Info for start-ups

[Mr. Swagger]

What are some good suggestions/info for those that want to start a 3PP company?
A sample question and one I would like answered is do I need to buy Adobe or can I just use Microsoft word to convert a document into a pdf format, and have it sell on RPGnow or Paizo.com, and trust they will do the encoding needed for their sites. I have no idea now to use Adobe to that extent.
Another question is how much to artist usually charge for illustrations(for each illustration)?

[Enlight_Bystand]

Mr. Swagger wrote:

What are some good suggestions/info for those that want to start a 3PP company?

A sample question and one I would like answered is do I need to buy Adobe or can I just use Microsoft word to convert a document into a pdf format, and have it sell on RPGnow or Paizo.com, and trust they will do the encoding needed for their sites. I have no idea now to use Adobe to that extent.
Another question is how much to artist usually charge for illustrations(for each illustration)?

It certainly possible to use one of several different converters to make a pdf from a text document, which will be enough to create the product. However, you'll probably want to think about looking at getting a proper desktop publishing tool (heck, even Microsoft Publisher!) which will allow you to create a far better looking product, probably with less hassle.

I'm afraid I can't help you on art though.

[wraithstrike]

Enlight_Bystand wrote:

Mr. Swagger wrote:

What are some good suggestions/info for those that want to start a 3PP company?

A sample question and one I would like answered is do I need to buy Adobe or can I just use Microsoft word to convert a document into a pdf format, and have it sell on RPGnow or Paizo.com, and trust they will do the encoding needed for their sites. I have no idea now to use Adobe to that extent.
Another question is how much to artist usually charge for illustrations(for each illustration)?

It certainly possible to use one of several different converters to make a pdf from a text document, which will be enough to create the product. However, you'll probably want to think about looking at getting a proper desktop publishing tool (heck, even Microsoft Publisher!) which will allow you to create a far better looking product, probably with less hassle.

I'm afraid I can't help you on art though.

I have publisher on my desktop, but I have never used it. I will start to experiment with it.

[Megan Robertson]

Whoever you choose to sell through will expect to be provided with PDFs.

Talk to Paizo (use the 'contact us' link under 'About Paizo' in the menu on the left of this page) and/or read OneBookShelf's summary of how to set up with them.

There is quite a lot of art on sale via OBS that is sold with a licence for private and commercial use, it depends on what you are intending to produce whether or not any would be suitable.

If you need help with producing PDFs, doing layout, proofreading, etc., get in touch with me via my website. I can point you in the right direction to find other freelancers or discuss the possibility of working with you myself, as suits.

Good luck - hopefully I'll be reviewing your product 'ere long!

[Shifty]

Good post.

I was thinking of gathering some friends and going down the same path.

[Megan Robertson]

I would recommend to anyone that you get someone external to at least proof-read your work, even if you or someone in your group is good at the technical aspects of layout.

I once reviewed someone's work (after it had been published) and he decided that my explanation of his core mechanic was better than his own and put it in the revised version! It's not that I am good at mechanics, it's that he'd been living with it so long that it was too obvious to need explaining... :)

[Lilith]

It's good to have one editor for prose and another for mechanics/statblocks. It's what has worked out well for Wayfinder.

[Marc Radle]

I would recommend a more professional layout application. Adobe In Design or Quark eXpress are really the way to go. I have used both, but now use InDesign exclusively. In addition to the software, you really need graphic design skill or your product will not look clean and professional. Instead of spending the money on professional layout software like InDesign, maybe you might be better off hooking up with a freelance graphic artist (who would of course already have the software, as well as the skill) and have him or her do the layout work. That way you can concentrate on the writing and development of the product.

As for art, it will vary depending on the artist of course. Also, color costs more than black and white etc.

Good luck!

[Vic Wertz]

We've had a couple of good threads on this topic on our boards before.

I think this one is particularly good, and it includes links to a few older such threads in the second post. This one talks a bit more specifically about some of the legal stuff involved.

[Shifty]

Let us know how you get on Swagger; I intend to put together a basic plan and get some friends in and see if we can make something happen.

Would be nice to do it, if only for the sake of doing it :p

[Megan Robertson]

Thanks, Vic!

There are several products available about writing for the hobby - try the 3 volumes of The Kobold Guide to Game Design from Open Design for starters - but less about the technical aspects... even I am Mongoose and So Can You by Matthew Sprague is light on more than the need to attend to such matters! But read it anyway, there's a fair bit of sound business sense there.

Another shorter (and free!) work on the business/organisational side is e-Publishing Secrets by Preston DuBose, of 12 to Midnight. I think it's still available on their website.