OK, I've published, now how do I sell?

[Simon W]

I've published It's a Dog's Life (which I was hoping to get into the NPA, but I was a bit late - hopefully the NPA2) and it's available at RPGNOW.

I fully appreciate that the game will not have mass-market appeal.

However, I also realize that there are thousands (millions?) of fans of Watership Down, Duncton Wood, Kine and all the other non-anthropomorphic animal books. There are few published role-playing games about them though (try naming some).

So how do I reach them to sell it. Perhaps they are not role-players - but then this game might bring them into role-playing.

Or how do I sell it to more traditional role-players? Would your typical rpger brought up on D&D or Vampire be interested in this sort of thing? (I have my doubts).

Or am I barking up the wrong tree? (little prairie dog pun there).

Why is Bunnies & Burrows (FGU) the only published rpg on this type of subject? People do remember it fondly, but does/has anyone play(ed) it?

So what can I do?

Simon
http://www.geocities.com/dogs_life2003/

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

As I see it, the first step is to get a concrete goal in your mind about what "sells" means. How many sold = sells? When I first put Sorcerer up for sale, my answer was "any at all." If one copy sold, then fabulous. The "per unit time" factor was just left out.

Now. things have changed quite a bit and I have a definite "more than X by time Y" number in my mind when I sign a check to the printer. If "more than X" don't sell by time Y, then I think a little bit about what I've done, and only then move into a different sort of promotion.

Anyway, I'll start by assuming that you have such a goal in mind. There isn't any "good" goal, by the way - everyone has his or her own notion about when sales = this game sells.

So then, the second step is to consider what leads people to buy a role-playing game. And here's where my outlook takes a sharp left from quite a few publishers'. My recommendations are:

1. Demonstrate that people have a fun time playing the game.

2. Provide positive feedback to the people who contact you about their experiences playing the game.

These are obviously compatible and self-reinforcing, and together, they lead to ongoing sales, if the game does indeed facilitate fun play.

One nice thing about it is that you don't have to consider the first round of people to be your primary, ongoing target audience - instead, your primary target is the people they know, or who come across their accounts and interactions (e.g. on-line). That's tremendously different from the more common idea that you get a "fanbase" and then keep selling them more and different stuff. (You will, if the game is good and #1-2 are humming, indeed get a fanbase - but they are not your primary target audience.)

Another nice thing about it is that it's honest. People are really talking about their games, and if you really demonstrate that you're interested in those experiences and are willing to help with whatever confusions arise, then nothing but good stuff can come from the whole process.

Together, these provide yet another reason why Actual Play is the most important forum at the Forge. It can be a great place to promote, and not in the sense of flooding people's perceptions with Your Game, in the sense of banners, but in the sense of literally sharing fun, communication, and community as hobbyists.

So I recommend that you simply post about your game-play and enjoy it. Get any friends who played the game to post as well. It doesn't matter whether it's here, at RPG.net, in a LiveJournal (if it's well-trafficked), or wherever. The more straightforward, clear, and illuminating your posts and those of others, then the more interest people will have in the game and the more willing they'll be to buy the thing.

Best,
Ron

[Simon W]

Clear and sensible response Ron, thanks.

It's a Dog's Life has been well playtested, so I think I will have to put one or two of the sessions together for the Actual Play forum as you suggest.

Simon
http://www.geocities.com/dogs_life2003/

[semprebon]

Get some shill to post a review on RPGNet.

[chadu]

Get some shill to post a review on RPGNet.

Ah, but the unsolicited ones mean so much more!

Besides, some RPGNet denizens have become hyper-senistive about shilling, so much so that they miss clearly-labelled information.  Example:

http://www.rpg.net/forums/phorum/rf08/read.php?f=1724&i=1&t=1

Labelled clearly as a comped playtest review, the first responder to the review declaimed it as simply an ad, in a fairly rude manner.

CU

[Malcolm Craig]

Selling the product to the public is, as always, a tricky area. After sinking substantial sums of money into a/state, there was always the doubt that maybe, just maybe, it would be an absolutely flop, even with all our pre-release PR, previews and suchlike. However, we've been very pleasantly surprised by the response (going by our own sales figures and the sales figures from our fulfillment house).

I've found that the very best thing to do it to have an effective, personable presence on the net. Although this doesn't account for the bulk of our sales, it has helped and establishes a situation where people will be better disposed towards your product.

As Ron said (and I've been taking notes there for future reference!), actual play threads, no matter where they occur, are great. An a/state actual play thread on RPGnet has already gained us a few sales that we know about and hopefully a few more that we don't! Capturing the essence of the game and how enjoyable it is makes for great PR.

And, this thread has certainly pointed me towards a new game that I'd never heard about before, so I'll head on over to RPGnow to check it out!

Cheers
Malcolm[/quote]