Questions for the Publishers

[Christopher Ashe]

Okay,

I have a few quetions for those who are active in the industry publishing in hard copy media (non-ebook). I have completed my book and we are currently workign on starting our company but I thought I might seek some input from anyone here who's already done this.

1. Where did you get your funding?
- I'm looking into SBA loans and everyone says that funding before the loan (collateral, start-up base) should come from personal savings, family members or friends. My family members don't exactly have this kind of money, and friends and myself sure as hell don't. How did you fund your company?

2. Playtesting and protection
- I am looking to start playtesting my game with other groups around the country soon. What kind of contract/non-disclosure agreements do I need to accompany the playtest copies?

Any information you could offer on the publishing business and startup would be greatly appreciated.


- Christopher Ashe
Designer, Pangea Games
http://kickme.to/system13

[James Wallis]

1. Get a job. Get a second job. Live like a church mouse. Save like crazy. Either that or plan less ambitiously.

2. Completely up to you. We don't ask our playtesters to sign any kind of disclosure form, because we figure that we want them talking about the game to their friends. They do, however, understand that if we find our playtest materials on a website, we will get on a plane, come to their house and kill them.

[Erick Wujcik]

Originally posted by James Wallis
1. Get a job. Get a second job. Live like a church mouse. Save like crazy. Either that or plan less ambitiously.

James is correct. The best money is your own money.

Along that line, check out the entertaining book by Robert Rodriguez, "Rebel Without a Crew : Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player" wherein the now-famous Hollywood director raised the money for his first movie by signing up for a stint as a medical research subject (the funniest part of the book, and a real treat for any Paranoia Game Master).

The second best source of money is friends and/or family. That's how Palladium Books started, with an investment from a friend's mother. You may have to spread your net wide, and you may end up soliciting from a lot of people, but if your idea is sound, and you have a decent business plan, you'll find people.

Finally, there's my father's advice. Need $25,000? Then find ten people to put up $2,500 each, or twenty-five to put up $1,000 each. As Dad always said, if you don't have the kind of personality to hit people up for money, you aren't going to succeed anyway. That's true, because eventually you'll be hitting up distributors and store owners, and standing behind a booth at a conventions, hawking your game, one-on-one, to hundreds of people. Bottom line, if you really believe in your game, you have to be able to sell it for a few bucks to strangers, and for a few thousand bucks to the people you know.

Originally posted by James Wallis
2. Completely up to you. We don't ask our playtesters to sign any kind of disclosure form, because we figure that we want them talking about the game to their friends. They do, however, understand that if we find our playtest materials on a website, we will get on a plane, come to their house and kill them.

Again, James is 100% correct.

I've used non-disclosure forms when I'm play-testing licensed material, especially licensed material I don't own. For example, before there was any official "Star Wars" role-playing game, when I was trying out a new system, I had all my play-testers sign non-disclosure agreements.

On the other hand, if it's my creation, I believe in spreading it all over the place. I knew Amber Diceless would be a huge hit back in 1986. Why? Because I ran a play-test at Gencon that year, and within six months people were playing it all over the country, and I was getting letters from total strangers asking for a copy of the play-test rules.

For me, worrying about getting ripped off is sort of an amateur's concern...

Erick

p.s.: James! Have you seen the new "Return of Return to the Forbidden Planet?" It is worth a special trip to London?

[James Wallis]

Haven't seen it, Erick, but the reviews seem to indicate that it's more of a retread than a brand new production.

[Matt M]

Pretty much an aside cos I saw it mentioned. Saw the Return to the Forbidden Planet when it was in Brum, it's slightly altered, but not so much as you'd notice.

Now back to the matter at hand.

Matt