Episode 21.5: A Quick Update

Part One: Cover Art

One of the most important things you can consider for your RPG is its cover. Eric Rowe always tells me that he doesn't understand why small press guys don't spend all their money on the cover and ditch the interiors. I mean, let's face it. What would you rather have: a bitchin' cover or a few dozen not-so-bitchin' interiors?

Face facts: You don't have a lot of money. Call it $1,200 budgeted for art. You can split that between a cover and a few interiors, or spend it all on your cover. And let me tell you: interiors don't sell your book.

Anyway, I had an idea for the cover. I was going to fax it to Thomas. I jumped in my car (with fax and cash in hand), drove half way down the hill (in the pouring rain) and found myself with an empty tank of gas. I pulled over at the Lemon Avenue 76 Station and thought about the covers we commissioned for the L5R and 7th Sea RPGs. That's when I turned right around and sent Thomas this e-mail:

Thomas,

Forget everything I said before. Forget the FAX. I got a new idea.

(I'm covered in rain, soaking wet. I was driving down to the Office Max to Fax this off to you when it hit me - like a thunderclap, it hit me.)

A single thraka, standing over the kneeling figure of a dowmga, holding a child in her arms. Maybe it's raining. I don't know. Rain, black clouds, thunderstorm, lightning.

All around them, the village is burning. Dead orks lie everywhere. The thraka/dowmga/child are surrounded by centurions, intent on killing every last ork in the village. We can see them in the background of the picture, their circle completely surrounding the thraka.

The thraka, on the other hand, has a spear and a shield in his hands. He has a serious gash somewhere on his body, and he's bleeding. There's blood on the tip of his spear and his shield has a bloody mark of someone's head being bashed in.

Blood. Blood. Blood.

The warriors are closing in. The thraka's standing his ground, protecting the mother, even if it means his own life. The look in his eyes says it all.

"I will not fall. No matter how many of you there are - I Will Not Fall."

There is -nothing- pretty about this picture. But, in all fairness, we'll probably have to tone down the blood a bit. I'm sure we can figure out a way to put blood on the picture without putting blood on the picture. I don't know. I'm still jazzed about looking into that thraka's eyes and knowing that I just don't want any part of him.

All the covers of the books I've done, I've always wanted to convey the "I wanna play -that guy-." L5R did that. 7th Sea did that. I want Orkworld to do that.

I wanna play that guy. You think he's gonna lose? Hell no. He's gonna fight to the death, and that ain't losing.

Anyway, this is the image in my head. Show me a sketch and let's get to work!

(Feel free to make suggestions, additions, subtractions. I'm -very- excited about this cover, but not enough to know that an artist has to work within his own skills/limitations/etc. Let me know if you want to change something and we'll talk about it.)

-The Very Excited John Wick

Thomas sent me a total of six covers to choose from: three different versions of the picture I described above and three alternates. From those, Jennifer and I picked two that we liked the most.

Cover Number 1:

[Image not recovered]

Cover Number 2: [Image not recovered]

We decided to go with the second choice. Our reasons? Well, the first picture centered on the character, while the second one focused on the scene. I know I just got done saying that the cover should make someone want to play the character, but there's something so powerful about the second one. Chiefly, that it gives the viewer a sense of scope. Orkworld is a big game. It's not just about character, it's about Household and Tribe. It's about the world. And so, we decided to go against convention (and go with Thomas' suggestion) and go with Cover #2.

You can see all Thomas' covers over at orkworld.com. In the meantime, let's talk about printing!

Part Two: Another Quote

Another printer. Another quote. Here's how it looks.

Now then, some terms. "Perfect bound" is softcover. "Smythe case" is hardcover. "Offset" is normal paper while "Glat" is a special kind of paper - cream in color, to be specific. So, these quotes tell me the best way to fly is to go with 1,000 Offset Perfect Bound ($4,628) and 1,000 Glat Smythe Case ($8814). That's a total of $13,442. An additional note: in addition to that whole signed and numbered bit, the hardbacks will have dust covers. That's right, dust covers. Yummy.

Now, the standard going rate for a 258 page softbound in our industry is about $25 while a hardbound is $30. If I sell the entire print run on the Wizard's Attic, I'll make a total profit of ($25,000 [softbound] + $30,000 [hardbound]) $55,000. Subtract the printing cost ($55,000 - $13,442) and we get $41,448.

Then, don't forget that Eric takes 12%, which is $3.6 from each hardbound and $3 for each softcover. That's a total of ($3,600 + $3,000) $6,600 off the top. Now, our total profit is ($41,448 - $6,600) $34,848.

Of course, this is only if we sell it direct. If we choose to sell it through the distributors, we have to account for that 60% discount. I won't do the numbers. Suffice to say, I'll lose money.

Now, I have a plan. It involves pre-orders. I'm not ready to go that far just yet (you haven't even bought me dinner!), but we'll talk about it soon enough. And another thing: the soft covers may be unlimited. That all depends on the pre-orders from distributors. If I get 'round 3,000, I can afford to print more. Like I said, we have to wait and see.

That's where things stand right now. I have another quote coming in. We'll see what they have to say.

In the meantime, remember that it's gonna cost me thirteen thousand dollars to print this book. If you have the money just - oh, I don't know - laying around, you let me know, okay?

On Friday: we finally talk about shamen. And wait 'till you see what they're doing with their spare time…

Until then, take care of yourself