Rogue Games reiterated their own brick & mortar PDF pledge today:
http://roguegamesblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/rogue-games-pdf-brick-and-mortar-pledge/

Aggregate joy, people. :)

So, Evil Hat has its retailer PDF guarantee program that I've mentioned before (buy the book in a store, get the PDF from us, no problem): http://www.evilhat.com/home/pdf-guarantee/

From one perspective, our idea is pretty cracked. We're creating an incentive for the customer to buy the product in a context where we tend to get the least money (direct sales put more $ into our pockets with each copy sold; retailers need their cut, on the other hand, which is entirely reasonable). And more to the point we're giving away something we could sell, with that PDF -- especially when the Print+PDF bundle is the way most of our direct sales happen for any given product.

But that perspective only makes sense if your eye is on the ball, and not on the players. But it's the players that win this game. A retail store that stays in business and wants to order more of your products. A customer who's jazzed they don't have to make the increasingly tough choice between supporting their favorite local store and their favorite publisher. This is happiness capital, and happiness pays dividends over the long haul. Happiness turns into money, sure (you can't buy happiness with money perhaps, but you sure can buy money with happiness, as a publisher -- just add patience). But it also creates fans. It creates teamwork between the publisher, the store, and the customer. Everyone looks out for everyone else.

The marketplace is a competitive place. I think that's pretty much self evident. But what I think folks forget, so easily, is that it's also a cooperative place if you play it right. People and companies need to work *together* (as opposed to against one another) for things to run smoothly. Evil Hat's PDF guarantee is all about making sure that retailers see that we're keeping the gears greased.

So recently, Myriad Games in New Hampshire became aware of the Evil Hat PDF guarantee. And they've done something fantastic: they've sought out every single one of the customers they have who *already* bought an Evil Hat game, and let them know about the offer. Bit by bit over the past month they've been making that connection, then passing that connection on to Evil Hat so we can get the customer the PDF.

Joy is aggregated. And Myriad passes on customer reactions like this one:

I received the code for the PDF, and downloaded them. Very impressive, it was actually two PDFs; one in the traditional portrait format, as printed in the book, and one in landscape format so that it can be read easily on a screen.

Do you partner with other companies to do the same? I have been keeping an eye on the upcoming game Eclipse Phase (http://www.eclipsephase.com/), and they have mentioned the possibility of providing a PDF copy with the purchase of the main book via Drivethru RPG. The appeal of a digital copy is very strong, but I'd like to support brick-and-mortar store with my physical book purchase.

---

Absolutely, please do share my feedback. I know I'm not the only one in my gaming group that enjoys having the PDF version of the book to suppliment the hardcopy. I love having the paper book to flick through and read and keep on hand for reference, but the PDF makes printing character sheets/reference charts and finding obscure rules so much easier at game time. I wish more companies would provide the electronic version with the paper book (I understand that some may worry about piracy, etc, which is unfortunate).

+1 happy customer, right there. And if you read closely, you'll see how the customer is relieved to be able to have his cake (the PDF) and eat it too (support his brick and mortar local store).

In turn, Myriad's turning around and promoting Evil Hat's stuff more in their store. That means they'll be ordering more Evil Hat products too as time goes on.

That's the long play, right there. Happiness capital. Someone spends money, and they're a customer. Someone gets happy, and they're a *fan*.

If you are a small or micro (or, heck, large) game publisher and you are looking into how to get into retail stores, chrishanrahan has lobbed this knowledge-bomb at your CPU. Read it before it EXPLODES!

http://chrishanrahan.livejournal.com/5324.html

Clyde from Theory From The Closet did his usual ninja interview riff -- with me as his target this time -- to examine the topic of customer service and marketing from an RPG publisher perspective, back at Dreamation 2008. While I've covered some of this stuff to an extent on my livejournal, this is a chance to hear me preach it in person:

http://theoryfromthecloset.com/2008/04/22/show036-marketing-and-customer-service-for-game-designers

Check it out!

So, here's one of the projects I'm peripherally working on right now: Blue Devil Games' Tokyo Rain, a roleplaying game (still in early development) based on the John Rain series of novels by Barry Eisler.

Blue Devil Games is another name for Justin D. Jacobson, and he's got some pretty interesting ideas here. There's not a TON of material on the website yet, but it's worth dropping by to get an early idea of where some of his ideas are pointing.

While I'm on board for the layout stuff, that's usually a fairly late in the process thing -- but the reason it's coming up now is that Justin also has me on board as what I guess I'd call a "brand consultant". This is my first real, deliberate, focused effort to add some value in that way to a project that's not directly under my umbrella, and I'm really pleased that Justin wanted to give me the opportunity to be a part of the project at this stage.

He even says a few somewhat embarrassingly nice things about me on the development log.

I've added a feed for the dev log here: johnraingamedev

You're going to screw it up. Whether or not you actually did, even -- someone out there will perceive you as having screwed up, at the very least.

Mistakes happen, especially in publishing. Deadlines get missed. Defective books get shipped out. Retailers feel slighted by something you did; or maybe it's your direct-sale customers, those guys who loyally placed early preorders. Promises full of good intentions get broken through no fault of your own.

When something like this happens, it's time to take responsibility. This is a marketing issue -- a pure marketing issue, even -- which we like to call damage control. Emphasis on control.

You take responsibility because that grabs folks attention. Once you have their attention, it's time to do something fantastic with it. Something that will deepen their emotional bond -- positively -- to you, and thus to your brand and your product.

But overall, you take responsibility quickly, visibly, and publically because it lets you control the message. All those people who are offput for reasons both real and imaginary in all those situations above? They're going to talk. And if you aren't talking as well -- if you aren't grabbing attention and doing something with it that rings as loud and clear as a bell -- then all that talking (let's be honest -- all that bitching) is going to become the message. It's what people are going to think and in their guts know is the truth about that mistake they're sure you made.

You wouldn't give control of your marketing to just anyone off the street if you thought about it, right? So think about it -- and get control of that message. It should be yours.

Here's how.

Act Swiftly

Do not delay. Do not pass Go. Definitely do not collect $200. Go directly to your nearest public channel of address and start talking about this.

Give people a sense that you've got something to say about it quickly, and they might just ease off for a few minutes to let you catch your breath. Heck: ask for those few minutes; say you need time to get things assessed. We're hardwired to respond to requests for help, somewhere down in the early social mammal parts of our brain -- so make use of that.

Just don't make them wait long for answers. If you do, you've lost the power of acting fast.

Hang a Lantern On It

This is a term taken from Chris Matthews in his book Hardball (the book's good; skip the egotistical intro and the TV talk show and you'll find that Matthews once had something to offer the world -- it's full of stellar advice on how to manage politics, and politics is just another word for marketing).

When you hang a lantern on a problem, you are showing the world that you recognize that it's there. And when you recognize that the problem's there, you've stolen some of its power. Think of it like Harry Dresden would: naming things has power. So give the mistake a name. Tell people it's there.

Now you've got their attention. What are you going to do with it?

Get in Front Of It

If you hide, if you blame, if you redirect and finger-point, you will look like a weasel. Folks might find a weasel amusing in a cartoon or in a scrappy sleazy sidekick buddy movie sort of way, but they don't really like to see it in someone they're holding responsible for their happiness.

So get in front of the problem. Say that it's yours. Tell people that you are responsible for making it right. Make sure they know they have been heard, and that you are the guy doing the hearing, and that you will personally handle solving their problem.

Mean it.

Now you've got their attention and you're controlling the message. Time to make sure it's the right one.

Make It Personal

Do what you can to find everyone who has sent an email complaining about the problem or made a blog or forum post somewhere and make a direct, personal connection with them. Let them know you're aware of their specific instance of the problem. Let them know you are the guy or gal who is taking charge of making that problem go away.

Give them the opportunity to vent, to share additional concerns; make sure they know you've heard them. Be specific when you can, and stay positive in the face of their disappointment. Sympathize with them! Make them feel special, noticed, appreciated, and respected, and you'll start getting some respect back.

With that respect you'll build some grass-roots customer service as a side-effect -- folks who have been vocal and have heard a response from someone responsible and in-charge will be inclined to pass what they know along to others. They'll start responding to those posts made on forums and blogs for you.

It will make your job easier, and it will spread the positivity you're feeding back into the system without you having to run yourself ragged.

Figure Out What You Can Do

Some mistakes are too big to erase entirely. So figure out what you can do to mitigate its impact.

Replace those defective books if at all possible -- but maybe ask folks to get onto a list so you can ask them to ship out the defects as comp copies to reviewers and such.

Admit that you've missed a deadline -- but give them a taste of what you're working on that made the deadline not work: a free chapter in download, some art they haven't seen yet.

Discuss potential plans for what to do out in the open, with the public. Bring them in on figuring out what you can do. There's a decent chance that a hundred folks invested in seeing the problem go away will come up with more possible solutions than one person will. (Don't forget to show appreciation for all those suggestions.)

Again, people are hardwired to help, on some level. Give them the chance to feel a little ownership and respect in this situation and you'll convert a mob of disappointed folks into a volunteer army.

If money is going to be involved, make yourself a budget and be honest about it with the people you're talking with. Don't underspend, but don't beggar yourself either -- your buying public would rather see you stay around than get sunk by this mistake.

Do What You Can

You've grabbed the public's attention by acting quickly. You've named your problem and taken away some of its power. You've taken personal responsibility, and shared sympathies with the folks who've been affected by the problem. You've started a dialogue about what can be done, and out of that you know what you can do to address the mistake.

Now do it.

Discussions are nice and all, but all of the above, all the good work you've done can turn to crap in a hot second if you don't take action. Delay too long and the things you have said come off as patronizing misdirection. Promises without delivery can -- and should -- be taken as diminishment of the value of your word.

Your word should be minted gold. Protect that value. Take action and do the fix you can.

Stay With It Until It's Done

You absolutely cannot just do one thing and then consider the matter put to rest. Stay on top of the problem. All those blogs and forum posts that you started following before -- keep following them. Post follow-ups by email, forum, and blog comment when you know someone's specific case has been resolved.

This isn't a mistake. It's an opportunity to polish your customer service skills and make them shine.

Make every customer feel like they were your top priority through to the end, and you may just keep that customer for life.

Don't Forget the Power of Ubiquity

Internet ubiquity isn't hard. It's made of two parts.

Part one: Search! Google Blogsearch is your friend. Craft a search that finds mentions of your product (the one folks are complaining about -- AND the ones they aren't) or your company. On the page that results, choose "Last Day" or "Last Week". Then down below that, use one of the "Subscribe" links and set it up so your mailbox gets the news every day of new blog posts going up talking about you. When that happens, go and visit those blogs, and respond -- even if it's just a little pointer, a thank you for talking about your company and bringing any issues to your attention, and some instructions on how to follow up directly with you.

Part two: Subscribe! When you go onto a forum that has the ability to "subscribe to a thread" so you can receive update notices by email, subscribe to those threads, even if you don't have time to read them right away. Your mailbox will start filling up with regular reminders that you should go read that and respond. When it does, go, read that, and respond.

Do these two things and you will create a passable impression that you are everywhere.

When you are everywhere, then you have the problem surrounded. When you are everywhere, then everyone knows how to reach you -- you're just an arm's length away. You're accessible, you're approachable, and you're paying attention.

Your customers will eat that up.

Doing it for free works. I've talked about this before, but chrishanrahan has brought in another supporting argument today. Read about it here: http://chrishanrahan.livejournal.com/1679.html

I've got a longer post on another topic brewing. Stay tuned.

One of the things I talked about on my Be Brave Enough Not To Publish post was the idea of "doing it for free". If you're not into being a business, or have a philosophical reason for it, free is a great way to go. Even if you are into being a business, there's some strong -- if very long-term -- marketing potential in giving something away that folks would pay for. Evil Hat was built on such a thing.

Anyway, I was reminded of this today when I caught this thread on RPG.net, wherein Clinton Nixon gets some major positive play thanks to giving it away for free. Check it out.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=381481

So, I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about publishing, or at least Evil Hat's journey through the rpg publication biz. Something I don't spend a lot of time talking about is the reasons *not* to follow us down the publication road.

My biggest reason I like to sling at people is: Don't do something where you're not prepared to lose every single dollar you spend. This was sort of a glimmer of the notion going when I talked about offset print runs as well as POD methods, but it's worth saying explicitly. If you're not willing to lose money, stick with public domain art, use your local word processor to put your game together, and stick with Lulu as your way to get any print versions out there -- don't sign up with IPR, don't do preprinted stock. Minimize your costs as much as possible.

A note: This is what I did with Don't Rest Your Head, on a budget of $75 that I was willing to use, because I had no idea anyone would really be all that interested in it. With Fate's free PDF, we used software we already had access to to lay it out, and spent cheap $ for a short term membership on www.clipart.com for the art. You can, and probably should, do this too. Keep it simple, small, cheap, and low-risk.

Here's another: Unless you're committed to the idea that your hobby will turn into a business, that you'll be on the hook for staying current with your print runs, that you'll have to do taxes around this stuff, manage money, make yourself into a bit of a salesperson, stay away from the "preprinted" publication game. Like I said above -- Lulu will suit you fine, it'll minimize the cash outlay you do, and if you find that your game sells 5 or 10 copies you can feel like that's a big success, converting the time you invested into "free" money, instead of wondering if those other 40 or 100 or 1000 copies you printed up will ever sell enough to get you to the break-even point.

If you do decide to publish, there's no shame in choosing the safest possible version first. I'd go so far as to say you MUST do this if you're an "unproven" quantity -- if your buying audience has no reason to know who you are enough to stimulate the sale of dozens or hundreds of copies. Start small and be happy if you stay small. Build your success incrementally, rather than betting the farm on a one-time make-or-break effort.

I'd also say this: Honestly assess why you want to publish. If you're more about getting an audience than making money, consider giving your game away for free. I think that this sentiment is already explored well enough in what I've said above. When Rob and I got Fate out into the world, we didn't care about doing it for money. Never really entered our minds -- the PDF market was pretty young. But by doing that, by giving something away, we created all the opportunities that have lead to Evil Hat's success today. Make your name -- THEN spend money. Doing it for free also means you'll get a chance to get feedback from the world, and a chance to make some early mistakes without it costing you hundreds or thousands of dollars.

And as a follow-on to that: Honestly assess whether or not anyone's going to have a reason to spend money on what you do. After all, what reason does a stranger have for having heard of you? There's a decent chance, unless you've built up an audience of folks who listen to what you have to say online or off, of people who will turn around and tell their friends what you've said or done, that your first for-pay game is gonna fall flat on the sales front. Build your brand and identity online using cheap or free methods. Be that cool guy posting threads on RPG.net full of exciting ideas (like judd_sonofbert). Create a community of folks who dig your free game (like the FateRPG yahoo group). Become someone worth talking about before you become someone worth buying from.

At the end of the day, it's important to blow up the myth that publication is a necessity. And by publication, here, I mean, "at the level that gets you listed on IPR or on a local gamestore's shelves". What I'm advocating instead is that you start out with the easy, no cash up front kinds of publication instead: put up a webpage, let people print copies of your book one at a time through Lulu, use public domain or cheap clip art, etc.

And be willing to admit that maybe designing games -- beyond cooking up your own homebrew -- isn't something you need to do either. Games need players and fans, when it comes down to it. But that's a whole 'nother conversation of its own -- and one which has already been well covered by Johnathan Walton and Clinton Nixon. If any of what I've been saying here seems to be speaking to you at all, you really should go and see what these guys have to say about being a player, and about turning away from the publication game in favor of what actually makes them happy:

Jonathan Walton on getting out of the status game:
http://thouandone.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/getting-out-of-the-status-game/

Clinton Nixon: "Play is the point. Become an expert player."
http://rpgheretic.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/play-is-the-point/

Me, I'm happy actually doing the running of a business. I find actual, palpable joy in it, even though I have maybe 10% of the time I used to have to actually do the designing part. If there's one regret I've had it's that the business has somewhat occluded the opportunities to actually play games, but thanks to conventions like Dreamation, and some shifting of priorities at my gaming table, I'm starting to connect with that again.

Remember that being happy about what you're doing is priority one. Make deliberate moves to preserve the joy that got you into the hobby in the first place. That's what matters. Anything beyond it is just gravy (if positive) or a distraction (if otherwise).