A free game industry newsletter - Would you support it?

[bacon_x]

Hello There,

After viewing the thread about getting the word out about one's creations, I realized that there may be a way to gain free publicity for new and existing products. What if you had a freely available newsletter which contained press releases from game companies regardless of size? The publication would display the content in its unedited form (as is) and be accessible for download 24/7.

As of now, product promotion seems to be a hit or miss affair, with effectively isolated groups of creators and potential customers/enthusiasts searching blindly for something new and different.  

If you had a freely available outlet to promote your products such as this one, would you support it?

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

I'm not sure what you mean by "free." Free for people who are interested in buying the games, or free for people who are selling the games?

Best,
Ron

[bacon_x]

Free for people who are interested in selling the games and free for people who are interested in buying the games.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

I wish you'd elaborated that response a little. A newsletter or zine like you're describing is a hell of a lot of work, as I understand it.

As a publisher, I can send in whatever I'd like to be included? For free? And as a potential customer, I can get copies of this item? For free?

Who pays for the paper? For the effort? For the server, if it's internet-based? For postage and distribution, if it's not? And so on.

I guess my perception at this point is a lot like, "Hey guys! Free beer!" And I'd say, "Cool, but who paid for it?" "Nobody! It came from the Beer Fountain!" Beer, sadly, must come from somewhere.

Please explain in much more detail just what you have in mind. What is the item? How often does it appear? Who makes it? Where would one get it? And so on.

Best,
Ron

[bacon_x]

Hello Ron,

To answer your questions about the newsletter, there is no charge for companies to have their press releases posted, nor is there a charge to download it. This publication is freely available to everyone who is interested in game industry related news.

The name of the newsletter is Polyglot, and it is published online every two weeks by Polymancer Studios, Inc.. This newsletter publishes game company press releases unedited, whether it's from large companies or from independent game publishers. Polyglot is in PDF format that's suitable for printing.

For more information go to http://www.polymancerstudios.com/polyglot.

Have a look and tell me what you think.

[jdagna]

Just out of curiosity, why did you choose a PDF format for the newsletter?  

It seems like HTML would be a little easier to work with (you could even take submissions through CGI and avoid labor costs), and HTML is generally easier for people to find through searching.

I would also like to see a table of contents of some sort - if the newsletter were to grow to a dozen or so pages, I might not want to skim through everything just to find one or two items that would interest me.  A table of contents listing the headlines, products and/or companies would let me skip right to what I want.

Anyway, I'll certainly send you copies of my future press releases.

[axonrg]

I agree, HTML would be better but, if you're going to use HTML, why not simply have a blog or news portal with a RSS feed? That said, there are more than a few RPG news portals out there but a quality, well-supported news source that doesn't focus on d20 or a specific game system would be useful.

I also notice that your zine does not include a publication date on the title page. This would be handy to give each edition some context, especially if people make copies and rename the files.

[Polyman]

Hi all,

Allow me to wade in :) on this. Thank you bacon_x for showing such interest in our project.

We did think of an HTML format but after doing extensive market research amongst several local gaming clubs and gaming groups (over 400+ gamers) the results seemed to indicate that the majority preferred the PDF format (83%), but you do make an excellent point, I will consider it and possibly have my staff provide it in an HTML form as well. Many thanks I certainly do appreciate input from outside sources, and look forward to more. :)

The publication date of the online newsletter was an oversight and will be corrected in the next issue, much appreciated. We were rushing to print on the actual print magazine and it got overlooked.

Please feel free to contact us, if you see room for improvement, want to give an opinion, need help on something you think we can provide help on, or have a good idea.

_________

Chris
CEO Polymancer Studios Inc.