PDF publishing

[Gold Rush Games]

You apply you production costs to the print version but not to the PDF version.

  Doh! So I did.

If we look at POD sales then the primary advantage is the ability to do micro runs. However, the RPG distribution network is poorly set up for this (i.e. a poor preorder system) thus requiring a certain level of guess work in having a supply on hand for order fulfillment.

  Even if that were the case, I would rather deal with such guess work in terms of a dozen or so units than 1,000 or 2,000.

  And if someone feels a serious need to keep 500+ units on hand then they shouldn't be printing via POD anyway but via a traditional print run. ;)

The thing to remember is compare apples to apples.

  I'm not the one who started comparing PDF sales to printed book sales. :P

[HinterWelt]

Sorry, what I meant with the apples to apples statement was that if you did not include editing, art, etc. then you would not have the same product.

As for POD, yes, it is lower risk but it is still not the panacea that many make it out to be. The way the industry is geared you can do POD but it is not JIT production like it should be since a number of cogs in the distribution process are obsolete. If you sell direct then that is a different story since you are most likely running at different volumes then if you sold through distribution.

All I mean is to watch broad generalizations appled to different production methods and qualities.

Bill

[Gold Rush Games]

As for POD, yes, it is lower risk but it is still not the panacea that many make it out to be.

  I'm not claiming it's a panacea. Far from it. But as a low-cost, low risk entry point into the distribution chain it's a great boon to many small publishers. I'm going to try to illustrate that with our new Eureka! Publishing & Distribution program, too. ;)

[Gold Rush Games]

Just FYI, we're rolling out the Eureka! distribution and POD printing services and we already have a few clients. Obviously we'd love to see more. ;)

  If anyone would like additional info about Eureka! I invite them to visit the web site and contact me with any questions.

  This is going to be an interesting experiement with POD printing and distribution (though we distribute existing products, not just books printed via our POD service).

  GRG has done fairly well with POD books, allowing us to release a few titles that would have otherwise probably not been printed. We'll see how other folks do with their POD books with Eureka!