Steffworthington Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Hi everyone, I need some valuable information in order to know how to proceed with a new and exciting magazine project (more on this in the coming days). We're making it PDF & POD but whether it's greyscale or full colour depends largely on you guys... Please answer the poll and it'll help spark the resurgence of a once much loved magazine! For the first time in it's history I'm hoping to include BRP content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trifletraxor Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Fullcolour is allways better! Then you allways have the option of printing it in grayscale if that's what you want. SGL. Quote Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub! 116/420. High Priest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steffworthington Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Fullcolour is allways better! Then you allways have the option of printing it in grayscale if that's what you want. SGL. hm. Maybe not on this ocassion. Being from a design background some of the pages may have black backgrounds so when I say full colour I really mean 'full colour glossy type magazine'. Thanks for responding! It's all good information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdavies2720 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 All else being equal, full color is always more appealing. In general, when I see black-and-white or greyscale, I think "Amateur product" and when I see full color, I think "professional product." This is a generalization, but even really great greyscale art and layout usually makes me think "wow, I wonder where that amateur group got such a great illustrator/layout artist." All this mostly applies to the cover. Once inside, I've gotten pretty used to black-and-white or two-color printing. Steve Quote Bathalians, the newest UberVillians! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaira Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Sounds cool Steff! Want to know more! I'd certainly buy a PDF mag if it was what I wanted, and either read online or print out. Ideally I'd also like the option for POD - that way I'd be much more inclined to subscribe rather than just buy ad hoc (specially if it was reasonably frequent, too!). Actually not bothered about colour or b&w - my wizened memory has most RPG mags as B&W so I'm fine either way. I'd much rather the art be good, appropriate, with cool maps Cheers, Sarah Quote "The Worm Within" - the first novel for The Chronicles of Future Earth, coming 2013 from Chaosium, Inc. Website: http://sarahnewtonwriter.com | Twitter: @SarahJNewton | Facebook: TheChroniclesOfFutureEarth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thalaba Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'd decided I'll probably never buy a PDF (or at least - it would have to be something I REALLY wanted and couln't physically purchase). Thanks to the various charity bundles over the last two years, I've got loads of PDFs of games I'm legitimately interested in that I've never read and probably never will. I just don't like reading on a screen that much, especially when I've got a least a 2 year backlog of print material on my bookshelves I haven't got to yet! I would, and have, bought POD from Lulu and I suppose I would from DriveThru too. As for colour vs. BW: I don't really care. I'd much rather have a BW book with tasteful layout (no clunky margin art or giant watermarks) and good illustrations that actually have something to do with the text (or perhaps a series that stands alone as an expose). I want the art to be mature and evocative. If it looks like it was designed to appeal to children or teens, I'll be turned off right quick - even if I might like the rest. As for content, you mention you were thinking of 'including BRP' material - which means it won't be a focus by any means. I'm personally not interested in a lot of the big systems out there. I have no interest in D&D or WOD anymore, for instance, though I do like a lot of indie or smaller games. Whether or not I purchase a magazine of mixed content would really depend very much on what the contents were - something, I suppose, that would have to be evaluated on an issue-by-issue basis. I know that makes me a tough sell, but fwiw I hope it helps. Quote "Tell me what you found, not what you lost" Mesopotamian proverb __________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agentorange Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Being old fashioned I prefer printed matter, POD is fine. I do buy PDF's and have a tendency to read them on my PC though I have printed some of those I've bought. Given the choice though I'd rather have some printed matter. As regards art, colour cover is nice though internal art I'm not to fussed about, if you can afford colour internal art all well and good, if not then B & W is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steffworthington Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'd decided I'll probably never buy a PDF (or at least - it would have to be something I REALLY wanted and couln't physically purchase). Thanks to the various charity bundles over the last two years, I've got loads of PDFs of games I'm legitimately interested in that I've never read and probably never will. I just don't like reading on a screen that much, especially when I've got a least a 2 year backlog of print material on my bookshelves I haven't got to yet! I would, and have, bought POD from Lulu and I suppose I would from DriveThru too. As for colour vs. BW: I don't really care. I'd much rather have a BW book with tasteful layout (no clunky margin art or giant watermarks) and good illustrations that actually have something to do with the text (or perhaps a series that stands alone as an expose). I want the art to be mature and evocative. If it looks like it was designed to appeal to children or teens, I'll be turned off right quick - even if I might like the rest. As for content, you mention you were thinking of 'including BRP' material - which means it won't be a focus by any means. I'm personally not interested in a lot of the big systems out there. I have no interest in D&D or WOD anymore, for instance, though I do like a lot of indie or smaller games. Whether or not I purchase a magazine of mixed content would really depend very much on what the contents were - something, I suppose, that would have to be evaluated on an issue-by-issue basis. I know that makes me a tough sell, but fwiw I hope it helps. It does Thalaba! It's all good market information. ... and it isn't D&D or WOD (or actually fantasy of any kind) I'll post a submissions call out in the next day or two.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thalaba Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I did just order a 2 issue trial print subscription to this: http://www.blackgate.com/ thinking it looked pretty cool. Quote "Tell me what you found, not what you lost" Mesopotamian proverb __________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaot Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Occasionally I'll pick up something, but I rarely actually read them on a computer. I've found that I actually have more interest in pdfs now that I have an iPhone and am sure that were I to get an iPad or some similarly capable tablet, my pdf reading habit would increase tenfold. As is, I just don't read pdfs on my computer. Quote 70/420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rust Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 For English material I usually prefer PDFs, simply because the cost of the postage otherwise tends to make the material more expensive than I am willing to pay - and PDFs are also much more easy to store and to keep in pristine condition than printed material. I rarely have an entire PDF printed, I usually copy only the parts of the material I intend to use for a specific setting or campaign into my own material, which I then have sometimes printed. Colour or black and white ... well, I do not really care. I like good art, no matter whether it is in colour or black and white, and I strongly dislike both the "soft porn approach" and the "gun porn approach" often seen in roleplaying material. Anyway, good text (and, where useful, good maps and thelike) are a lot more important to me than general illustrations. Quote "Mind like parachute, function only when open." (Charlie Chan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soltakss Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 PDFs are fine. I use them a lot now that I take my Netbook to games. I tend to print some of them out, but only in booklet form, so a clear layout is the main thing for me. Colour or not? Don't care. Pretty pictures or not? Don't care, either. Good maps? Yes. Clear text? Yes. Making it available as a PDF is fine, but if you used something like Lulu then you could make a print available at little or no extra cost to you and that gives the buyers a choice. Quote Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. www.soltakss.com/index.html Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simlasa Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 If it's a magazine, I'm fine with PDF only... saves me from finding a way to store a growing pile and is easier to search through. If it's for a game/rules... I'll probably eventually want a print copy... POD is better for me there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steffworthington Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 If it's a magazine, I'm fine with PDF only... saves me from finding a way to store a growing pile and is easier to search through. If it's for a game/rules... I'll probably eventually want a print copy... POD is better for me there. Hi Simlasa... here's your answer as to whether it's a magazine or not... http://basicroleplaying.com/showthread.php/2201-Challenge-Magazine-Returns!-CHALLENGE-OPEN-CALL-FOR-SUBMISSIONS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I buy and read PDFs but I don't like to run from one. I much prefer to have a hardcopyfor a game I'm going to play. Now if it something that I only need part of to run, like a design worksheet, NPC stats or some such, then PDF is fine. I am partial to PDF+print bundles. I think that is really the best of both worlds. That way I got the core book or books I need to run in physical form , yet still bring the PDFs of all the supplments with me on a small laptop. Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pansophy Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I would love to have the possibility to get hard-copy books. But living in Australia makes shipment extremely expensive and unattractive. So the only choice is a PDF and if it is 'good enough' to get it printed and stapeled. The number of books I actually got printed made me a good skilled person in "Craft (book binding)". I think over the time I archived a skill of about 40% or so, doing softcover perfect bound books now as a hobby. Quote My Uploads - BRP and new: Revolution D100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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