It's a little more complicated than just "take the money and run". There's a lot more that goes into the process than collecting the cash. I talked to a few folks who have been there and done that to get a real sense of how it goes down, and what to expect.
Talking to Matthew Sears of Hyacinth Games, which just held a very successful Kickstarter for Wreck Age gave me a lot of insights to the entire process.
He's trying to get his product to the distributors so that FLGS like mine can buy the product and sell it to you, the general populous. He's hitting a wall:
ACD requires you to take out ads which are around $400 I think. On credit. So if you think they get each mini about $3.60 each, that's well over a hundred minis they need to move to even get past that. Right now I need to spend that $400 to get the sets out.
[Alliance] gave a firm no.
It's obvious that getting distribution is a huge goal- and trying to find inroads to that end is a large part of what a designer needs to get their game out to the general gaming public.
As a FLGS owner, I found the inverse of the problem Matthew is discussing with a game called Glory To Rome. The game was HUGELY successful on Kickstarter, and got a TON of buzz. I had customers asking for it DAILY. A call to my distributor revealed the only way to get the game was directly through the designer. Many designers don't consider the FLGS dynamic when considering pricing and self-distributing, which leads to very aggravated owners, and no sales for the designer. (Trying to sell an owner 10 copies of your game via email without any sort of SSL option for credit card information isn't smart, folks.)
So how does a company like Wreck Age get their game to the customer?
Right now, there's some guerrilla marketing, self distribution and using alternate companies like Warpath. Direct mail using USPS happens as well. If you want to see it at your FLGS, tell the owner to talk to a distributor about it. The more talk there is about a game, the easier it is to move the product.
Getting the product out is more than just molding and shipment. With a non-physical project like a PDF, there are different things to consider.
Mike Bohlman of bySwarm talks about the process for an e-book product:
I heard you got backing from some pretty big names in the industry. Did that help your project get publicity at all?
It did a little bit because of the social aspect of Kickstarter. When those people backed the project, their friends saw that and backed the project, too. Ben McFarland actually ended up joining the project after hearing about it. Since we're an unknown in the industry, I think the big names are likely to hold back any big promotion until they see that we can produce a good product. If that happens, I think the post-Kickstarter sales will be fantastic.
How do you publicize something like this?
The main places I publicized were d20pfsrd.com, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. The d20pfsrd.com publicity made the biggest difference. John Reyst is a big fan of our setting, and he was happy to post our project to the front page. Google+ was the next best place because the gaming community is very active there, and there is a bit better chance of becoming viral.
How long do you expect the project to take once it's funded?
I'm hoping to be done by the end of November. We might have to stagger a couple things for the final releases, but I want to get everything completed before Christmas no matter what.
Mike mentioned something recently (in the past week) that really rang true. We see it a lot with Kickstarter projects:
I had no idea how hard it would be to turn my improvisational, player-driven GM style into a playable module.
Hitting on the "record" theme for a second, I figured I'd talk about music for a moment. Matthew mentioned that there are some similarities between game and music production, so I figured I'd hit up our resident metal head and see what HE says.
Dethtron on making records:
Me: You are Kickstarting to cover costs of studio time to record a new album, correct?
Dethtron: Yes. Well some of the studio time anyway. Recording is astronomically expensive if you do it right. Part of the costs will also cover the initial print run of the album as well. Which is also not cheap.
Me: After recording comes editing and then preproduction. What steps does it take from there?
Dethtron: Well, pre-production is is mostly done. We recorded demos of 6 of the 8 new songs in my basement/game room/sex dungeon. As for the rest, there are a number of things that must be done. We'll need to get artwork and album layout finalized after editing of the album, it needs to be mastered which basically means taking all the recordings and running them through some processors to make sure all songs are at the same relative volume and some other things that producers have to worry about. After that we have to secure deals with a company to physically produce the CD and handle digital distribution. Then there's the inevitable CD release show to plan. And at some point you have to send out CDs to everyone and their mothers to get reviews and other press related things.
Me: How are you getting publicity about this? What's the hardest part of promoting your own work? And, not to steal too much from "Airheads", have you ever thought of storming a radio station to get some airplay?
Dethtron: Haha, no we haven't. Promotion is the hardest part of promotion. Essentially being without a label, we are responsible for everything. In addition to relying on social media and all that, we've had a good track record with getting reviews. Which requires sending out CDs (at our expense) to the right people or getting the right people to come to shows. We've had several in print reviews in Europe and the UK, but haven't had much luck in the states. Being a metal band in the US is not exactly a path to instant riches these days.
Me: What is the hardest part of this process for you personally and for the band overall?
Dethtron: Wow, that's a tough one. Well, if you check out the mini documentary on YouTube of recording the previous EP, you'll notice that I look really pissed off in just about every shot. So that pretty much sums it up. Recording is difficult and it can be frustrating to a) take 20 or 30 takes of the same song in one day and b) realize that this is costing you lots of money to do so.
Me: How do you even go about finding a distributor?
Dethtron: Well, from a DIY sense there are some places that make it easy. For physical media CD Baby is a good outlet. We've also got relationships with some other online retailers like Steel and Fire records to help get it out there. Beyond that Reverb Nation is a pretty good thing. It simultaneously distributes to iTunes, Amazon Mp3, Lastfm, Spotify, and like 30 other sites giving the royalties directly to the artist without too many fees involved in between.
Me: What can a fan do to help a band like yours (aside from donate to Kickstarter or buy products)?
Dethtron: Coming to shows is where it starts. Due to some personal considerations, we've yet to do much touring (but it is coming), but local fans are always welcome at any of our shows. Beyond that, our fans are our number 1 resource for getting the word out. If you hear a band you like, tell your friends. It'll get bigger from there.
It sure sounds like the need for publicity and word of mouth is huge for any new project, and it's up to fans and gamers like us to help build the momentum for guys like Matthew, Mike and Dethtron.
We complain that companies "don't listen to us"; but don't pay attention to how much power we hold. We have the ability to really influence what comes into our stores and distribution channels just through demand- let's use that to our advantage. Let's demand some intelligent, beautiful, elegant games, and pass by the ones that pander to the lowest common denominator. Let's give the distributors and major publishers a kick in the....
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