Catalog Project

[philreed]

As some of you may already know I'm currently in the process of moving to a new house (which I love . . . 2,000 sq. ft. ranch house with pond) which has drained the money I had saved for the catalog (and my big TV and money I didn't even have).

As much as that upsets me it did force my brain to think of a PDF catalog. Not as useful as a printed catalog we could still make this valuable to contributors. If each of us included one of these catalogs with the zip file of our own PDFs the information would spread slowly. We could also post the catalog at various places.

Anyone interested in being part of such a catalog speak up here. I volunteer to take all of the art and ad text and design the entire catalog myself.

[Jonathan Walton]

Whoa, that's a sweet concept Phil.  Sorta like sharing ad banners, except better, because the people who got a copy of the catalog would be people who we know are interested in buying PDF games (because they would have just bought one).

So we do a new one/update every so often, adding new games and publishers?  I probably won't have a published game for another 3-4 months, but this is definitely something I can see participating in eventually.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Where do I send my updates/graphics/samples.etc.?

[clehrich]

Phil -- great idea!

Now I don't know if the following is at all possible, but you guys probably do.  Suppose you found a way to use this catalog to sell games via traditional shops?  So let's say you've got a game that costs $10 PDF, or $15 printed.  You agree to take only $10, and eat the shipping, if the game store will buy 50 copies.  You agree to take, say, $13, and eat the shipping, per copy the store buys individually or in small orders.  So the game store can carry your game if they like, or they can act as middleman for their regular customers, and make a very small profit for essentially no work.  If you tinker around with your own price schedule, you don't lose anything on the deal, and maybe make a small profit yourself; best of all, your game is getting "out there" to people who don't frequent on-line gaming forums, and the game shop guys are on your side.  If a game starts selling well locally, the game shop is going to buy the 50 copies for the bulk deal, and lots of games get sold.

[Edited to add:
I realize that right now Phil doesn't have the $$ to do this, but why should it be free anyway?  Phil could work out what it's going to cost to do the printing and preliminary distribution (i.e. to contributors, who then send it where and how they feel like), then divvy that up evenly so he doesn't pay out of his pocket.
]

I dunno -- could this work?

[Valamir]

I'd definitely be up for that.  I don't currently have a PDF product to include it with, but I'd be happy to post it up at my site for download.


Also, Colin Fredericks is putting together a CD of indie games and related stuff that is going to be distributed at GenCon.  I think The Wizard's Tower will have them for a nominal 5$ fee.  He might be interested in incuding a catalog in that.  His email is:  fredericks@valentgames.com

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Anyone interested in being part of such a catalog speak up here. I volunteer to take all of the art and ad text and design the entire catalog myself.

Now that is a fantastic idea. I'd like to be a part of such a thing, yes I would. Matey, arrr.

- Piratical J

[philreed]

All material for the catalog is due May 10th. You must send the following for each product that you want included in the catalog.

NAME
AUTHOR
PRICE
PAGE COUNT
PDF or PRINT (or, maybe, both . . . which will need multiple prices, obviously)
WEBSITE
RELATED PRODUCTS
TEXT DESCRIPTION 50-200 words.
COVER ART as 72 dpi jpeg at least 3" wide

Send each product in the body of an e-mail message, one product per e-mail. The only attachment should be your cover image.

The subject of the e-mail should follow the convention PDF CATALOG: NAME where NAME is the name of the product.

Send everything to philip@philipjreed.com.

Free products are welcome.

[Valamir]

I just sent mine off.  You might want to add "Publisher" to the list.  I included it in my email anyway.
Thanks

[quozl]

So, are you actually getting submissions?

People, if you want to do this, the deadline is only two days away.

[ThreeGee]

Hey Phil,

Does a game have to be for sale to be included? Will there be a chance to update listings in the future?

I ask because my game is not yet published, but the OGL'd demo is. The real deal will not be ready for a couple months, at least.

Thanks,
Grant

[philreed]

Only two people have taken part in this. I'll still be creating the catalog but it's going to be a lot smaller than it could have been.

Yes, you can include upcoming items.

[clehrich]

How "upcoming" counts?  I mean, a few months, a year, what?  I just ask because Shadows in the Fog 1st ed. won't be ready for around 6 months, or maybe a bit longer.  Depends on how other projects go, you know the deal.

[philreed]

How "upcoming" counts?  I mean, a few months, a year, what?  I just ask because Shadows in the Fog 1st ed. won't be ready for around 6 months, or maybe a bit longer.  Depends on how other projects go, you know the deal.

I'd say three to four months. "Summer"

[Emmett]

I may be a bit late, but I'd like to get in on future editions. I send an email and you tell me what I need to do.

[philreed]

I'm now putting the pieces together and will construct the catalog in the next few days. If you have not yet sent material (and only four of you have) please get it to me in the next 24 hours.

Thanks.