anyway.

You aren't the only one who is excited! Dogs is one of my all-time favorite games, and I am just giddy to have it at IPR. Welcome, lumpley!

Welcome aboard, Vincent!

I already sent you an e-mail to this effect but, in public, welcome to IPR.

yrs—
—Ben

My work is done here. I may lay my weary head to rest.

-L

Effin' A, yeah.

Aspiring Indie self-publisher question: What's the difference between the way you did it before and doing it through IPR?

I sort of have a mental image of you previously slaving away endless hours in your dank basement with a big box of books, going through new orders one at a time, putting them in envelopes, and dragging them through the snow to the post office (uphill both ways), vs. you now calling the printer up to say, "send another box to IPR, please!" and then playing with your charming sons while waiting for your bags of gold to arrive, but I suspect it's a little more nuanced than that.

From the wings: why does this make you happy and excited?  I know Brennan does great Indie Promotion—is that the reason, or are there more?

Sydney: it's not any more nuanced than that. It is, to be fair, slightly less hyperbolized than that.

My recommendation is to fulfill your own game for just as long as you can stand the pain and hassle, and then sign on with Brennan. I'm looking forward to not dragging my boxes to the PO in the snow anymore, but I wouldn't give away the experience of having done so.

Scott: it's not so much Brennan's promotion, although I expect I'm going to kick myself later for having missed out on that for so long. Really - for me - it's all about how much work fulfilling orders is. As demand for Dogs has steadily increased, the customer service I'm providing has steadily declined.

I'm reluctant to not do things myself, that's just how I am. In Dogs' case, I CAN'T do it myself anymore.

What the hell is "freeform" about Dogs in the Vineyard? The fact that it doesn't have a weapons list?

J: this fell off the front page so I'm going to make sure you see it: totally changing cover.

Freeform? Who knows what the original commenter meant. But Dogs' traits and stuff are freeform, and so is the way you bring them into play; I don't reject the word.

This is awesome! Every time Brennan would ask me to demo a game at a local con, I'd jump up with glee and announce I can demo DitV! Then he would inform me IPR doesn't carry Dogs. And I would slink away into a spiral of depression. But no more! I'm finally cured!!!

> My recommendation is to fulfill your own game for just as long as you can stand the pain and hassle....

Errr - why?

Is this a "sure it hurts, but you'll cherish the experience forever" kind of thing? Because, if so, I gotta say my wife went for the epidural pretty quickly, and I'd have done the same, so Our Mileage May Vary.

Or is this about "doing it yourself initially builds better relations with, and understanding of, your terribly fragile customer base, allowing you to nurture it and make it grow until it's robust enough that you can safely hand it off to someone else?" Because that logic I can get into.

Your mileage may, indeed, vary.

The first few orders are absolutely personally fulfilling.  It just feels great to hold your head up high, march down to the post-office, and send off your little babies into the world.

After that, it sucks.

yrs—
—Ben

P.S.  (As a result of my pre-order, I went from "great" to "suck" in the process of filling my first round of orders.  This was dumb.)

I still like mailing them myself, but I specifically set aside the time to do it.

Thread hijack: Vincent, call me ASAP at Jodi's. Thanks.