[UA] Bizarre text distribution model

[Saul]

I like it in theory. I mean, there are people who will pay you just to see a little bar go up a percentage point. And I'd certainly throw my $20 in the pot. The question I have is: do small-time game writer's really lose much from Kazaa? I realise that you can easily find mainstream D20 or White Wolf stuff on there, but is there even enough of a market in the first place that the little guys' stuff shows up in searches? You may know more than I do, but in my limited experiments, it's pretty hard to find anything but the big guys.

If you did do it, it would be good to release bits and pieces as you go along, whether extracts or other random stuff you have lying around. Also, don't let people SELL the book without paying you (once it's out) letting them give it away for free would be quite sufficient.  Make them pay you more if they want to try and sell it.

Saul
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Greg Stolze 
  To: The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List 
  Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 2:00 AM
  Subject: [UA] Bizarre text distribution model


  This came to me the other night as I was contemplating the sorry state of
  RPG distribution all up and down the tiers.  Mixed in was stuff about
  iTunes and Morpheus and how discouraging it is to sell your indie DIY stuff
  as a .pdf and spot it on Kazaa a week after you release it.

  How do you get around this?  Writers are getting fucked (fiscal-wise) when
  their work gets pirated and given away free.  Ditto musicians, ditto film
  makers.  Most people are willing to pay something for their entertainment
  but only (reasonably enough) if they can't easily get it for nothing.

  It occurred to me that the solution is a ransom model.

  For instance: I've been toying with REIGN, the fantasy version of the One
  Roll Engine used for the the game GODLIKE.  No publisher resides in the
  overlap of "interest" and "ability to actually do anything about their
  interest".  I could sell it as a .pdf, with the attendant hassles of doing
  e-commerce and getting art and layout and all that jazz.  But that's a very
  uncertain return on investment, especialy when the .pdf might just pop up
  for free within days of release.

  Instead, what if I do this?  I set up a web site with a PayPal link and an
  address where people can send their checks and cash.  You can pay as much,
  or as little, as you want, but until I hit my goal -- say, a price reached
  by doing a word count and multiplying it by six cents -- nobody sees the
  book.  However, when I hit that goal, I release the whole text, to
  everyone, for nothing.

  This means that any publisher who wants can print and sell the book.
  Anyone who wants it can download and print it.  Kazaa?  Fuck, Kazaa is now
  working FOR ME, because everyone who steals it and likes it is more likely
  to invest in my next work.

  The advantages are pretty clear: No piracy occurs until I'm paid in full,
  after which I presumably don't give a fuck what people do, I've made my
  nut.  Lots of people see the game, with little hassle.  Nobody pays more
  than they feel it's worth.

  The disadvantages are equally clear: I need a good reputation to make this
  work, since that's what I'm trading on.  If I set my goal at $4000 and
  people only pre-pay $2000, what do I do then?  If I release it anyway, the
  system collapses because everyone with a grasp of economics figures, "I
  shouldn't pay -- in a year, Stolze will cave and release it regardless".
  If I don't release it, I've effectively stolen two grand from my closest
  fans, which is not a route I want to go.  Plus, I can never earn more than
  what I get up front.  (Not that long-term royalties have ever paid out for
  me in gaming.  But I suppose there's still time.)

  What do you all think?

  -G.

  "These hardhat deconstruction-workers harass stories as if they were gals
  passing on the sidewalk.  They yell out stuff that's not only obnoxious,
  but completely bizarre and impenetrable.  It's like they yell: 'Hey, check
  out the pelvic bio-mechanics on that babe!  What a set of hypertrophied
  lactiferous tissues!'"
  -Bruce Sterling

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  em_ID=&afid=&criteria=3355&action=list&startrow=1&maxrows=10

  www.waylay.com
  www.thehungersite.com


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