tread. 

RPGNow is the place I am selling my adventure and they have a ton of tools available to help advertise your product.  I can't say enough good things about them.  To get a publisher account it's as easy as letting them know you would like one.  Then you have to decide if you went to sell exclusively through them, in which case you earn 70% of the price you choose.  Or you can sign a non-exclusive agreement so you can sell other places, this contract will earn you 65% of the listed price.  Even though I am offering my adventure only on RPGNow, I like to have options so I signed the non-exclusive contract.

Setting a price point was difficult.  I discussed this with Rob (Bat in the Attic) and my wife (The Happy Whisk) to settle on a price that I thought would be fair.  Both Rob and my wife told me not to undercut myself.  So figured a $2 profit margin on each sale would be a good point.  With a $4 price point and with the non-exclusive contract of 65% I earn $2.60 per sale.  It's interesting to hear different opinions, but in the end I have to make the final decision.  I think it is a good starting point.  Whether it is correct I will see.  And what will make it correct or not is my expectations of what I consider a success.

I have no delusions of making a ton of money.  I'll be happy to earn a little money to supplement my own gaming purchases.  My expectation for Knowledge Illuminates is to sell 10 copies this weekend and 25 copies overall.  Low expectations?  Maybe.  But, to me, selling 25 copies would be a success.  I'm good with that.  Rob thinks I'll sell 100. 

As of the writing of this blog I've sold 12 copies and 8 comp copies were downloaded for a whopping profit of $31.20.  Friday when I first released it Ivy went to the store and bought two bags of chips when she got back I had sold two copies and told her she already blew my profit margin with those chips.

I plan to publish a few other products before the end of March (and I won't sell them until the wife says they are golden).  Future releases will be a rerelease of Starter Adventures.  I'm going to fix all the typos, add some maps, add a few scenarios and offer it for free on RPGNow.  I checked the other day and Starter Adventures has been downloaded 608 times.  Holy crap on a cracker Batman.  I never thought it would get that many.  The other two will be another addition in the One-Shot Adventure Series and an ecology manual for Harpies.  I am figuring on charging $4 for the other adventure and $1 for the Harpy manual.  Not set in stone, but things I am considering.

Have a great Sunday.  No football, but I am sure a ton of you are glad of that.  I am heading to the bookstore armed with a 40% coupon hoping to bring down Pathfinders Bestiary 2.  It's a huge beast, but I think I can take it.  I just hope I don't have to roll or I am doomed. 

Interview with Bob Liddil : Part 1

I discovered Bob about 20 years ago when I bought Apothecary on the Street of Dreams. It's been a pleasure to learn about his history with gaming and his trials of publishing. Here is Part 1 of the interview with Bob. I hope you enjoy.

SHORTS: Everyone has an initiation or discovery story about how they got into gaming. How did you discover gaming?

LIDDIL: It literally happened on a “dark and stormy night” back in 1977 or so. My friend Jack Powers invited me over to his house for a “snow storm and popcorn party.” I was one of a party of 6 players he introduced to this neat new game called “Tunnels and Trolls.” It was the most fun I’d had in a really long time and it was a great intellectual exercise as well. That night, more than two feet of snow fell on Southeastern Ohio, paralyzing the roads, so basically we slaughtered Orcs until 3AM and then crashed on whatever furniture we could find.

At that point, having spent the entire night trying to keep Damian The Dangerous alive in the roadways and dungeons of “The World” I was totally hooked. Together, we wrote a classic fantasy adventure story, albeit orally, and for me, as an already budding writer, that was just the coolest thing ever.

Next morning, we were awakened by a car crashing into the side of Jack’s house that took out part of the back porch and kitchen. It skidded on the snow and came right into the building. Ironically, Damian had gotten himself trapped on a runaway wagon in the game the night before and almost got his 3x5 card torn in half. He and I both lived in perilous times


SHORTS: Independent publishing is prevalent in the gaming industry now, but back when you published “Griswald Grimm's Little Shop of Poisons and Potions” in 1988 what obstacles did you need to overcome?

LIDDIL:In the very beginning when Dimensions and Doors, Castles and Kingdoms and Demons and Notmen, my first three were published, only two kinds of typesetting existed. Professional typesetting was messy, expensive and cumbersome. Or one could use an IBM Selectric for the different type fonts of the day.

By the time LSPP came out, personal computer typesetting was coming of age and I was learning how to use PageMaker. Probably the biggest obstacle on the first book was just the physical process of assembling the book. To save money, Dallas Nillsen, my partner in Pandora’s Treasures, threw a “collating party” at her house in Logan, Utah. Once collated, the print shop wire bound them and they were ready to go. It really wasn’t much of a hassle for me, because she handled everything other than the actual typography and writing.

In the late 80’s the single most difficult obstacle to overcome had to be the cost of printing. Analog printing is inefficient on “short runs” and not cost effective at all. The cost of a single unit in a 1000 unit run was typically more than $5 per book. Since the wholesale price to a distributor typically seldom exceeded $6.00 the profit margin was usually a wash.

Only selling the book at retail at conventions allowed me to sell it at all. Distributors seldom bought more than 25 at a time so I would say that getting the finished product into the hands of the gamer was my biggest obstacle, that and the fact that Dragon Magazine wouldn’t let me advertise because of the title. TSR were in deep conflict with the Christian Right at the time and the words “Poisons and Potions” were so inflammatory that the book was actually banned by the Wizards of the North!

Coming up with the formulas was easy. I am a very irreverent game master and a great believer in “look before you touch.” I play tested the poisons and potions at a game convention in Salt Lake City in an “ancient apothecary dungeon” and killed virtually every gamer in attendance. The days of drink anything and watch what happens pretty much ended that weekend for those kids.

It still makes me laugh to remember that 13 hour-long game during which I must have signed five dozen “Certificates of Death,” a product of mine in the late 1980's.


SHORTS: Your products from 20 years ago reflect a lot of what's going on in gaming today, being self-published and system neutral supplements. What was the response then to your books being system neutral?

LIDDIL: System neutrality was a necessity during the decades of the 70’s thru 90’s. Gary Gygax and TSR would sue you where you stood for merely mentioning D&D compatibility specifically, where Rick Loomis encouraged T&T fans to “do their thing,” and Steve Jackson was cool as ice every time someone mentioned GURPS.

I always believed that the heart of role-playing was in the storytelling. That’s where my emphasis pointed. Also, having been introduced to T&T prior to D&D, I acquired that sort of “anti-establishment” rebellion attitude right off the bat.

System neutrality the way I published, with no real rule set and compatible with every single rule set was a scarcity. Most Kitchen Table Publishers of my era were broke, stayed broke or went broke.

Lou Zocchi and Gamescience were the obvious exception, and Steve Jackson as well.

You can find more information in Part 2 of the interview soon, but if you just can't wait head over to Digitropolis where Bob makes his home on the web.