Wanted: Indie Game Designer looking for partnership!

[Mystique]

First: The Introductions...
  My name is Mike Clifford, and I am president of a small, independent RPG publishing company, Mystique Enterprises.  We have released one D20 supplement (which continues to sell several copies a month despite a lack of current advertisement), and have 1 independent RPG in development (Sci-Fi Based).

Second: What I am looking for....
  I am looking for one or two indie game designers who wish to join forces in order to bring their game(s) to market, through PDF and/or printed format.  What I have is a passion for Role Playing Games that evoke imagination and expression.  What I don't have (because of family commitments and a FTJ) is the amount of 'sit down writing time' that I had earlier in my life.  

Third: The proposal....
  If you have a game that you are proud of, but have not had the resources or layout skills to bring it to market, perhaps we could work together to accomplish that task.  The terms of production would be based on a royalty agreement, with all rights reverting back to the indie creator in the even that things did not work out.

  If you are interested in discussing the possibility, please drop me an email at mclifford@mystiqueenterprises.com.

Sincerely,

Mike Clifford
Mystique Enterprises

[TonyLB]

Can you be more clear about what you offer an indie designer?  I get the impression that you're talking about doing layout, and maybe something else in terms of (as you say) "bringing the game to market."  But specifics would be helpful.

I can totally see somebody choosing to pay you a fixed fee for your services on that basis.  Sounds like valuable expertise.  I wouldn't, personally, pay you a per-book royalty, but maybe I'm just stingy.  Or maybe you offer much more than I'm seeing.

[greyorm]

Tony,

Also note that he is apparently asking for (unspecified) rights to the work to perform these services, not simply royalties (as "all rights revert back to the indie [sic] creator").

So, another question would be about the "rights" being purchased from a person as the creator by entering into this deal?

(Tangentially: one cannot be an "indie creator" and sell the rights to their work, or the "indie" label is disingenious).

[Mystique]

Tony/greyorm,

 Thank you for your questions, as well as prompting me to clearify my original note.  My goal is to license the rights one or two RPGs for publication (pdf and/or printed format.)  The 'rights' would be licensed, not purchased from the creator.  
 Why would someone be interested in such an agreement may be your next question(???)  I would imagine that many indie game designers cannot afford to publish their works due to the cost of artwork, printing, etc; The creator of the RPG would get full Development/Writing credit for their RPG, and as I mentioned before, the rights are being licensed, NOT purchased.

Thanks again.
Mike

[daMoose_Neo]

So... from this remark

I would imagine that many indie game designers cannot afford to publish their works due to the cost of artwork, printing, etc

in regards to why someone would take you up on this, am I to assume you'll front the costs on

- Artwork
- Layout
- Editing
- Publication
- Marketing
- Order handling
- Shipping
- and pay the developer for the right to do this?

Just inquiring. Does seem a touch odd to me, that you are going to go through that much trouble and money if you don't have the time to process your own creations as doing even this is a shipload of work.

As a side note, costly though it is, most of the folks I've seen make it to print have managed the PDF route fairly well, and where artwork is a concern I know of a number of artists around here who contribute work simply for the sake of the project or agree to do the work at a very affordable price.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

This is kind of tongue-in-cheek, but only kind of:

There are indie RPGs you always have the rights to publish. You can find a few of them at http://www.anvilwerks.com/. The Creative Commons license gives you full rights to use the works as long as they're attributed correctly, and changes are made available back to the community.

[Eero Tuovinen]

That's actually a pretty good idea, Clint. I'm quite sure that your games fulfill the expectations Mike has as far as quality is concerned. And the relationship vis-a-vis creator and publisher is extremely uncomplicated here, so Mike would have a great change at getting his publishing fever dealt with.

Actually, that's a so good idea that I'll have to remember the idea for when I myself am looking for something to publish next time. SoY surely fulfills my expectations, especially if the licence allows for derivative works (say, translations...).

[Clinton R. Nixon]

That's actually a pretty good idea, Clint. I'm quite sure that your games fulfill the expectations Mike has as far as quality is concerned. And the relationship vis-a-vis creator and publisher is extremely uncomplicated here, so Mike would have a great change at getting his publishing fever dealt with.

Actually, that's a so good idea that I'll have to remember the idea for when I myself am looking for something to publish next time. SoY surely fulfills my expectations, especially if the licence allows for derivative works (say, translations...).

Eero,

It does allow for derivative works, and someone's already doing a Swedish translation, I believe.

Best,
Clinton