Into Game Parlor in Chantilly VA I go today on my lunch break. (Sucks to be the boss and work Saturdays, but your pity is sufficient balm.) Now this is the very same store where two weeks ago I sought a replacement copy of Puppetland. And while they had had it once, for I saw it there, they did not have it on that day. I learned this once I found a staffer who had actually heard of it. They could order it for me and maybe get it, but, the fellow explained solemnly, "That's a very small niche," in exactly the tone he might use to tell a six-year-old who expressed a desire to travel to the moon that the moon is very far away.

It was of course a Nuke the Apple Cart moment. I forebore to say, "Yes, it's a small niche and you are one of the things that makes it so." I used to work retail, and I know what asshole customer behavior is. I did not say, "Yes, but however small it is, you don't have a copy, and you used to, which means that you sold out." And I did not add, "And since I bought Epiphany I haven't seen it in this store, and since I bought Extreme Vengeance I haven't seen it in this store." I did not say any of the things I was thinking, just stood there long enough to make things awkward, having my Ron click experience.

So at the counter with my copy of the Sailor Moon RPG (going to the lake with my nieces all week and you Just Never Know), I asked the different, older fellow ringing me up:

"Do you know when you'll be getting Sorcerer?"

"For what game?"

"For Sorcerer, from Adept Press, by Ron Edwards."

"Because there's a Sorcerer supplement for Mage: the Ascension and - "

"No," I said, "this is its own game."

So he looked it up on the computer. It was not the SPI game from long ago, it wasn't the Mage thing. Oh by golly there it was.

"From TSO," he said, or something that sounded like TSO, and is, I assume, some distributor or small-press consortium. "Yes we are sold out of it," he said, sounding quite possibly sincere. "It came in and went right out."

"Gotcha," I replied.

"Would you like me to order one for you?"

Now Mr. Former Bookstore Manager is alert to these kinds of dodges:

"It's a brand new item and it sold out," I said, "I assume you'll be getting it back in."

"Yes indeed," he said, again sounding for all the world like a sincere man. He fudged around then with talk about how he thought there would be a softcover edition coming too, which made the needle on my dubious meter twitch, and said TSO (or whoever) was going to be changing their name, and maybe bringing back something or other they are apparently famous for.

Now comes the good news. He asked me, "What is the game like?" in a way that sounded very much like the sort of thing a sincere person asks. So I gave him the high concept stuff, explained that the author used to sell it independently, that there were some "really interesting supplements" in the works.

I will of course have to check up on them - after my nieces get back from the lake, anyway - but there seems to be a dent in the armor of the industry.

Best,


Jim

Jim,

I called my girlfriend, who is not a gamer-person, over to read your post. She said, "Good for him!" meaning you.

Damn straight.

Best,
Ron

jim--

definitely cool.

ron--

i may have told you before, i can't remember, but when i mentioned you to the guy at my favorite local gaming store, he said your name sounded familiar. so let me know when sorcerer will be available to retail stores & i'll bug him to order a copy (even though i'm getting mine from you, since i put my "downpayment" on the pdf).

More info for everyone:

"TSO" stands for Tundra Sales Organization, which is the company handling the warehousing and fulfilment for Sorcerer. Stores can either get copies from them or from some distributor that has bought copies from them already.

The main guy at Tundra is Woody Eblom, so drop THAT name to the retailer if you really wanna look like an inside guy.

Since this is my first time doing any of this, the actual and final and sure-nough date for Sorcerer's appearance remains mysterious to me. Woody suggested that making it Friday the 13th would be (a) conservative and safe (ie probably before then) and (b) funny. Makes sense to me.

Best,
Ron

Oh yeah.

No soft-cover, ever. The supplements will be paperback, but the book is and shall ever be hard-cover with its spiffy dust jacket.

Best,
Ron

I still think the dust-jacket idea is cooler than a potato-gun aimed at a screaming baby.

I already have at least one copy on order at the Gamer's Paradise near me, and I am talking to Mike at Graham Crackers to make certain that at least one copy gets in to every one of their stores.

I can't wait.

(Besides, more publicity for Sorcerer means more sales for Hellbound)

Dav