Episode #2 - Table Top Games, Creation and Marketing
/A discussion of the creation, publication and marketing of table top games and their peripherals
Our guests on this episode will be
Andreas Walters
Andreas is the founder of Metal Weave Games, having created and published smash hits like Baby Bestiary and the soon to be released Hyper Light Drifter along with 15 successful kickstarters!
https://metalweave.games/about-us/
JB aka Drop the Die
JB is a Dungeons and Dragons guru having created and published dozens of officially licensed supplement material for DnD 5th edition.
A third guest was original scheduled to appear on this episode but was unable to attend at the last minute
Emily Harmon is a Dungeons & Dragons Writer, TTRPG Blogger and DMs Guild Content Creator based in Los Angeles, CA. She is a regular DM and player for Adventurer’s League, the official organized play system for D&D 5e,
https://twitter.com/EmilyJeaHarmon
https://emilyjeaharmon.wordpress.com/about/
We were able to forward her some preliminary questions for the episode and we include them here to supplement the valuable information in this episode
- Often in other fields, small projects off the cuff perform better than fully realized large scale projects, are there similar situations in TTRPG publishing?
->There is definitely variation in how well products perform, regardless of scale. One of my first and lowest-production projects is also one of my best-selling. Marketing and exposure are two big factors.
- How far before release should advertising begin?
-> I would say 2-3 months. It's long enough to get the product on everyone's radar without boring people with the same marketing blasts.
- Scheduling factors, timing, how much do you show? -> ALWAYS include some kind of art in your posts, even if it's just the cover image over and over again. Try to do various sneak peaks of content and be sure to tag your contributors!
- How many pages could be previewed to catch the attention of customers?
-> I usually say more is better. Add 10% of the product, if you can manage it, or 3-5 pages minimum.
- Are there better areas to market to, to create hype?
-> Almost certainly, but that depends on your users and product type. Find out where the users are and advertise there. Discord, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all good places to start.
- How important are book covers for selling books?
-> It's always good to have a nice cover for marketing purposes. You can always use stock art with the appropriate rights if commissioning an artist is outside of your budget.
- How to balance content and price? Is there a guide to numbers or does popularity of content change that equation?
-> It's all about budgeting for your production cost and if you want to make money off of the product. Check out other titles with similar format and content to yours to get an idea on pricing.
- Are there products types that more reliably do well, and others that are more risky?
-> In my experience, adventures sell poorly while DM supplements sell well. Mileage may vary.
- What is the dmsguild system like? Do reviews, like, comments help the algorithm or is it mostly a numbers game to hit the front page?
-> I can't say how the algorithm works, but reviews are SUPER IMPORTANT, and also relatively rare. Seriously, if you like a product, please go review it- you'll make someone's day.
- Hire an editor? Grammar is key in creating supplements especially when using terms specific to 5e (TTRPG), but is it worth the time/expense?
-> Hire an editor. It's always worth it. You can have the best ideas in the world but, if they don't make sense on paper, no one will want to buy your product. Editors make everything better.
-> Also, hire sensitivity readers.
- What draws customers into buying a book? Are they mostly after free and cheap things?
-> Depends on the customer!
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