d20 Publishing

[Hellboy]

Does anyone know the best way to go about getting a d20 product published? We are currently working on a project, but are unsure about the business end of it.

[Alka-Seltzer]

You might want to check out Natural 20 Press at d20reviews (http://www.d20reviews.com) its a "community based publishing company" devoted to selling things via pdf files. Of course they havent actually published anything just yet but its still real new and they insist the first book is almost out. Personally I hope they explode in to a pokemon-esque zeitgeist of popularity and low overhead success.

[Jim Butler]

Does anyone know the best way to go about getting a d20 product published? We are currently working on a project, but are unsure about the business end of it.

A lot of it depends on what you mean by 'published.'

If you're looking to see your product in print and on store shelves, your best bet right now is probably to find a publisher willing to publish your product for you. Starting up a new company, paying for the printing, marketing and promotion of your product, and getting distributors and retailers to carry your product is an impressive array of tasks for someone new to the industry to take on.

And never forget that publishing is 'real business.' If you go into it on a lark, spending your free time promoting your product and handling business issues as time permits, don't be surprised if your product doesn't get well received.

PDF publishing is a possibility as well, but unless your name happens to be Monte Cook you're probably going to face an uphill battle selling any significant numbers of products in this manner. Letting people know that you have a product is still a huge challenge, regardless of whether you're printing it or placing it online as a download.

I'd recommend RPGNow.com for you if you're looking to get your PDF in front of as many gamers as possible. Bastion Press uses both RPGNow.com and SWREG.org to distribute our PDF products.