Dust jackets on gamebooks?

[komradebob]

Sorry, I just had a weird random thought: I've never seen a hardcover game book sold with a dustjacket.
Does anyone have any examples of this being done?
What are the costs involved?
Would there be any cost advantage to doing this instead of another style of color cover?

[Andrew Morris]

Sorceror has a hardcover with dust jacket. No idea on the costs. You could call a couple of printers and get quotes.

[komradebob]

You could call a couple of printers and get quotes.

I'm not even close to that point yet, heh.

Ron:
What made you decide on a dustjacket for that, and what were the financial issues involved?

[matthijs]

Why are you considering a dust jacket? What do you see as the advantages?

(Me, I hate'em, they get torn or lost all the time).

[KeithBVaughn]

It's more traditional to have a dustjacket instead of a plain, clothbound book. It also seduces the potential buyer's eye and promises what lies within the covers. The problem I saw with it many years ago was the amount of handling a RPG book gets. Instead of one or two readings and then placed on the shelf as a pleasant memory, a RPG book is handled several times a week or month and the dust jacket soon gets torn. Even during casual inspection in a bookstore the cover can get ratty.

The current standard of a self jacket hardcover is a very usable/functional solution to a wear and tear problem inherent to RPG books.

Keith

[komradebob]

Why are you considering a dust jacket? What do you see as the advantages?

(Me, I hate'em, they get torn or lost all the time).

It's more traditional to have a dustjacket instead of a plain, clothbound book. It also seduces the potential buyer's eye and promises what lies within the covers.

Keith beat me to the answers. Incidently, I've destroyed plenty of dustjackets in my day as well. Although, In the particular case I'm thinking of using it for there probably wouldn't be as much heavy handling involved as with a traditional gamebook.

Honestly, mainstream books most commonly have dustjackets, gamebooks don't.

[Gordon C. Landis]

For the deal on Sorcerer's dust jacket, see Ron's post in this thread:

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=2546.07

Personally, I think this is a creative choice for the designer - what do you like?  But that's just an opinion,

Gordon

[Gordon C. Landis]

Oh, and for some more from Ron about the Sorcerer size/format, check out this thread:

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=2184.0

(sigh.  I miss that few-minutes editing of posted messages feature . . .)

Gordon

[KeithBVaughn]

Just a historical note. GDW did a hardcover with a dustjacket called: "The Traveller Book." It did rather well as I recall but GDW never did another book with a dustjacket.

Keith

[Rorimack]

A few reasons for duskjacket:

You've heard about Tenra Bansho ( http://www.tenra-rpg.com/ ).

As with every other Japanese  rulebooks, it is softcover and comes with a duskjacket.

But if you took the dustjacket, you could discover that on the back of it there is a B4 character sheet, ready for photocopying. To be honest, it took me a while to discover this, but I think this is a great idea.

Or you could do a Gamemaster's paravan: all the relevant info on the back side of the dustcover.

The only hidrance is that the book itself is too pinkish without the dust jacket.

And to cite another "Japanese" example: if you buy the Sengoku hardcover, it is an RPG book with samurai. If you took the dustjacket, it is a scholastic work on Japanese history ;)

So the dust jacket is a wonderful idea - and full of possibilites.

[Ron Edwards]

Well, I think that ...

Oh. Gordon hunted those threads down already.

Best,
Ron

[matthijs]

Hey, if you had a cardboard dustjacket, it could double as a GM screen...

[MatrixGamer]

I've thought about doing dust jackets on my books. There is a cost advantage.

Say I'm printing up a books and put a laminated color cover on it. This involves a bit of labor assembling the hardback case. Nothing glues to lamination so the cover sheets need to be run through the machine back to back and trimmed out. A plain paper cover on the other hand is easier. So for cost you end up with a plain blank covered book. Durable yes, but ugly as sin.

If I run a color sheet through my laminator and wrap it around the book as a dust cover (tape does stick to lamination and could hold the dust jacket in place) the books would look pretty on a store shelf and thus sell. After that sale the dust jacket is so much trash as far as I'm concerned - it has fullfilled it's mission.

Why would this be good? Sadly, though people love them, laminated book covers are not as durable as plain covers. So the ugly contents inside the dust cover are more durable to that long term use you mentioned.

Now a reason not to do this.

No one does it. Consumers will look at the book and be confused by the doo dad. "Is it a game book? It doesn't look like  game book." Which equals death - no sales. As mentioned above GDW never did it again. I know Frank Chadwick. He's an astute businessman. If he didn't do it again it either cost too much to do or it hurt sales.

Chris Engle
Hamster Press

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Chris, you wrote,

No one does it. Consumers will look at the book and be confused by the doo dad. "Is it a game book? It doesn't look like  game book." Which equals death - no sales.

Clearly you are not reading, or if reading, not thinking. Please review the sales history of Sorcerer and its current outstanding performance (which I never expected at this late date) in the three-tier system. Sorcerer is a small hardcover with a dust jacket.

Almost every "customers will ..." statement I have received from people who idealize the three-tier, retail-store model of game sales is flatly wrong.

Best,
Ron

[MatrixGamer]

Clearly you are not reading, or if reading, not thinking.

Ron, you understand that your statement says I'm illiterate or stupid? Why so blunt?

Now back to dust jackets. I'm not opposed to them. I've considered using them and may eventually do so. If one is thinking about selling in stores - which you have clearly stated is not your goal - then one much consider the message the packaging sends. Small changes can invite people in or turn them away. I'm certainly not certain a dustjacket would do that but it is worth considering.

I understand that your agenda is to call the existing distribution system stupid and obsolete. It may become so in the future - that remains to be seen. It is certainly not friendly to small companies but I suspect that some systems similar to it will continue if for no other reason that it acts as a information clearing house for game stores.

The three tiered distribution system has been with us since the Middle Ages and has endured through many a revolutions (printing, telecommincation, and now computer). The middlemen are information sellers as much as sellers of goods. They decide what passes the smell test. If most games don't it is not due to the quality of the game itself but more to the lack of business skill of the individuals involved. I suspect that this will remain important information for stores to know. Buying goods that are never deliverd is bad for any business - and this is something that amatuer business people do. So I respectfully disagree with the thesis of your agenda.

Sincerely Chris Engle
Hamster Press