Publishing Advice

“Dear James: I have invented a tabletop game and I’d like to figure out how to produce and market it. Any advice you could give would be much appreciated” - Someone every week

A: Publishing tabletop games is difficult and expensive, and will rarely make you rich. Honestly you need a novel marketing plan to make a big splash in any market, and all I can tell you is what other people already do. If that’s interesting, read on.

There are several strategies open to an aspiring game inventor, including a few I’ve outlined below. How you decide to bring your game to the world will depend on your goals for the project. 

If you want to make money, you're in the wrong place, period. Nevertheless, here are some options for an inventor who wants to bring a new game to market.

Option 1: Short Press Run / Print On Demand. Thirty years ago this was “I will produce 500 copies and see if I can sell them.” Thankfully, today there are better options, which don’t require you to print anything.

Over the last decade there has been a marked improvement in the capabilities of print-on-demand board game production, with services like Drive Thru Cards, The Game Crafter, and Print and Play Games. 

With print-on-demand, you upload art files and let customers order single copies of your game. You keep a not-insignificant fraction of the retail price of each game, and you can set this markup wherever you like. You have no inventory risk, and a relatively small initial investment. You can also continue to refine the design as your game is played by a larger group of people. Of course, you will still need a way to direct customers to your product.

I certainly would not look into creating a small print run on your own. Distribution sales will be slim to none if you are not already connected in the industry, and haven't pre-sold a reasonable amount of the product, i.e., through something like Kickstarter. However, if you’re more curious about running a business than inventing games, then starting a publishing company might be right for you.

The version of this path with the lowest impact is simply to make the game freely available as a print-and-play. This is a good strategy if your goal is to get more players and more feedback on the game, without the overhead of printing and publishing. This may seem like leaving money on the table, but many successful games still do this as part of their marketing strategy (including Cards Against Humanity).

Your goals with Option 1: Find more players for your game at a relatively low cost, and continue to improve the game while making a small revenue stream.

Option 2: Crowdfunding. Raising money for your project before you manufacture it helps ensure that you don’t get in too far over your head.

The most well-known crowdfunding platform is Kickstarter, and I’ve run thirteen projects there. The prime caveat with crowdfunding is that crowd comes before funding. Cheapass Games started their crowdfunding phase with an existing fan base, but even then our campaigns were usually small, and our best projects were the result of partnering with people much more famous than us. Without an established audience, you probably won’t be able to reach the funding goal you need, so you’ll need to do a lot of community building before you launch a campaign.

Kickstarting a tabletop game can be a full-time job, lasting from three to six months before the campaign begins, to the end of fulfillment months or years later. And if you don't manage your costs correctly (shipping will kill you), you can end up underwater and / or sitting on inventory that you can't sell.

The upside is that if you succeed and manage your project well, you get to keep a publisher’s share of the profits. But this probably won’t eclipse what you make at your day job.

Your goals with Option 2: Raise the money to produce and ship your game, or determine that there is not sufficient interest in the market. (Both are valid results.)

Option 3: Partner with a Publisher. For the independent game designer, this is usually the best path. You will certainly make less money, but you will not risk anything (aside from your time) and you can leave the business of graphic design, print buying, production, distribution, etc. to a company with those capabilities.

Approaching Publishers: Typically, game publishers have clear submission guidelines, posted on their websites or available upon request. These guidelines will vary with the publisher but might be something like "we review games only in the Spring" or “find us at the next trade show.”

Working in this industry does require getting to know the people in it. I find that the larger trade shows are generally a good place to make an introduction, but not necessarily a good place to pitch games. Everyone is busy and distracted. But some folks will look at new games at trade shows, so do your homework and know the plan before you get there.

The Game Pitch: If you are going to present your game in person, the publisher's rep will probably make his decision in the first 90 seconds, so you need to be crisp and clear about what your game is about and why it is fun. As in a job interview, or any other human interaction, the rest of the reviewer’s time will be spent rationalizing their initial decision. If your game is very long, plan a demo that shows the best part of the game right away, and shows all key elements within the allotted time. And be prepared to answer their questions as much as you give your own spiel.

If you are packaging your game for review (not teaching it in person) think along the same lines. Your sell sheet should be clear and concise about the core value of the game. The details should be there, but your elevator pitch needs to be clear and fast. Send a prototype that is well-built and easy to play right out of the box.

In either case, if your prototype needs art, you should feel comfortable borrowing it from copyrighted sources. Don't pay for original art in a prototype, because (a) the publisher will replace it, guaranteed, and (b) if you seek to be reimbursed for that art, it now has a negative value to the publisher. Everyone at this stage understands that placeholder art does the job of selling the look and feel of the game, but is not expected to be final. (This is not true if you use Options (1) or (2), obviously.)

NDAs and Copyright Protection: Generally speaking, this is not a difficult industry from the standpoint of IP protection. You and the publisher should be willing to sign a simple mutual NDA prior to your showing them the details of the game; they will almost certainly have a standard form. On this form you will also acknowledge that they might already have a similar game in development, which protects them from a nuisance suit arising from coincidental similarities. But if your game is appealing to the publisher, it is extremely rare that they would try to steal it. There just isn't enough money in the hobby game market to attract that kind of shark. So there's a lower urgency to register your copyright, protect trademarks, file patents, or any of the things you might do in a more competitive industry. (Generally speaking.)

Exclusive Review: There was once a time when certain publishers would not deign to look at your game if you were also showing it to someone else, for fear of being caught in a bidding war. This could tie up your game for months or even years. This isn't generally acceptable any more, and I'd steer clear of anyone who asks for this. But you should make it clear to whoever you approach that other publishers are also looking at the game. And regardless of exclusivity, don't let a publisher string you along for months. I usually treat silence as a "no" after I've exhausted all the clear paths to "yes".

What to Expect: Publishers will always make changes, which can be frustrating since in many cases they don't understand your game as well as you do. However, they do understand their markets and their production pipeline, so you should expect them to do a certain amount of meddling.

Your payment should be some kind of advance (in the $1k-$5k range, usually) against a royalty of roughly 3-5% of adjusted gross, which is the total money they take in. If the game is a $40 retail item, expect that the bulk of their sales will be into distribution at 32%-35% of retail, which means your percentage comes out of an adjusted gross of about $13. Some deals are for flat rates, some are based on MSRP, but they usually boil down to a similar total payout.

It doesn't seem like a lot, because it isn't. A new hobby game might sell 5000 copies in its lifetime, which nets you less than $2-3k by the numbers above. A big success can be much better but those are extremely rare. And some deals are better than what I've outlined above; your mileage will absolutely vary. Considering the costs and risks involved, remember that the publisher doesn't end up with much more net revenue than you do.

Your goals with Option 3: Find a publisher who can bring your game to a wider audience, hopefully making it better in the process, and draw a small payday at very little risk.

Hope this is helpful, and good luck!