Merkir's question went completely unanswered and mine mostly unanswered. So I guess we still don't know if we're comparing apples to apples or not.

Nobody works for exposure.

They, mostly, shouldn't, but some people do.

Shall we talk about Fabula Ultima? Gorgeous book. Tiny publisher. Currently an Adamantine seller.

I didn't want to get involved in this discussion about apples and oranges, but I have to second that. Fabula Ultima is a great book, with very nice art and a layout I find quite conducive to reading.
It also happens to be a (personal opinion again, obviously) quite interesting RPG, which I believe is a great part of the appeal. But it's one thing to be great, and another thing to be accessible and make the greatness be obvious. FU, in my opinion, does that : the book art and layout makes it easy to grasp the core of what makes it interesting.

Now compare it with RMU and see where the differences are. It does not explain the full difference in popularity, but it probably does explain part of it.

I must admit that the last RM book I could read without wondering why it took so long to get to the freaking point was probably the original ChL&CL. RM2 suffered from a critical lack of editorial and quality control, and from RMSS onwards, the core of the rules and the design intention were buried in meandering prose. Personal opinion here, but the first commandment should be "get to the point"; the second should be "provide an example"; and the third should be "provide *technical* design information" (instead of an essay on the relative values of historical and literary source material, which can easily be omitted or moved to the appendices).

Layout and artwork is the icing on the cake.

Also, your artists...
- Who were they? Friends? People willing to 'work for exposure'? True professionals?
- And what did you pay them?

The writing credits are listed right there. Eric Lofgren and James Denton have done Magic cards. The cover to Before the Empire is stock art; I've hired him for custom pieces in other books before. The cover to Ex Cyclopedia is a piece of stock art by Dean Spencer. I could never hire Patricia again because not long after, she became a big shot and did some concept art for Hollywood. Storn Cook did some internal illustrations for Do Not Approach.

I paid them money. Nobody works for exposure.

Looking back, the Eliminator lost me a little bit of money. But I do own the the rights to the cover image. So I'll probably use that again at some point.

Quote from: pawsplay on May 22, 2024, 04:16:15 PM

Quote from: pastaav on May 21, 2024, 04:04:04 AM

Quote from: pawsplay on May 19, 2024, 02:04:06 PM

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/211267/do-not-approach
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/423878/before-the-empire-the-3-0-srd
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/194515/the-eliminator-5e
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/207804/Ex-Cyclopedia

There's a few. Nothing fancy, just a mix of custom and stock art.

So one of them made Silver, one Copper and two did not reach Copper. Did you break even on any of them?

Every single one of these is a profitable publication.

I have to ask, for the 37 page product selling for $2.95 which has sold under 50 copies, how many hours work went into its development and getting it ready for publication?

Also, your artists...
- Who were they? Friends? People willing to 'work for exposure'? True professionals?
- And what did you pay them?

Quote from: pawsplay on May 19, 2024, 02:04:06 PM

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/211267/do-not-approach
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/423878/before-the-empire-the-3-0-srd
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/194515/the-eliminator-5e
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/207804/Ex-Cyclopedia

There's a few. Nothing fancy, just a mix of custom and stock art.

So one of them made Silver, one Copper and two did not reach Copper. Did you break even on any of them?

Every single one of these is a profitable publication.