Author: Mike "Talien" Tresca (---.105.163)
Date: 06-12-2002 10:02
Hi Patrick!
This is an excellent column. There are a few points you glossed over, however, that I'm very curious about.
You said "If I want Firefly Games to be a success, I simply must be carried by Alliance." I've heard this before. However, you then skip down the timeline in which it's assumed you're being carried by Alliance. I can't find the earlier installment of your article (for some reason, it's not listed in the archives at the moment), but I recall you mentioning that you know people in the right places, possibly distributors.
I've worked with a few companies now and one of the biggest problems they're having is distribution. Indeed, I'd hazard a guess that distribution makes or breaks a company. Apparently, there's been a shakeup in the industry lately. This is possibly due in part to the downturn in the economy and explosion of d20 publishers -- many who, I imagine, are failing to pay their bills when they go under.
As a result, I've been told that some distributors simply flat-out refuse to carry small-publisher products. Can you explain in further detail the process in which one gets picked up by a distributor? Is it really that arbitrary?
I'm curious, because it impacts me as a freelance writer. Thanks!
Mike "Talien" Tresca
http://www.retromud.org/talien
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