05-13-2012, 10:39 AM
Le Noir Faineant Wrote:Thank you, chirine!
The problem with those files is just - they're just PDFs. While SOME people might actually enjoy PDFs, especially with this new trend of e-readers,
they are, at the end of the day, still a poor substitute for a real book.
I don't know how involved you are with this new "Tekumel Foundation", but why didn't they simply upload the files to LULU,
or a similar print-on-demand server?
That would not hurt the PDF sales, and at the same time open a way to attract customers who prefer printed stuff.
It might not be the best way to max out profit, of course, but it would be a nice to gain a bigger audience for your efforts.
Because, frankly, a total of twenty or thirty short PDFs that I then have to print is not something that I would spent money for.
Why not put them all together into a print-on-demand book, and see how it sells?
You have more fans out there than you might think, but since Tekumel stuff is so notoriously rare,
there is no living community outside of a small circle - sort of like Blackmoor.
Thanks for your post; lots of great points, and I'll try to answer them all!
Agreed about the PDFs; these are the first step in the process, and the plan is to be able to have both PDF and PoD versions of everything. I also really prefer books; I like the feel and 'heft' of them. My missus, on the other hand, has one of those Nook devices, and she prefers PDFs and e-books. So, we're working on all of these, and we're going to try to use as many types of media as possible to share Phil's work.
I also agree about the individual items; a lot of these will be compiled into 'bundles', which in turn will be done as books. Print-on-demand has radically transformed the game industry and hobby, and we're in the process of completely reevaluating how Phil's materials are presented. I've been in my [volunteer] position as [formal] Archivist for the Tekumel Foundation since this past June, and it's become very apparent that we're going to have to pretty much start from the ground up; the Professor gave us so much material, and we now have so much more information, that we're going to be having to rework most of the publications we did 'back in the day'. Since we have to do that anyway, we're going to make the leap into the kind of technologies you're talking about.
The Tekumel Foundation, which the Professor and his wife set up about three years ago, is made up of more volunteers who are dedicated to getting everything we can of the Professor's work out to people who are interested in his world-setting. I report directly to Mrs. Barker on matters concerning preservation and restoration, and to the Foundation on historical and archival matters; I don't have any executive, policy-making, or decision-making powers but my advice on things is both sought and considered by the Foundation's Board of Directors.
So, if I may, I'd like to forward all of your comments to the Board for their information; we want to make sure that everyone gets a voice, as it were.
Does this help answer your questions?
yours, Chirine