anyway.

2011-02-18 : 2010 at lumpley games

It's been a while since I've done one of these.

These show lumpley games' direct online sales only. They don't include face to face sales at cons or any sales into retail at all. They include both print and pdf sales.


(Sorry about the blue vs. blue.)

Here's an overall view:

And here's my feel-good chart:

This one is a little tricky because the lumpley games pdf library sales count in all three lines. That's the bump in September.

I haven't yet counted how many copies of Apocalypse World I've sold into retail or at cons, but it's at least 100 and 150, respectively. So Apocalypse World sold over 1,000 copies in 2010, June to December.

Thanks to everybody who's talked on the internet about the game, especially everybody who's played it and written about your play. You all rock! You're all the advertising I have.

I'm delighted to answer any questions, if anybody has any.

1. On 2011-02-18, Joel said:

This is awesome.

Do you have a running total of Lumpley games in players' hands like, ever?

 

2. On 2011-02-18, Vincent said:

Nope.

Well, I take that back. Let's see. Not counting the lumpley games pdf library...
Dogs in the Vineyard has sold about 3,000 copies, lifetime.
In a Wicked Age has sold about 1,000.
Mechaton has sold about 800.
Poison'd has sold about 400.
I hesitate to guess what kill puppies for satan has sold. 500 copies or something.

If I were serious about figuring it out I'd go back and compile all those spreadsheets I got from IPR. Since I'm not doing that, the IPR years are a big "Mechaton? Well, maybe 100 copies?" So who knows.

Given that, and including 1,000 for Apocalypse World, let's say 6,500-7,000 games.

 

3. On 2011-02-18, Evan Torner said:

I'm pushing Apocalypse World hard on all my friends.  And I proudly own a copy of Kill Puppies for Satan from way back in 2006 before I met you, Vincent.

And though not all the press about us is positive, it shows the vitality of the indie game publishing community that survives off players putting their money where there mouth is when we geek out about each others' games.

 

4. On 2011-02-18, nilum87 said:

I'm with Evan. I just got my 4e D&D group to agree to try AW. First session is on Monday, and I think it's going to go well. Zombie apocalypse with a cowboy Hardholder anyone?

 

5. On 2011-02-18, Meguey said:

Evan, that link made me laugh and laugh. You know you've made it when you show up in filk on the internet.

 

6. On 2011-02-18, Gregor Hutton said:

Johnny T cracks me up, eh.

At least he picked a good-beat Beatles tune to change the lyrics on.

 

7. On 2011-02-18, Simon R said:

So the bundle sale went rather well, then? It didn't seem to affect your sales trajectory of other products. Do you email your direct customers ever, or do you consider that naughty?

 

8. On 2011-02-18, Vincent said:

Simon: Yeah, it went great.

I haven't emailed them but I don't consider it naughty. I may or may not email them about Psi*Run when it comes out, for instance. If I don't, it'll just be because I'm not that organized.

 

9. On 2011-02-18, Vincent said:

Here's an interesting piece, if anybody wants to talk about money: The Reality of a Times Bestseller. For comparison, 1,000 copies of Apocalypse World means $15,000-$20,000, after production costs but before, like, going to cons and webhosting and other business expenses. 3,000 copies of Dogs in the Vineyard means around $45,000.

 

10. On 2011-02-18, Ben Lehman said:

Thanks for doing this. I wish I kept good enough records.

yrs—
—Ben

 

11. On 2011-02-18, Vincent said:

You're welcome!

I don't keep good records. This is all just a big old 01-01-2010 - 12-31-2010 history export from PayPal.

 

12. On 2011-02-18, Christian Griffen said:

Thanks, Vincent. Transparency is one of the things I love about our community. And AW's success is definitely well deserved.

 

13. On 2011-02-18, jenskot said:

Another relevant article...

The Numbers Game. It breaks down a best seller's royalties through a publisher vs self publishing.

 

14. On 2011-02-18, Joel said:

Meg: "You know you've made it when you show up in filk on the internet"

Ha! Truth.

New Ambition: to be immortalized in filk by (here name a Pundit of the Internet).

Thanks for the info, Vincent! It's a nice perspective in terms of commonality of human experience, visualizing all those 2,999 other Dogs owners. :)

I too, keep horrible records. When asked how many copies of my game I'd sold, I had to look at the number of sheets of fancy printer paper I'd used and divide by pagecount, adjusting for misprints.

Peace,
-Joel

 

15. On 2011-02-20, Vincent said:

January was good:

 

16. On 2011-02-22, Andrew_UK said:

Thanks for this, very interesting.

 

17. On 2011-02-22, Vincent said:

Over here, Devon O. asked me how lumpley games came to this point, and broke it down into some good and pointed questions, so I'm laying out my publishing history for him. Come check it out and ask questions yourself if you're interested.

 

18. On 2011-03-04, Vincent said:

Here's 2009:

 

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