[Hell for Leather RPG] Things You Gotta Do Before Printing

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

In 11 weeks, HfL is going to be launched but I haven't even spoken to a printers yet. What the fuck do I do now? Where do I start?

Using advice from a mix of sources, I intend to post a diary of the process. Starting today.

I hope that new publishers will benefit from the experience.

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Dear diary,

Last night I got in touch with Brennan Taylor from Indie Press Revolution (IPR<non-disclosure agreement to OneBookShelf, the parent organisation behind Drive Thru RPG and RPG Now (for PDF distribution). If that goes according to plan, I'll be able to release promotional and release products with them by the middle of May.

Sebastian.

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Dear Diary,

Today I finished the cover artwork for Hell for Leather and I found out that Fiddlar-Doubleday use U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2 as the ICC colour profile in their RIP. If you're using them to print, make sure you convert your CMYK images to that colour profile to get a good idea of how it will look on paper. For example, here are two versions of the cover:

Euroscale Coated v2
U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Dear Diary,

Yesterday I got some paper samples from Anthony Rowe (aka CPI). I printed out a test page onto two kinds of paper. You can click on the link below for a look (sorry about the quality). The one on the left is their off-white option. I'd say it's around 50-60gsm. I was very tempted to choose off-white because I've always found high contrast pages difficult on the eye. However, you'll agree that the images degrade badly on the cream paper.

I did a little research. The reason the white paper does so well with printed images is to do with paper brightness. The paper is coated so that it reflects light better. This makes the blacks stronger and sharper. Also, the whiteness of the paper (different from brightness, which is all about reflected light), improves the natural contrast in tandem. Bammm. Punchy graphics.

So, having done my homework, I'm opting for 80gsm Hi-Bright coated text stock.

Sebastian.

Paper Comparison

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Dear Diary,

Two days ago I posted the Hell for Leather Teaser to Drive Thru RPG. It has been downloaded 66 times.

If you're going to upload a file to DTRPG and you're worried about the automatic Flash preview feature (which displays the contents of your book on the product page), give the system 24 hours to recognise your PDF.

Sebastian.

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Dear Diary,

Today I heard back from IPR. Hell for Leather has been approved, pending the signing of an SRA (Sales Representation Agreement).

I'm delighted!

Sebastian.

P.S. The Teaser has been downloaded 92 times (in eight days, I think). I don't know what that means, but maybe you can use this as a guideline when you release your own games, to retrospectively measure success/failure.

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Dear Diary,

This morning I found out that IPR sell ISBN codes for $10.

Converting an ISBN into a barcode is easy and will help distributors sort their stock. Happy distributors = good policy.

I'm buying an ISBN from IPR.

Sebatian.

[Sebastian K. Hickey]

Dear Diary,

Today I found out that Anthony Rowe (CPI) in the UK use GRACol 2006 coated for their CMYK colour profile. I will almost certainly have to paint up another version of the cover to match their gamut.

Sebastian.