# Curious about market size



## JDRay (Jun 15, 2002)

Now that _Wild Spellcraft_ and _Tournaments, Fairs and Taverns_ are out and have been for some time, I'd like to know how many copies of each have been sold.

Before anyone objects to this question, I'm asking it to gather information about whether or not it's worth my while to try to write a supplement.  I'd hate to put two hundred hours into writing something and find out that the market only sells 80 copies or so.

Now, I realize that each book has its own appeal, and therefore knowing what the sales volume for one is doesn't necessarily indicate what the volume for another will be.  On the other hand, knowing at least something of the market potential creates a starting place.


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## Morrus (Jun 15, 2002)

Hmm...

Well, I'm not going to tell you how many of each have been sold.  But I can tell you, that if you look at the top 40 list on RPGNow, the top product sells many times more than those at say, positions 15+.  I know this because Nat 20 has to "pass though" those positions on its way up the chart each time.

Now factor in the number of products at RPGnow (hundreds), most of which don't even come near that Top 40 list, and you'll probably get a good idea.  

So - if what you have is really good, and it does well, it's worth doing it.  If it's an average performer, you really need to think about why you're doing it - and if the answer is "for money", you probably need to look elsewhere.

Bear in mind, of course, that many publishers sell at places other than RPGNow, so I'm only treating it as a representative sample, rather than a view of the RPG PDF industry as a whole.


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## RangerWickett (Jun 15, 2002)

More than 80 copies, though.  Our products have done pretty well on the pdf market's scale, but I wouldn't dare try to make a living with just this.  It's a nice supplement income, one that you can feel good about spending on just gaming stuff, but I'd have to write a book about once every 2 weeks to be able to support myself with just gaming income.

But the money's not the main thing.  It just feels dang good to release something that people actually enjoy playing with.


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## Scarogoth (Jun 15, 2002)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> *But the money's not the main thing.  It just feels dang good to release something that people actually enjoy playing with. *




Amen, bruvver.


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## JDRay (Jun 18, 2002)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> *More than 80 copies, though.  Our products have done pretty well on the pdf market's scale, but I wouldn't dare try to make a living with just this.  It's a nice supplement income, one that you can feel good about spending on just gaming stuff, but I'd have to write a book about once every 2 weeks to be able to support myself with just gaming income.
> 
> But the money's not the main thing.  It just feels dang good to release something that people actually enjoy playing with. *




Well, I certainly didn't think I could do this as a full-time income replacement.  As for "why I'm doing it," the question is based in what "it" is.  As you know, there's a lot of work involved in taking something that you can use at your gaming table and putting it in a form that can be used by a broad audience.  I'm planning to write some small documents (around 10 pages) to publish for public consumption.  Larger documents (100-150 pages) I would want to recover some money for, just like any other writer.

For me, there are a lot of reasons to write gaming material.  Some of it is just that I want to get ideas that have been fomenting in my brain for twenty years or so down on paper in a usable format.

Since the whole 3E/D20/OGL revolution happened, I've also been very interested in simply doing my part to enrich the community in some small way, contributing material the way that many of you already have.  For years the creativity of the greater portion of RPG writers was stifled by either licensing issues or the horrible "get in the door" costs of creating a small press.  Between the OGL and PDFs, that has all changed, and I intend to take advantage of that.  To me, it's kind of like the "take a penny, leave a penny" cup that you find at the local mini-mart.

Then, of course, there's the matter of ego.  Somewhere in each writer is the desire to have others validate his work, to have them read and say, "Hey, this is cool."  The only way to have a chance at that is to publish something.

Lastly, not only is getting paid for something you wrote the ultimate validation for a writer, it's just damn nice to get a check in the mail and be able to say, "Wow.  This is definitely worth the effort I put in."

I can't even imagine how many copies _The Book of Eldritch Might_ has sold.  It is, after all, written by _Monte_ himself.  He seems to be doing well by himself with his new imprint, and I think he mentioned in some interview that he was surprised that he's making enough with it to make a living at it.  Then there's the rest of us, with our varying levels of expertise.  You, Mr. Nock, and your contemporaries are well established in the community and have contributed broadly.  I would like to join your ranks by way of deed.  But goals must be set, and it must be known whether the ring is brass or gold.

To me, if I worked half a summer on something and it sold 500 copies, I'd be ecstatic.  At 50, I'd be disappointed.  If it only sold 10, I'd be depressed.

Maybe I should categorize my question for TFT and WS:

1-100 copies
101-500
501-1000
1001-5000
5000+

Sorry if you take my persistence to be annoying.  I really do want to do some market analysis, though, not only for myself but for the rest of the community.  Of course, it's in the interest of the establishment to want the market protected...   

Many thanks for whatever you can tell me.  

Best regards,

JD


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## RangerWickett (Jun 18, 2002)

It's really not proper business etiquette to state information about sales and such.  I'm not quite sure why that's so, but I don't want to offend anyone, so the best I can really do is to say, if you really want to know, you can try to write something for us, and if it gets published, you'll be privy to the answer to your question.

If you just have some ideas for 10-pagers or so, feel free to submit them to Asgard magazine.  If you have a larger submission idea, we'll either expect a sample section to show you can pull off the project, or we'll ask you to write a test article for Asgard, to show your skills in another way.


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## JDRay (Jun 18, 2002)

<snicker>

I somehow feel like I'm in some twisted game of chess...


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## HellHound (Jun 19, 2002)

I think I can safely say the "average" item at RPGnow is selling less than 100 copies in its initial 3 month release.

I currently have products at Fifth place (used to be first), 11th and 23rd.

The electronic market is still not enough of a market to make a living at unless you are Monte Cook. 

It sucks, but it's the truth.

I release for the thrill of releasing. That is the "Big Deal" for me. That we got picked up as an imprint by a publisher is just gravy. Sweeet, tasty gravy, but gravy nonetheless.


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## JDRay (Jun 19, 2002)

"Zounds!  A nugget of data!  What now, McClintock?"


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## tensen (Jun 20, 2002)

To categorize the sales of PDFs...I'd be willing to wager that around 200 products on rpgnow have not hit the 500 sales mark.


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## mmadsen (Jul 4, 2002)

> To categorize the sales of PDFs...I'd be willing to wager that around 200 products on rpgnow have not hit the 500 sales mark.




So a "successful" PDF product sells around 500 copies.  At $5 a copy, that's $2,500.  Not bad if it goes to a single person who wanted to write up the product anyway; otherwise, not so good.


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## mooker (Jul 9, 2002)

Maybe it's best not to work on for a summer, but something for a month or so. Aim for a 32 pager or something. Looking at the RPGnow.com charts, modules don't seem to be too popular compared to 'crunchy stuff'. Also remember that it's going to take a while for the book to earn the money back, and each subsequent product you put out, if of excellent quality, will spur sales of your previous products.

While it's a small market now. I'm pretty confident that it'll grow bigger as time goes by, but don't quit your day job for it.


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