Is there still a market for home published rules booklets ?
Way back in the mists of time, a lot of wargames rules were published by their authors as A5 stapled booklets with card covers, black and white text, and minimal illustrations. They might include a printed card quick reference sheet.
They were often sold by mail order or at games shows that the authors were attending. Some of them sold well enough to be stocked by games shops or miniatures producers.
Now most gamers have internet access and a home printer, so digital downloads seem to have the market covered.
Over the years I have published a few wargames rules that have been freely available online as pdf documents.
Recently, I printed off a small batch of the new edition of Encounter One.
My primary intention is to gift copies to people that have helped or encouraged the project, secondary is to have some rule sets available when I play the game for new players to pick up. If there are any left after that, I would offer them for sale and hope to recover some of my costs. Mainly, I would just like to see people playing the game.
Would you buy a printed rule set, even if you can download the rules for free then print it yourself?
What would you consider a reasonable price?
A5 stapled rules booklet, card cover, black and white, 42 pages + A4 card Quick Reference Sheet.
