Free PDF when you buy the print edition

[Tav_Behemoth]

I just saw that Gary and Goldleaf Games is offering a complimentary PDF of Code of Unaris to anyone who's purchased the print edition. Behemoth3's done the same with the Masters and Minions books -- there's a variable-printed code inside each book that you can use to register the book at http://www.behemoth3.com/community. We've also created overlap in the other direction - once you buy the PDF, you can apply its price towards the purchase of the print edition.

Here's some reasons that the free PDF if you own the print might be a good idea:

- The PDF adds value and utility to the book, making it more likely to see actual play and to build customer loyalty
- People who buy the book in stores may not be aware of PDFs before; introducing them to the concept helps grow the audience for out PDF-only releases
- Getting the PDF requires customers to make contact with the publisher somehow, so that end users can be reached through the three-tier system but then encouraged to make a direct connection to the publisher

The obvious disadvantage is that it eliminates the possibility of making a profit from the book twice (once by selling it as print, once as PDF).

Questions:
What other publishers are doing this?

If there are indeed people who will see the free PDF as making the product cooler & more valuable, what's the best way to market the idea to them?

Are there other advantages & disadvantages I didn't list? How important do you think these ads & disads are?

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

If the emails I receive from international customers are any indication, then at least some of them would actually prefer to waive the hard copy in favor of the PDF, due to shipping costs. If I were to follow the option being presented here (which as far as I can tell has little if any downside), then I'd make available the option to waive the book entirely.

Best,
Ron

[Tav_Behemoth]

Yes, the PDF of Masters and Minions can be bought separately ($7.50); you can then apply this price towards the print book ($15) if you like, or you can buy both at once.

From the press release at GamingReport that inspired this post, I know Code of Unaris is also available as a PDF-only and that the PDF is free to owners of the book; don't know if buying the PDF gives you a discount on the book.

[GaryTP]

Hi,

I made the PDF available because I've gotten over 40 international requests I haven't been able to fulfill with the print version. (Plus, Unaris is made for online play.)

I like your discount on the core book if you buy the PDF idea. I'll think about that and will initiate this weekend.

Gary

[Mike Holmes]

I think this is an awesome idea, as I actually (strangely, apparently) prefer to read things on screen. What this means is that you're offering me a superior primary product (the PDF) and a nice physical back-up. I think it's really the way to go.

Mike

[Tav_Behemoth]

Well, you might be in the minority, Mike, but I don't think it's that strange to prefer PDFs - you can cut and paste 'em, search the text, print as many copies as you need of just the pages you want -- plus the Masters and Minions PDFs are fully bookmarked (both in the table of contents and cross-referenced within the text), and each mention of a rules term is hyperlinked to its definition in the online SRD. So it has lots of advantages over the text.

Question is, what's the best way to get the message out to your PDF-preferring brethren? :)

[urbwar]

I know that John Wick is selling Enemy Gods in both print and pdf. If you buy the pdf, you can "upgrade" to the print version later on.  It costs the exact same if you buy the print version (which also allows you to get the pdf version for free).

Besides the fact the game sounded interesting, the fact that I could get both a printed and pdf version for one price (and a very decent one at that) made me purchase it before a few other books I wanted to get.

I think it's a great deal for those who do offer it to their customers.

[Nathan P.]

I plan to do just that with Timestream, for all the good reasons mentioned. I'm actually trying to accomadate as many reading styles as possible by offering:

-Low-res, printer-friendly PDF with high- and low-res character sheets
-High-res, screen-friendly PDF, comes with the low-res one as well and sheets
-Print version, comes with both PDFs and sheets
-Can discount either PDF "package" against the print version.

I personally don't see a downside.

[Tav_Behemoth]

Looks like RPGObjects has a similar offer as well!

[Mike Holmes]

Well, you might be in the minority, Mike, but I don't think it's that strange to prefer PDFs - you can cut and paste 'em, search the text, print as many copies as you need of just the pages you want -- plus the Masters and Minions PDFs are fully bookmarked (both in the table of contents and cross-referenced within the text), and each mention of a rules term is hyperlinked to its definition in the online SRD. So it has lots of advantages over the text.

That's the best. I actually prefer HTML to PDF, truth be told, given that I'm probably not going to print the damn thing (I think a print preview doesn't really read as well either in most cases). But if you include all of the features like this, then it's about the optimal product. At that point all I really have to complain about with the PDF format is the size of the document. Which is less of an issue daily. (My hotmail account just increased in capacity 125 fold, and ten times the transmit capacity).

Question is, what's the best way to get the message out to your PDF-preferring brethren? :)

Well, again, given that I feel all alone in this preference, I have no idea. What you want is people who spend all their time in front of a computer voluntarily. So... posting here is about as good as it gets, I'd think. Other computer RPG sites, as well, of course. Other than that, I have no idea. Sorry. :-)

Just trying to say that there are at least a few of us who really appreciate what you're doing. :-)

Mike

[Tav_Behemoth]

Yeah, we might go to HTML for future releases - or a package that has a print-format (non-hyperlinked) PDF and a set of HTML documents, or perhaps just access to those webpages. Doing the hyperlinks in InDesign is a pain and produces a sort of hybrid beast, half screen-useful and half print-formatted.

[Mike Holmes]

Yeah, we might go to HTML for future releases - or a package that has a print-format (non-hyperlinked) PDF and a set of HTML documents, or perhaps just access to those webpages. Doing the hyperlinks in InDesign is a pain and produces a sort of hybrid beast, half screen-useful and half print-formatted.

OK, now having all three formats, now that would be even more optimal (can something be more optimal than optimal?). :-)

One other advantage of HTML is that it copies and pastes more easily from a browser than PDFs to from a reader. For some reason on every system I've ever tried, copying from a PDF lags and is prone to all sorts of error.

Mike