Introduction

Hello, I'm Jacob and I'm a micro-press RPG publisher. Like a lot of folks in the gaming hobby, I'm intrigued by the innovations in marketing and releasing products that the internet has enabled. I recently released an ebook, titled Character Webs, on DrivethruRPG.com. I used DTRPG's Pay What You Want model, which I like to call a tip jar.

Pay What You Want is a simple proposition. Any digital products available on DTRPG using this model can be downloaded for any amount of money, essentially making them free products that the reader can later "tip" the publisher for to show appreciation. I like this model (and yes, I've tipped others) because it allows a publisher to get a good idea of the perceived value of their products. In conversations with colleagues I've been asked for my experience using a tip jar, so I have decided to open up the discussion here on RPG.net.

My Experience

Character Webs is a small booklet, with only eleven pages of content. It was written after I read a post on the forums here at RPG.net about lifepath character generation. Character Webs is universal to any RPG system and adds random backgrounds and other elements to PCs and the party. I used no art in the book, as it was designed for individual pages to be printed out as needed, and I don't feel like wasting my readers' ink cartridges. My cost to make this book was nil, meaning I had nothing to recoup and could stand to release it for free.

In my own estimation, most products of this size and type would be fairly sold at between one and two dollars. I decided to let the readers decide and put it up on DTRPG using Pay What You Want. The benefit of this was that not only did Character Webs get listed in the Newest Products section, but also in the Newest Free Products section, where it stayed on the front page for a while.

As of the time that I write this, 134 people have downloaded Character Webs. Fifteen of those people chose to pay for it. The average amount tipped is 1.60 USD. The lowest tip was .10 and the highest was 5.00. The book has one review, which I am happy to write is a five-star review.

I'm not going to get rich off of this pdf, and I knew that I wouldn't, but I wanted to see what could be done using a tip jar rather than a straight price. Would I have had the fifteen paying customers if I priced Character Webs at a buck? I don't think so, because the average customer is less likely to be drawn even to click on a one-dollar book than a free book, and I certainly wouldn't have had more than fifteen paying customers if I charged up front for it.

I'd say that this has been a positive experience so far. I've got great feedback on Thunderegg Productions' Facebook page and on Google+. Folks gave me their opinions, as well as ideas to make the book better. I originally published the book with no table borders and with colored lettering in the sections where I needed color (Character Webs uses four different colors of dice). This was to reduce the amount of ink that would be needed to print a page. I thought that I was being considerate of my readers. My readers thought that it was ugly, so I changed it. Character Webs now has borders on its tables and the cells that need it are shaded in the necessary color with the text in black.

Guess what? After I sent an email to all of Character Webs' previous purchasers, the amount of paid and free downloads nearly doubled. A lot of that increase was likely due to word of mouth following the update.

Is a Tip Jar for You?

If you, reader, are or want to be a publisher, you would do well to consider the tip jar model. The pros are that you receive a little extra publicity on DTRPG, more people are likely to download and read your work and it is a good feeling to know that those gamers on a serious budget can enjoy your book (and even tip any time after the initial download).

As with anything, there are cons to this model. The first is that it is scary to use. If you paid for art, layout and advertising, it can be a source of anxiety to think about giving your hard work away for free. There is a very real chance that you may not recoup your investment. Another con is that DTRPG only tracks paid downloads for its Hottest Seller lists, meaning that while 134 people read my most recent book, the title peaked at about the 25th spot on the Hottest Small Press list. If each of those customers had paid for it, it would have skyrocketed, resulting in more publicity. Lastly, DTRPG's metal system, modeled after the music industry's gold and platinum records, does not count free copies towards metal awards. Character Webs would currently be a Copper Best Seller otherwise.

The Future

I'm not done with this experiment. The plan is to release several more small ebooks that will be thematically linked to Character Webs. The first of these, Species and Societies, may be out by the time this column is published. They will all be easy to use and universal. They will all be funded solely by a tip jar.

Following this, though, I am going to make a print version available. I plan on collecting all of the supplements together, organizing them logically for the book and expanding upon them. I will be adding some new content for added value to the print version. The current line of supplements is meant to be very quick to use, and the extra content will be more of an optional extra flavor system for the GM and player who have more time to prepare or who want an extra layer of detail in their games.

In the coming months, I'll be filling you in on my progress. I'll also be surveying RPG.net users on their perceptions of, expectations from and desires for tip jar products. The information gained from the entire experience is going to be useful for publishers and their readers.