So, I see RMU Core Law is a Platinum seller, which means it has sold at least 1,001 copies. The PDF is $25. I'm going to assume the printed books are roughly that plus the cost of shipping and printing; that could be quite different, but shouldn't affect the overall picture too much. That means that on DriveThru, they have generated $25,000 or so in sales, off the top. As far as I am aware, they don't sell anywhere else, so at the 70% exclusive rate, they get to keep $17,500 or so from that book.

Assuming they could predict something along those sales numbers, if they spent 15% of the expected profit on art, they would have around $2625 to spend on art. That may be low; I usually plan on spending about 25% of gross on art, as needed. So let's say somewhere between $2500 and $6000.

That figure isn't profit, it is income. There were numerous contributors to writing Core Law, who needed to be paid for a good many years of work on the project. The layout guy also needed to be paid. Presumably, the editorial heads received some compensation as well. There's also the initial investment of buying the rights to Rolemaster that need to be recovered before there is any profit. I'm pretty sure that even if you ignore the art budget, RMU didn't reach profitability on the sales of Core Law alone. I hope it did with Spell Law.

The size of the flying carpet is limited by the Work Weave spell. The highest level version is Work Weave VI at level 40, producing a 6' x 10' carpet. At 60 square feet, that can carry up to 3 tons (6,000 pounds) but assuming each person needs 2' x 2' space for seating, limited to 15 riders. It's quite a useful transport, but it won't be carrying full ships aloft.

Hi to all interested,

Virii (magic) is the Iruaric language the author used - I look to the books as fanfiction because the price is so low, that only amazon gets something for posting it - so copyright violation is minor in my opinion - similar as others of you that publish fan modules that are original meant for ICE shadowworld product line.

I personally love the books (5 stars), having changed the strange names in the second book back to Terran and original name of Kulthea in spacemaster. Thats much more fun to read. In my opinion its (after Terrys books) the best shadowworld fiction I have read for a long time - smoothly and refreshing with a lot of Rolemaster classes and spells described very well.
I hope the author will write more (and in fact I would give him an official shadowworld book to write and publish if I were ICE, because he is just so good...:-) And we need bitterly somebody who hold up the flag.
Thanks
Micael

[...] getting all the books out should IMHO be the highest priority.

Yes, but then, I would recommend to use rather no (or less) art than bad art.

Quote from: Cory Magel on May 25, 2024, 11:52:53 AM

My point is: What was the profit? I don't think you can realistically compare what you did as a justification for complaining. I don't think you want to tell us yours (part of the point of Merkir's question) and I don't think you can tell us on the others mentioned. And before you think you can say you made a profit because you didn't need to pay yourself, that's not a reasonable comparison.

I definitely pay myself.

Quote

The vast majority of people here not walked a mile in their shoes, so they need to lay off a bit on the armchair criticism.

I'm guessing that wasn't directed at me, as I am indie RPG publisher?

So, I see RMU Core Law is a Platinum seller, which means it has sold at least 1,001 copies. The PDF is $25. I'm going to assume the printed books are roughly that plus the cost of shipping and printing; that could be quite different, but shouldn't affect the overall picture too much. That means that on DriveThru, they have generated $25,000 or so in sales, off the top. As far as I am aware, they don't sell anywhere else, so at the 70% exclusive rate, they get to keep $17,500 or so from that book.

Assuming they could predict something along those sales numbers, if they spent 15% of the expected profit on art, they would have around $2625 to spend on art. That may be low; I usually plan on spending about 25% of gross on art, as needed. So let's say somewhere between $2500 and $6000.

When I look at RMU Core Law cover and interior art, the question in my mind is: where did the $2500 go? Because I sure don't see it on the cover.

And just to be clear, while my business is still small, I run a commercial endeavor.

You seem so eager to bash ICE over their choices, a small group of 3-4 or so "freelancers".

I'm asking this because I'm curious:

Looking at your own products on Drivethru: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/3002/wandering-star-llc

Why aren't you budgetting and commissioning artists for  $1000-2500 cover art images for your books instead of using easily forgettable stock art?
You make it seem to us like you can handle book projects better than ICE looking at your posts in this thread, plus sell more copies and get more profit from your projects than they do.
Yet the examples in the links provided to us earlier tell us you've sold tops 50 or so out of one example of books from the links.
It just doesn't add up with me.