When your manuscript is too short

[Michael Hopcroft]

I came up with a manuscript for the Ghost Tamer Miyaki sourcebook for HeartQuest, and have run into two problems.

The first is that it's short -- about 25,000 words. When I added it up I was astonished at how small it was. That would come to only 42 pages (not counting art, tables of contents, indices and the like) under my current layout scheme. Clearly this is too short for a commercially viable release to the retail market.

The second, and perhaps more serious problem, is that the HeartQuest D20 manuscript will be following closely on its heels. That book will be taking up the bulk of my manufacturing, layout, artistic and promotional resources for the next three months. I don;t know if I'll have time to give poor Miyaki her due. The most significant question of all is whether any book that has only FUDGE rules for HeartQuest will be viable on the market from now on, or whether all future books will need at least some OGL material.

I did not anticipate this dilemma, and wonder what my best way to handle it is. In the end, it's my company and this is a decision only I can make. But it would be nice if I knew what the market was saying. I personally dislike the invisible hand of the marketplace, especially when it's squeezing my neck. But it's something I've learned to live with.

[xiombarg]

Contrary to recent discussions, I, personally, don't mind short sourcebooks at all.

Particularly as PDFs. What do you do when your manuscript is too small? Sell if as a PDF. Or, if you don't do that, make it cost less. So long as it's cheap, gamers aren't going to mind a shorter page count. Consider AEG's mini-adventures for d20.

[Jonathan Walton]

I agree that PDF is one good solution.

Another one: add some art, get it up to 48 pages, and release a little mini-supplement that's stapled, like the mini 48-pagers that SJGames has been releasing lately for $8-10.

You've got tons of options, Michael.  Don't feel like you're limited by the length of your work.  If it's done, it's done, and you shouldn't have to tack extra stuff on there.

Later.
Jonathan

[Paul Czege]

Yeah, what Jonathan said...put in some art and get it up to 48 pages. You might also ask Ron to describe his philosophy of back-of-the-book ad sharing with other like-minded indie designers.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the 48 page saddle-stitched book. Epics, Epiphany, Swashbuckler, and many early games like It Came from the Late, Late, Late Show are in this format. What makes you think what you've got is too short? It seems right in the ballpark to me.

Paul

[Matt Gwinn]

Looks like you have all kinds of options Michael.  Here are a few more:

Smaller Pages
Reduce the size of the book.  If you go down to half legal size (7" x 8.5") you will save on print costs and your artwork will go further.

Increase your margins
Bump up your margins a little.  Even an extra quarter inch on each side will eat up a lot of space.  However, if you go more than an inch and a half I suggest filling the margins with sidebars, charts and flavore text.

Bigger Font
increase your font size or use a heavier font.  This will eat up some extra space and make your text easier to read to boot.

Try not to do all three.

,Matt G.

[Adam]

Combine it with your core book, edit the whole thing again for consistency, contract some new art, revise the layout, and release the Revised Edition you want to do.

[Matt Gwinn]

Combine it with your core book, edit the whole thing again for consistency, contract some new art, revise the layout, and release the Revised Edition you want to do.

That is exactly what I am doing with Kayfabe.  I'm also offering the additional material as a cheep PDF for people that already own the original rules.

I should also note:  About my earlier suggestions...be sure to price accordingly.  

,Matt G.

[Le Joueur]

Let's not forget writing one or two more of these "too short" sourcebooks and printing them all in one volume.

But I have to ask, are you so married to the 'a book has to be a certain size' idea?  Is it because you feel that retailers or better yet distributors won't take and unusual book?  What kind of mentality are we talking that demands a certain size/word count/page count over all other possibilities (before we get carried away with listing them)?

Why is what you describe "too short?"  "Too short" for whom?  "Too short" for what purpose?  If your aesthetics are the measure, how could it come out "too short?"  Whose aesthetics are you using (and are you sure you should trust them)?

Just some thoughts to ponder.

Fang Langford

[Bankuei]

You can always add a "soapbox" essay into the supplement... I know Ron has included some very insightful ideas about roleplaying in all of his Sorcerer stuff, and Clinton including some great publishing advice in his Donjon game.  You can also add a good bibliography of anime and manga related to the theme(if you haven't already).

Chris

[Jeph]

Page count doesn't matter to me, it's the info count. I'd rather buy a 70 page book for $20 that's completely got everything that I need, than a 250 page book for 20$ that only has half of what I'm looking for. So as long as you get the point accross, go for it!

[Adam]

Page count doesn't matter to me, it's the info count. I'd rather buy a 70 page book for $20 that's completely got everything that I need, than a 250 page book for 20$ that only has half of what I'm looking for. So as long as you get the point accross, go for it!

Not to be pendantic - except, well, I am - books 'have' to be published in sets of [normally] 16 pages [although I believe some printers use 8/16/32, I've only worked with ones that use 16] called 'signatures.' So, in some cases, a book that may be "perfect" at 70 pages will have to be tweaked a little to be 80 pages.

Naturally, this may not apply if you're publishing on a small scale using local copy-shops and the like.