Re: [DL] Thoughts about the Epitaphs (For Shane, mostly)

[PEGShane@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/15/2002 11:59:08 AM Eastern Standard Time, jvuorenm@cc.hut.fi writes:

> Epitaphis a good idea: A lot of material that cannot be published on its
> own between two covers, but when too many games are mixed into the soup,
> they become something of a gaming mag pretending to be a supplement.
>
> Separate the lines, sez I.
>
> Thank you for readin', pardner.
>
> ---Hulkin' Finn


'Fraid not. Here's why. Deadlands would basically be dead if I did. Individual sales on the lines just aren't strong enough right now to support each one. Merging them together to sell more of one book rather than less of 3 different books is the only way I can make a decent profit.

Is that because Deadlands is dying off? Absolutely not. We're doing better than most companies out there right now other than the top dogs and a few rare exceptions. Mike Webb of Alliance (the nation's largest distributor), for example, recently commented that sales on Lost Colony were very strong.

But the fact is the economy is down, and there is a huge deluge of new D20 publishers taking up shelf space. Games Quarterly confirmed that they had to up the ad rates on the Games Quarterly Catalog because they have to add so many new pages. They went from under 300 manufacturers to well over 500 in the last 18 months.

The market is also changing from "front list" to "back list." That means stores don't carry older products like the "City of Lost Angels" sourcebook. They want a whole new game with new ideas. A new regional sourcebook for DL just won't sell enough copies *immediately* for me to keep eating caviar. ;) (Okay, PB&J.)

That's why Savage Worlds won't be lots of books for any one line--one book for most, a couple for those settings that really need it. And that's why the DL lines have to condense down to the Epitaph. I can still support all three lines this way and do it in a tighter, more efficient method. Otherwise, no more DL books at all.

Fortunately, the Epitaph does sell quite well, and now that I've upped the words per page and reduced the margins set by certain past graphic designers who are now at WOTC (!!), you'll get a lot more bang for your buck.

If you still decide that's not good enough for you, no hard feelings here amigo! You've got to do what's best for you, and I'll do the same of course.

Shane