Protospiel

Paths to Publishing

This article assumes you’ve got a playable game and you’d like to bring it to the masses. It's the final part of a series which also includes these articles:

At this point, most designers head in one of two directions. The first path many take is to find a company who likes your game so much that they’ll take the risk to publish it. If you can’t do that, or if you prefer to handle the operation yourself, self-publishing is another option. This usually requires a lot of money upfront, so I don’t want to end things with these usual approaches to game publication. I will also highlight a more unique means that straddles the two. It has helped at least a few of us take our games into the industry without going broke.

(Note: At one time or another I’ve worked through each path I’m highlighting below. You can read about my own experiences in my article Making What’s It To Ya?. In that article I focus on the game’s journey more than the paths to publishing, but you’ll see a lot of overlap of material.)

Catching the Attention of an Established Publisher

The big publishers
Most large game publishers will not look at a game from an outside designer. Harkening back to the article on the myths of game design, remember that these companies generally don’t need our ideas and they don’t want to run the risk that you’ll accuse them of stealing your idea. It’s easier and has proven very profitable to largely ignore outside sources of ideas.

Is it possible to catch the attention of these publishers? Yes, but I’ll suggest it’s the least likely route to publication. The first step would be to secure a trustworthy agent. Agents present game ideas to the larger companies. When looking for an agent, one bit of advice I’ve heard is to never work with one who wants substantial money upfront, before your game is accepted by a publisher. In other words, legitimate agents will believe in your game enough to ask for a percentage of sales, not a large sum of cash from you before the job is done.

I will freely admit I have no personal experience dealing with such companies or with agents. If you seriously want to go about publishing this way, you’ll find much more advice from the resources listed at the end of this article.

Before bailing out on this subject altogether, though, I will mention that Patch Products and Fundex are two companies I’ve come across that sell to the mass market and do claim to accept outside submissions from designers. I’ve been rejected by both myself and I know of no games they’ve picked up through their submission process. Assuming they do consider games submitted to them as they say they do, you should pursue your options with those companies like you would with a smaller publisher, as I’ll describe next.

Approaching smaller publishers
As I mentioned in the common myths article, smaller publishers serving the hobby-game market are more open to innovative ideas. Many of them get all of their games from outside designers like you and me. Several of them even have guidelines available on their websites or upon request.

If I had written this article a year ago, this is the point where I’d give you several suggestions on how to best work through the submission process. In all honesty, though, I can’t suggest working through an impersonal submission process any longer. I haven’t heard any evidence that such an approach has worked for anyone in recent years. Most advice I’m hearing now supports another way to get your game in the hands of a publisher: Get to know the people in the company personally.

How do you go about doing that? Well, it’s not easy and it will take time. The simple fact is, though, if there’s a face or personality behind a game, the publishers are more likely to take it seriously. William Neibling Jr., also from Mayfair Games, put it this way: “People do business with people.” This is true of game publishers also.

Probably the simplest way to put this in practice is to go to a large game convention and meet the people who make the games. Origins and GenCon are the largest conventions in the U.S.. Some simple online searches will most likely lead to some smaller ones in your state that may allow you to make industry contacts.

Now, walking up to a booth and a convention and trying to show your game to the nice people there could be a disaster. I’ve seen it done poorly and I’ve had to walk away because of the uncomfortable tension that resulted. However, I have walked the floor of the exhibit hall at Origins with Kory Heath, and established designer, and he asked publisher after publisher about getting together to look at some of his designs. It was natural and productive. So, there’s a fine line between appearing over-anxious and being appropriately aggressive. After some personal success with this and from hearing how others have gone about it, here are some tips I can pass along:

Most of all, have a realistic vision for your idea and what the publishers can do for you. Naïve designers can be spotted immediately and most publishers have no desire to deal with them.
Get to know the people in the company first. If they’re running demo games at the convention, sit in on one or two. Be real and be friendly. If you’re really interested in being a part of the game industry, this is not a sneaky, backdoor ploy as you plot your strike. Instead, you’ll enjoy the experience and you’ll find a time when it’s natural to introduce your game.
If at all possible, work for a publisher or retailer in some capacity. I’ve done this through Fair Play Games. My online interviews allowed me to introduce myself to several designers and publishers in the industry and the “retailer” title made a huge difference in how I communicated with publishers at cons. A full-time job may not be a possibility, but look into helping out at a convention. Publishers often need qualified people to run demos for them.
With a phone call or email, ask ahead of time if there will be a good time to meet with the publishers to show them your game. Some publishers expect to play games and look at prototypes after regular hours at the cons.
Have some word “out there” about you and your work. A website highlighting some free games you’ve created can generate some online discussion. If you can write well, start a blog about games. Many publishers or employees in the industry are part of the larger discussion groups and word gets around if someone’s doing something interesting. Any respect you can earn in a visible way in the industry can work for you.

If you’re intent on working through a submission process in a less personal way, here is some advice:

Do your homework and choose publishers who make games sort of like what you have. If it’s too different, they won’t take a risk with it. On the other hand, if it’s too similar to other things they have, they won’t want to bother with it. As you consider many publishers, look for general trends in the games they publish.
Never send a game to a publisher without contacting them first or doing so as part of their submission process. It’s a waste of postage!
If they want an overview of your game first, be sure to speak to the needs of their company. Highlight what you think they’ll be looking for, not necessarily what you like about the game.
If they ask for a copy of your prototype, be sure it’s completely playable from the rules. It must present itself perfectly. Of course, if you’ve already gone through the hard work for blind playtesting, your game is probably prepared for this step.
Be prepared to wait. Judging from what I’ve seen, publishers are busier than ever these days. That stack of prototypes waiting to be evaluated may be number fifty on their list of things to do this weekend.
Keeping that in mind, you may have to follow up with calls or emails over the upcoming weeks. I’ve been told it’s acceptable to contact them once every two or three weeks. Use caution, though, since you don’t want to be a nuisance.
If your game is rejected, try to learn why. Use that information to improve for the next time you send it out.
If you keep trying, but keep getting those rejection letters, don’t neglect the information above about getting to know the people who are looking at your game!

It may seem that simply getting a contract, any contract, is the end goal here, but you probably want the best contract you can get. I’m not an expert in legal matters or in negotiating the perfect contract, so at this point I’ll refer you to Tom Jolly’s excellent article that addresses this matter.

Doing It Yourself

If finding a company to publish your game takes a lot of time, this option takes a lot of money. If you’ve got the money, though, or you know how to get it, self-publishing is a very possible option to turn a playable game into a finished product you can release on the masses. While there is much work to be done to print your own game, the hardest work begins after you receive the thousands of copies. When you choose to self-publish, you’re also choosing the jobs of marketing, promotion and sales.

I have only limited personal experience with this process. I have done the legwork to publish 3,000 copies of one of my party games. At the time I write this, the game is on a ship coming across the Pacific. I haven’t sold a single copy! So, I’ve got a lot to learn in that regard. I have seen plenty of my friends work through the entire process, though, and I’ve picked up some pointers. In addition to the resources I’ll list below, here are some realistic tips you need to keep in mind if you’re going to self-publisher your game:

Join GAMA or the GPA. Through those organizations you’ll learn far more than I can tell you in this article.
Start by determining all the specifications for printing and manufacturing the components of your game. You’ll find out quickly what those specs are as soon as you try to fill out a printer’s form for a quote. If you work with a friendly company, someone there will help you learn the terminology and make good suggestions.
If you don’t have the art for your game yet, that’s the next step. Prices and quality will vary greatly. My limited experience with artists has taught me you have to communicate everything upfront. Every artist I’ve dealt with has needed a deadline to finish the work. Also, several offered to help me out for free or for pay after the game was published. These same artists never came through on their work. The bottom line is to find someone whose work impresses you and pay what it takes to get the job done right.
You’ll need a UPC symbol on your box if you want large stores or distributors to carry your game.
Get several quotes from printers in North American and China. Some designers may even consider printing in Europe. Scope out some printers (I won’t list any in this article, since my experience with them is very limited) and contact them about their procedure for quotes. Make sure to get quotes for different sizes of print runs. It looks like 2,000 copies is the bare minimum you’d ever want to print (most won’t go lower than that anyway). Closer to 5,000 copies will likely be a good balance between initial investment and the risk of selling them all.
And speaking of printing overseas, many publishers are turning to China for printing. It’s certainly cheaper to go this route, but proceed with caution! I’ve heard high praise for the results from some in the business, but I’ve also heard some horror stories. Regardless of where a printer resides, don’t sign on with one until you have good recommendations from people you trust.
After all those games arrive, it’s time to contact retailers and distributors who may be interested in the game. If you’ve joined GAMA, you’ll have a chance to attend the trade show in Vegas each spring. If you’re shooting for the big time, you can always look into an expensive booth at the New York Toy Fair. In short, you’ve got to get the product in front of the people who will sell it. It can be a full-time job!
Consider running events to promote your game. Competitions for scholarships or other prizes can attract attention. By picking the right places and times, you may have an opportunity to get your game in the hands of the people who will most enjoy it.

Before moving on to the final approach, I want to mention that it’s getting easier and easier to print a quality game. The downside is that this makes it even easier to rush a game into production. Don’t forget it’s very hard to sell thousands of copies of a game if it doesn’t have it where it counts—and that’s in playability. Review the previous articles in this series on common myths and game design tips if you need to. Please don’t spend a fortune on a game that won’t be enjoyed by many people.

Another Approach

Four years ago I embarked on a slightly different approach that uses self-publishing to acquire a contract. Perhaps it’s the best of both worlds?

I started my journey in 2002, when I met my friend James Kyle. He was the guest of honor at Protospiel that year and in one seminar he explained how he worked his way to a contract for his game HellRail.

So, I took James’ advice to heart and I too was eventually offered a contract for one of my games. What’s his approach? It’s a middle ground of self-publishing on a small scale with the goal of signing a contract. It may take some time, but I’ll say from experience it’s an enjoyable ride with less of the stress from financial risks.

Make several copies of your game that you can sell
The first step is to make several copies of your game by hand. The end result will likely not be a game with high production value. That means you won’t be able to mark them up and bring in much profit but, at this stage, profit is not the goal. The goal is to get your game out to the target audience and gauge the possibilities of further sales.

To give specific examples, James printed 50 copies of his first edition HellRail game. He printed them on blank cardstock sheets using a color laser printer. Using a die cutter, he cut each card individually by hand. He split the cost of a booth at GenCon and sold all 50 copies at the four-day event.

As for my first efforts in this model, I started by printing 50 copies of my word/party game Yaddy-Yadda. I sold them as a “Black & White Game by Mike Petty”, so the cost of color printing wasn’t a concern for me. I cut the individual cards out by hand using a paper trimmer. Counting the equipment and components for the game, I spent around $200 for the whole thing. My games went up for sale exclusively through Fair Play Games. Unlike James, I didn’t sell all 50 copies right away. I eventually sold enough to make the venture worth my money, but more importantly, the experience gave me the courage to try the same thing with some other projects. Most didn’t catch much attention, but I was greatly encouraged by the response I received from my other party game, What’s It To Ya?.

So, a couple things to note here is that this process involves a lot of work up front. What you save in money you make up for with time. It’s no fun cutting several decks of cards by hand. Furthermore, don’t even bother thinking about making money at this stage. Profits will be minimal and in some cases designers have to sell their small printing for less than they paid to make it!

Next, make more!
Once you’re sure you’ve got a game that appeals to your target audience, it’s time to step up production. Ideally, find a way to print 200-500 copies. Again, print runs of this size won’t bring in much money. The cost to make the copies will still be far less of a risk, though, than it would be to make 2,000 to 5,000 copies. Also, a few hundred copies can gain the necessary attention of a larger publisher.

In James’ case, he moved on to 500 copies of HellRail. Once again, he made these by hand cutting out each card individually! He sold them rather quickly through online retailers and his website.

My own path to publishing followed a similar course. Once What’s It To Ya? was receiving good comments and reviews, I looked for options to print more copies. I worked with Terry Carr, owner of Fair Play Games, and we planned a printing of 200 copies of the game. We hired Scott Starkey to do the art and we stepped up the original production values of the game considerably.

Get some positive exposure
In an effort to sell off the 500 copies of HellRail, James sent a review copy to Games Magazine. They ended up liking the game so much that they picked it for their end-of-the-year Games 100 list. By this time the game had received enough positive attention that Mayfair Games offered James a contract.

Following in James’ steps, I also sent a copy of What’s It To Ya? to Games Magazine. It took several months for them to bring the game to light, but they did eventually pick it for their Games 100 list. After that it was only a matter of weeks before all games were sold and we had many requests for more copies.

In my case, I still haven’t received a contract for What’s It To Ya?. But I don’t consider it a waste of time by any means. The success of that game opened the door to talks with several publishers and, directly due to those contacts, one of my other party games was published by SimplyFun.

It’s definitely worth mentioning James’ model doesn’t have to end with a contract. Jim Doherty started his game publishing company, Eight Foot Llama, using James’ same formula for success. While you could say Doherty simply started small and built his production runs up, he always credits James Kyle as the one that got him excited and moving into the industry with his “spit and bailing wire” methods. Now he publishes his own games such as Who Stole Ed’s Pants, The Penguin Ultimatum and Monkeys on the Moon. They have all done very well by usual standards for a small publisher.

I offer these examples and the general principles of the approach to show it is possible to break into the industry without risking a small fortune. This process does require a hefty amount of creativity and many hours of work with little monetary reward, at least at first. What I personally like best about it, though, is it allows the game to gain momentum, not through slick promotion schemes and lavish production values, but strictly on its ability to entertain people.

To conclude, if you’re not into the business side of things and if you’ve got a strong, marketable game design, you’ll most likely want to search for a small publisher who will take your game. If you’ve got a lot of money and you’re sure you can sell your game, start looking seriously at self-publishing. Don’t forget the creative, middle-of-the-road approach either, since it’s a great way to test the waters for your design before taking a bigger plunge.

For further information

The Game Inventor’s Guidebook is a well-written book that's light on the process of making a game, but it covers some important information about the industry.

GAMA (The Game Manufacturers Association) and GPA (The Game Publishers Association) are two well established organizations for game publishers and game designers that you may want to consider joining.

Making What’s It To Ya? - This is my article highlighting my experience, from initial concept to publishing 3,000 copies, of my own party game.

Excel Development Group - This is a toy and game licensing agency that has proven successful for some inventors and designers.

Sloperama is Tom Sloper's compilation of loads of advice for aspiring game designers.

Discover Games is a company dedicated to helping small game companies and game designers bring their dreams to the marketplace. They show member games at the New York Toy Fair and an annual event they organize in Chicago.

Tom Jolly created this excellent page of information for designers who want to create and market their own game. It specifically addresses contract negotiation.

this page last updated 4 Sept 2006