Short-notice promotion

[Michael Hopcroft]

I am of two minds about my upcoming magic girl supplement Musical Mistresses for HeartQuest.

ON one hand, I hate to see a finished product sitting on the shelf. On the other, I am very much aware that some pre-release publicity is essential if a product is to be successfully launched, and aside from a teaser on my web page I haven;t been able to do any of that.

What can I do here, IYHO, to make the best of this situation on a book that was ready early but should still be ready to go on october 1st whether anybody knows about it or not?

[kevin671]

I think I'd want to have the book at least to the pubishing stage before I started hyping it at all.  It just looks better to have a product come out on time because you had all the bases covered before you started hyping it, especially if it's a wholly new game and system.  People are more likely to recieve it well if it comes out on time, or a little early.

[Clay]

Michael,

I'd see about at least getting some review copies out before shipping product.  Is a PDF preview edition available (something like a sample chapter)?  Getting some excitement going by presenting a sample chapter and letting existing customers (especially vocal, enthusiastic customers) know about it seems like a good start to getting the hype machine under motion.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Michael,

Let me see if I understand the question right - you will have the book in hand (or very near) on October 1st, but you haven't generated the publicity.

Is that right?

If so, then I suggest your first target is the distributors - get your ad/entry into the GQC immediately. Most retailers base their buying decisions based on their distributor catalogues, so you need to be in them.

One option is simply to delay the release of the book until that information is made available to the retailers through the channels they are used to. Another option is to move it to distributors normally, but get that GQC going, and when it's in the retailers' hands, then follow up on it through your supplier.

I made the mistake of not promoting The Sorcerer's Soul to the GQC last January (just slipped through the cracks), and even at GenCon, eight months later, retailers were coming up to the booth and saying, "Hey, you have another supplement!"

Best,
Ron

[Ron Edwards]

Whoops! I just went to the Seraphim Guard forum and realized that Musical Mistresses is a PDF product.

In that case, Michael, I don't see any problem. PDFs are way different from books; you make'em available and promote'em in whatever order you like. You're not facing a problem at all.

Start talking up the supplement here and at RPG.net or wherever else; use RPGNow's promotional devices if you want; etc. As an internet-heavy publisher, you should already have favored means of contacting potential customers (anime mailing lists, trading links at websites, etc, I imagine).

If your release is October 1st, then your timing is perfect for a nice solid wave of "Get ready for it!" promotion through those favored means.

Best,
Ron