Sourcebook, game and pricing

[Michael Hopcroft]

One of ym writers wants to reduce the bulk of his Magnum Opus project in response to guaridans of order's impending publucation of a "Stingy Gamer's Edition" of BESM d20. more sepcifically he wants to cut out the Anime d20 SRD rules material and do mostly a setting book.

His reasoning? That a 128-sourcebook that seels for $22 will have greater market penetration than a 256-page game (or at least as complete a game as any d20 book can be) that sells for $40.  I believe just the opposite -- that the complete, all-in-one-package-except-for-the-basics-of-d20 package will sell more copies (and it would be hardcover, which sells more copies than paperbacks) and generate more money per copy sold to boot. But I don't know that this is objectively true, and I don't knowe if I can conveince him of this until I do know. What is the general consensus in the industry on this question?

[LordSmerf]

Speaking entirely from my own soap box:  I rarely buy books for setting.  If i really am fascinated by the system or premise i'll pretty much pay as much as it takes to get a book.  If it's just a passing interest (the relatively recent BESM Tri-Stat paperback) i'm not willing to pay much for it since i'm really just gleaning ideas.

Now from an industry standpoint, i would say that if you are publishing a primarily-setting book (which takes less time and effort to produce) then selling it as a $30+ hardback is a bad idea.  a $15-20 paperback would go down better.

As to whether a book sells better if it's a system/setting book...?  I would assume yes, but i don't have any idea what the margin might be.

Thomas

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Thomas, you wrote,

Now from an industry standpoint, i would say that if you are publishing a primarily-setting book (which takes less time and effort to produce) then selling it as a $30+ hardback is a bad idea. a $15-20 paperback would go down better.

Several counter-examples have been published over the last two years, notably Nobilis, all of which scored very high in sales. Apparently high-end, heavy, hard-cover books ranging in price from $32-40 are perfectly viable product.

I'm sure several hidden variables are at work that need to be illuminated, and I can also name some rather pricey and beautiful books that tanked in the same time period, but at face value, the notion that a mondo-big coffee-table book automatically "won't sell" as well as a more typical $25 soft-cover is mistaken.

Best,
Ron

[Jack Aidley]

I, personally, only look at the price point if I'm buying PDFs. In my local gaming store, I just pick up the book(s) that interest me and pay him what he tells me they cost.

I have no idea whether that is typical of your target audience though, but I'd imagine the primary buyers of RPGs are big on disposable income.

[Lxndr]

Does a setting book really take "less time and effort to produce"?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Alexander,

From the point of view of a freelancer-wrangling publisher, the answer is yes. The effort is farmed out, and the time is what you're paying them to deliver within.

Typically, a freelancer is told, "Write me X,000 words about the history of the Guild wars," and he ponies up. That's pretty standard for many RPG companies. So yeah, from the publisher's point of view, a setting-book isn't much work compared to playtesting a system that's been pieced together from a variety of developers.

None of the above points apply to the one-person or few-person creator-owned company (with "creator" being "person who does the work," not just "person who had the initial idea").

Best,
Ron

[jdagna]

I have no idea whether that is typical of your target audience though, but I'd imagine the primary buyers of RPGs are big on disposable income.

This holds true in my experience both as a buyer and a seller.  Say 90% of the people who look at a book won't buy, regardless of price.  Of the 10% who are interested, very few care about price.

The question of Michael's that I can't address is whether big, pretty hardbacks do better than more traditional paperbacks in terms of getting more people interested.  I would be leery about assuming hard covers generate more sales.  A company that can afford to do a hard cover printing is somewhat more likely to be able to afford advertising and convention appearances as well.

Michael, I also have to ask: have you brought this question up to distributors who carry your products?  Because the bottom line is that you can't do a small run of hard backs and you can't sell a large run without the support of distribution.  ("can't" in this case meaning "I can't imagine how you could, but if you can, please let me know how.")

[HinterWelt]

Speaking from a "through distribution" point of view, hardcovers from small presses can expect approx. 25% more sales.

YMMV,
Bill