Option 1 makes sense to me. Given how cheap the price of Shadowcrag was at lulu it should be very low for KQ.

I'm not sure whether I can do it at cost. I guess I can try it, but if I see more people buying it at Lulu than have subscribed, I'll have to write off that channel.

FWIW, I haven't taken a profit yet from Lulu.

I think that Wolfgang made it clear that the price was higher for the paper copy if you purchased the PDF and paper version both from lulu direct, and what method should be used to get around the problem so there wouldn't be a price jump. I can validate this, because thats how I went about it with his assistance.

I thought he was pretty up front about the whole thing. I don't know how else he could do it. Should he just give it away to "new" patrons for free (merely the print cost) when he has had others pay? I don't know how else he could have put it up on lulu, and not have the problem that arose. I think the situation is a little confused. I don't think he charged any more for the intellectual content on lulu than he did any other patron. The lulu policy is what caused the confusion, not wolfgang's pricing.

I hate PDF even though it has allowed many products to reach the gamer, so I favor Option 1 as it gives the buyer a choice in the version they receive.

Option 2 doesn't bother me. It's not as if you would be taking away business from a domestic printer seeing as how no one has the business yet and won't because of the high cost.

What's the longshot?

Although Lulu confuses me, it does appear that the pricepoint is good for it. I would want one thing included though...if you were to put the book on lulu, that it doesn't include the ad pages...unless there are insignificant pages of ads...Dragon and Dungeon were great zines, but if I had to print it myself, adding 12 pages of ad space would suck.

I understand, its an issue of scope, if you don't mind the play on words.

Maybe putting an ad in Dragon would get some draw? I know there aren't many issues left, but it would be a boon, I'm sure. How much would a reasonable ad cost? I would be willing to kick some into the pot (Im not rich, but I can contribute), to cover it to help ensure longevity.

Won't the savings in #2 be offset by the shipping costs?

Lulu works for me. I was really impressed with the print version of Castle Shadowcrag.

I like PDF's just fine. I think I prefer them to print. Easier for me to reference and look things up. Can also print out by page as needed for using in my game. So I am not particularly wed to paper magazines. I think electronic magazines are the way of the future.

I have been tossing around a printed circulation magazine. I work for the local newspaper as a advertising/design specialist. Newspapers will also print private materials provided the price is right and usually that price isn't too bad and you can print 10,000 - 40,000 copies pretty easily and at a reasonable price.

The only problem here is quality. It will print on newspaper paper and while this would be great - the survivability of the product is low, especially for gaming. I also don't know how well it would be accepted in the RPG community. The good side, it would only be like two or three bucks at the most and could be filled with content. It depends on what you wanted to do with it though.

Contact your local newspaper, you might find something there.

If not, grab the newspaper for a week or so and it will have special sections that are inserted, they will look like normal, if a little bit low quality magazines - full color, glue binded. Probably on the same par as Dungeon or Dragon magazine.

I'm pretty much Johnny-come-lately here, but what's lulu?

And, I have no problem with a PDF version.

All - there's a very good POD company that is not necessarily a Lulu.com clone. It's more for the small publisher who wants an alternative. Both Key 20 ( www.key20.com ) and Precis Intermedia Games (formerly Politically Incorrect Games - www.pigames.net ) use Avalon Innovation ( www.avalonteam.com ) for their POD and print delivery solutions.

http://www.avalonteam.com/cap_paperbacks.html

For an 120 page, black and white book with color cover (all 4 pages) it'd run about 4.15/book for printing. Saddle-stitched and no minimum print run.

Plastic bags for mailing (if you wanted to do a print run and then ship) run about .025 /bag if purchased in bulk of 500.

Mailing for US residents would be very low using media mail.

Charging $8-9.00/issue or a subscription of $30.00/yr would net you nearly a 75% return on investment.

Put an article or two from each issue as a download and you've got yourself a product.

Doh - forgot about paying the writers. I'm always in "solo" mode.

Print quality is very good. They know their stuff when it comes to paper (i.e. best weights for specific sizes).

I own some pieces from both and both stand up well.

Since there is no minimum print run you could always send a single work to them and have them print it up.

Later

You may be able to find a small local print company who can do it cheaply enough. Alternatively, I've heard that there are black-and-white printers in Japan who supply the nation's small-time comic book writers with cost-effective printing; if you can find a helpful guy who speaks their Moon Language, this may be an option.

I just received my lulu shadowcrag print, and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Its a professional job entirely from cover colors, internal clarity, page quality, and binding. I wish more books were done this well. The pages may be a slightly lighter weight than some books sent to the stores, but I wouldn't say its a bad thing.