As far as I can see it (and tell me if I've got anything wrong here, Ron), Ron's model seems to be to sell in one format until he has the cash to move on to the 'next'. This sems to be the way to go for indie publishers, as you don't need much capital to get started, and as long as you feed any and all profits back into publishing, you can slowly build up to the 'next' stage of production, without making any massive outlays that require sales to justify.

I've put 'next' in inverted commas, because there isn't really a linear progression of production media for indie games. Many people are happy to just publish in PDF format, and never put out a print version

Hi Adrian,

I do need to make one quick modifier of your summary.

The PDF sales won't actually budget for a book-style print run. In my experience, and based on what I'm hearing from others, PDF sales are best understood in the "dozens and hundreds" of dollars category. That's the scale of their costs, and that's the scale of their return. Since returns are pretty good (pending decent promotion and a good game), PDF business is a great thing for role-players who design.

Print/book publishing and sales, on the other hand, are best understood in the "thousands and ten-thousands" dollars category. That's the scale of their costs and (with luck) the scale of their return. Those costs include not only printing but a bare minimum of two week-long business trips a year, time and fees spent on lawyer and accountant, business taxes, and plenty of promotional paper.

In your posts, everything you've said is accurate: "sell in one format until he has the cash to move on ..." but that "until" is a very important point - it includes the necessary venture-input that isn't going to come from the PDF sales.

The solid and real benefits of the PDF-first approach include:

1) Promotional support through the most powerful means - word of mouth - without major advertising outlay.
2) Design feedback based on paying customers' play of the game; these folks can be "paid back" rather than exploited, in a variety of ways.
3) Good business relationships with layout and art people, for lower fees, which then turn into good deals and fees for later service.
4) Graceful exit - if it doesn't work out, or if you don't feel like continuing for any reason, you can leave the biz with no debt.
5) No deadlines. (Man, this is a big deal. I wish more PDF publishers would understand and benefit from this aspect, rather than using book-style schedules.)

Best,
Ron

P.S. I'm considering splitting your post and this one into their own thread; let me know if that's not something you want.

Ron Edwards wrote: P.S. I'm considering splitting your post and this one into their own thread; let me know if that's not something you want.