Other ways of rpg publishing?

[komradebob]

Has anyone explored the idea of "publishing" a game as a magazine article/submission?

I think Ryan ( Guildofblades) mentioned the idea in another thread a while back, although I don't recall anyone else mentioning it.

A couple of things have got me thinking about it. For one, I've seen several games that are very short but have a lot going for them. Shadows and The Nighttime Animals Save the World both come to mind. Additionally, I have friends that work in childhood development/pre-school programs, and recently had a chance to poke around at some related publications while waiting for them to get off work. A couple of these magazines had "play pretend" activities that were very close to rp'ing, which is what got me thinking...

More broadly, besides the options of self-publishing or going corporate/selling off to a bigger roleplaying game publisher, what other options are out there that might be worth exploring?

( Incidently, I specified roleplaying game publisher in that last sentence for a reason: Has anyone tried getting interest from a non-rpg publisher for an rpg ever?)

[Seth M. Drebitko]

I tried to start up Indie Exposure a while back but it failed (for good reason) because I tried to launch the idea before I had any standing in the industry. The idea was that the writers of the games would get a small payment for their games as well as exposure for their other publishing endeavors. It would also work under the same idea for artists contributing art and in turn getting some money as well as an ad. I think overall it is a good idea and could take off well if enough intrest was generated. Any one who thinks they can take this idea and make it something cool and successful should as I think it could get allot of good small games the notice they need.
Regards, Seth

[komradebob]

Sorry to hear that didn't take off Seth.

My interest, I guess, though, is more in attempts to submit to publications not specifically geared to the rpg community.

[Josh Roby]

Bob, Exalted is already published like a magazine.  It just isn't explicitly published as such.

Additionally, one of the Star Wars RPGs (cause there's been, like, ten) used to run a magazine that had new worlds, races, adventures, and whatnot in each issue.  I don't know how successful it was.

Options besides (a) self-publishing and (b) having someone else publish you?  Not getting published, I suppose...  Unless you mean something very very narrow by 'self-publish' -- self-publishing also includes publishing via pdf or website, publishing in a group collective, and... I dunno, reading your RPG through a megaphone as you drive around Indianapolis.

[komradebob]

I think maybe my first post was a bit unclear.

Hypothetical:
You've put together a great, short rpg, 2-3 pages maybe. Maybe it's really focused, or maybe it's meant to be a one-off with very scenario specific rules. Anyway, it's good. You've tried it out with your pals. It seems to go over well, so you think: "Gee what can I do wirth this?"

A) Publish it myself.
It probably needs abit of expansion, though I suppose I could keep it short and issue it as a pdf, too.

B) Hawk it to a Big Naame RPG Company
Probably not their thing, but who knows. Maybe I can beat it into shape for use with their system.

C) Hawk it to a Non-RPG magazine that deals with a similar subject.
Hey: I just made Cryptid: The Disbelieving. Kinda short. I wonder who might like this? The Skeptical Enquirer? Omni? The Fortean Times?

I'm interested in any experiences that anyone has trying to explore option C.

If no one has tried that option, I'm curious why.

[guildofblades]

Well, here is another method for profitable publishing an RPG that had crossed my mine.

1) Give it away as a PDF download. As a part of the download, direct them to some sort of online community that supported the games and where they could get access to cool tools for the system (some free, some perhaps available for a small annual membership).

The idea being to commercialize the online site by way of selling the advertising inventory from the site.

As an experiment we gave away nearly 2 million copies of the free 15 page PDF of the Worlds of Heroes & Tyrants Epic Adventure Game between mid 2002 and now. This was mainly done to test the viability of free distribution methods online and partly to begin the slow process of spreading general root level aware of the brand name so we may follow up with it later with larger projects.

Anyway, if you gave away a good enough game, gave away enough copies of it and that game did a good job of pulling potentially interested players to a very involved online site and community, you could have the opportunity to sell a LOT of advertising online. Give away 5 million copies to eventually get maybe 50,000 participants in your community and depending on a few factors like advertising placements, ad reps, sell thru and total volume of ads generated by the online participation by the users, you could sell anyway from $500 to about $2,000,000 a year in ad revenues.

An RPG need not exist solely on paper to be profitable. Nor must the RPG itself be sold to make its distribution profitable.

Ryan S. Johnson
Guild of Blades Publishing Group
http://www.guildofblades.com
http://www.1483online.com

[David Artman]

Would it count as a Big RPG Publisher if, say, you published it as an article in Dragon or some-such?

And what about if, say, it was published in a periodical like a fanzine or even a periodical dedicated to new games and modules/settings? Perhaps you have a project idea, here: Put out a call for submissions and see if there is enough to warrant a monthly/quarterly mag of short games and useful stuff? Maybe five to ten shorties, one or two "ten-pagers," and perhaps a theory section/editorial?

The Forge Quarterly. Has a nice ring, no? :-)
David

[komradebob]

Would it count as a Big RPG Publisher if, say, you published it as an article in Dragon or some-such?

And what about if, say, it was published in a periodical like a fanzine or even a periodical dedicated to new games and modules/settings? Perhaps you have a project idea, here: Put out a call for submissions and see if there is enough to warrant a monthly/quarterly mag of short games and useful stuff? Maybe five to ten shorties, one or two "ten-pagers," and perhaps a theory section/editorial?

The Forge Quarterly. Has a nice ring, no? :-)
David

Didn't someone put out an anthology of short games not too long ago?

[Bardsandsages]

A) Publish it myself.
It probably needs abit of expansion, though I suppose I could keep it short and issue it as a pdf, too.

If it is a completely new system and you already have an idea of your target market, I'd suspect this is your best bet.

B) Hawk it to a Big Naame RPG Company
Probably not their thing, but who knows. Maybe I can beat it into shape for use with their system.

Probably get a better response from a smaller RPG company.  Most of the big boys do things in house.  But smaller publishers, particularly those already established in the PDF market, could be an option.

C) Hawk it to a Non-RPG magazine that deals with a similar subject.
Hey: I just made Cryptid: The Disbelieving. Kinda short. I wonder who might like this? The Skeptical Enquirer? Omni? The Fortean Times

Only a practical idea is the non-rpg magazine in question has a lot of gamers in its demographic.  We're a niche hobby, and the majority of people don't even understand what roleplaying is.  (I still get people who think I'm talking about "adult" games when I say I design roleplaying stuff.) 

[komradebob]

We're a niche hobby, and the majority of people don't even understand what roleplaying is.  (I still get people who think I'm talking about "adult" games when I say I design roleplaying stuff.) 

Yeah, but I wonder if that doesn't create its own feedback loop.

That, and the inability of anyone to actually claim the authority to define what "role-playing" is and put it into a box. Well, okay, they can claim that authority, but I doubt I'd recognize it as legitimate.

Incidently, is Games Magazine still being published? Does anyone know?

What about magazines that already have ideas for social activities as a type of article?

Why would a magazine need to have role-players as a big part of its target audience, as opposed to more broadly people who like games? Or group, low-key activities?