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New Publisher

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leoknite
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Joined: 03/18/2012

My friend's husband owns a fairly successful business (production & sales) and would like to branch into the board game market. He's been an avid game player for most of his life and feels he can jump into the wonderfully difficult world of game publishing because he has a successful business and he's got money. We've talked about me designing games for him. I have read a lot about how difficult getting a publisher could be but I have some concerns.

Is it better idea to just get games published anywhere and hope for the best?

What if the company doesn't gain traction and I have all of these games locked up by him, I'm fearful that some good ideas I worked on and put labor into will amount to nothing because he's a new publisher. I'm not looking to make money, but I would like to have my games be played.

Is it better to just hit up conventions and trade shows and network around to get published? I don't mind a longer route this is not my career by any mean but it is a hobby that I am starting to enjoy.

My friend has a strict gaming palette and I play/ make anything that seems fun, is it okay to send my games to other publishers, I'm assuming yes business wise but I worry since there is a personal relationship involved whether I should. To be more precise should I even get involved with friends?

How much percentage of royalties is the standard for smaller companies, I expect that its gonna be very limited if he publishes one of my games so I'm not sure is there a difference (I read somewhere 5% of wholesale price)?

Willi B
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Joined: 07/28/2008
advice

Be up front with the concerns and maybe give him first right of refusal with a reasonable decision time.

re: Tied up designs... give a deadline as to when and under what conditions rights return to you. Hugely important.

If you can convince him to go with a Kickstarter launch, that could be the test as to rights retrieval.

A lot of the advice depends on the guy starting the business. I would not give him more than 2 designs right now, because he shouldn't try more than 2 games in his first year.

If he is unwilling to learn about the business of game publishing from the MANY free sources on the net and has an attitude of "I ran a successful business and I know what I am doing", I wouldn't give him a single design. The gaming business is different than most beasts and has a learning curve.

5% is about right for a new publisher, but your experience may vary.

pandasaurus
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Joined: 03/12/2012
I'm kind of uniquely capable

I'm kind of uniquely capable of answering this question, since i just started my own publisher.

1) I work in finance, and part of my day job is negotiating contracts worth millions of dollars between various firms on the Forex/Futures/Equities side of the world. I wish I could say I got a decent chunk of those deals worth, but that's not how the world works :p

2) That success is very instructive of what I'm doing, but the skills aren't really transferable at all. What I do during my day job is largely not applicable other than the fact that I know how to read a contract and can negotiate.

3) I spent the last 12 months reading about the game publishing process, following other start up publishers and figuring out a business model. That model has changed drastically in that time frame because of the realities and thin margins in this business. He needs to understand he will not make a lot of money doing this, and will likely not make money for a few years. I'm not planning on it.

4) Set a time frame for when rights return to the designer if publishing doesn't occur. My standard is 18 months to get a title in the channels (this gives time for artwork, testing, some refinement, marketing and then getting it printed) and a 2 year "no sale" rule that allows the rights to transfer back if I let the game sell out and don't reprint the title. Get something like that in place. 5% is in line with what I've seen elsewhere.

5) This is my personal advice, not my "publisher" hat on. [b]Don't mix business with friends or family[/b]. When I had roomates I didn't live with my friends. I don't do business with personal friends or family. I have seen too many relationships destroyed when money is introduced into the matter. I would suggest you both find other designers/publishers to work with. Again, no financial reason for that, just a matter of hurt feelings and the potential for ruined friendships over a "business" where there most likely isn't even the possibilities of a big pay day.

Dralius
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Joined: 07/26/2008
leoknite wrote:(I read

leoknite wrote:
(I read somewhere 5% of wholesale price)?

Commonly it's 5%-7% of gross. The smaller the print run the larger the percent should be.

SRP $50

If the games sells to a distributer for $20 you get $1.00

If he does any direct sales at $50 you get $2.50

That's if the publisher works that way. Not all do.

P.S. I'm a published designer that has worked in the industry since 2003. I am always happy to get more work . If your friend needs games designed from the ground up, or would like to look at some designs I have not yet licensed he can write me at development(at)pyromythgames.com

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