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)?