Please, no. Unlike the comparison with CD's and tapes, where CD's were an improvement in almost every sense, PDFs are not a clear progression from books.
Books have a tactile component lacking in electronic versions, one suited to intimate browsing. My heart still leaps when I see an old print copy of Runequest 2 (that's THE one I played as a kid!) while it remains unmoved by a PDF. Greg signed some of my books. Others have notes in the margins by previous owners, with clever character twists. The medium is part of the message.
Total pleasure time I've spent reading my hundreds of game files: zero. Total pleasure time spent reading RPG books: please, don't make my wife angry.
So it's a fair question to ask in a niche market like this, how typical am I?
Yes, in theory you can print from Lulu, though I haven't had good experiences. They often drop titles (like Hearts in Glorantha), and the print quality isn't great.
John's solution is a lot more appealing:
> John Machin wrote:
> >All sorts of indie gaming folks have found that pre-orders, with PDFs
> >being provided to pre-ordering clients until the books are printed, is
> >a fairly good way to go.
This seems increasingly common with boardgames for wargamers. Multiman Publishing (which now prints the Advanced Squad Leader Games) is typical: they prepare a game, and once it has a certain number of orders (1500 for the last ASL release), they start the print. The games are beautiful, and the first run is entirely sold before the presses even heat up.
I've ordered several games from different publishers in this format, with a typical waiting period of about nine months. It allows customers to get high-quality prints and publishers to sell their games with payment up-front.
Is this a viable option for RPGs?
Dan
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