Book publishers have long known that you don’t put numbers on the covers of a book series. This occasionally irritated me when, in younger days, I had to look inside to find which Elric or Ellery Queen book to read next. The publishers didn’t care because they already had me hooked; it was the non-fans they needed to attract. If somebody saw “James Bond book 5” on the cover and hadn’t read the first four, they wouldn’t bother to pick it up. If you number a series too conspicuously, the law of diminishing returns soon kicks in.
Some series can buck the trend. Toy Story and Star Wars movies don’t mind adding the weight of a Roman numeral to the poster. That’s because those series have already broken through to the real mainstream. If you’re going to see the next movie, it’s a dead cert you already saw the earlier ones.
This all came up recently in a discussion with the chaps at Megara Entertainment, who may be running a Kickstarter for a new Fabled Lands book later this year. Perhaps I should add a word of caution here before I overstimulate the hopes of FL aficionados. The problems I've already cited with Kickstarter haven't gone away. (Short version: even if you raise $50,000, after printing and shipping all those hardbacks you might have less than $5000 to pay for writing, art, editing and typesetting.) So we're still just at the discussion stage, figuring out how it could be made to work. Megara may decide to run a Kickstarter campaign for something else this year. Paul Gresty, who has volunteered to write the thing for nothing but love and praise, may yet come to his senses and focus on paid work instead. There are no guarantees in life.
If there are answers to the Kickstarter Paradox, they can only be found by a group of people proposing and debating different strategies, refining the best ideas, and all getting behind an agreed plan. I started this particular discussion off by saying that, given the twenty-year gap, we could hardly sail in with, “Here’s book 7” like nothing had happened. Most of the people we’ll be talking to would never have heard of Fabled Lands. And even for the fans – well, think of Sherlock Holmes. Does anybody want yet more formulaic adventures of the dear old bod? Even his creator was sick of those. When a new Holmes book comes out, what we look for is something interesting like Moriarty or A Slight Trick of the Mind. Nobody but a Baker Street Irregular is going to want Sherlock Holmes V – and they’d just swipe a copy without paying and then use it to cosh a tramp.
Anyway, here’s what the Megara team had to say. Joining in are Mikael Louys and Richard S Hetley, Megara’s CEOs in Europe and the USA respectively; Paul Gresty, the author of the new book whatever it ends up being called; and me and Jamie, as the ones to blame for all this FL stuff in the first place.
Richard S Hetley: “That is an interesting possibility. Sure, the Way of the Tiger worked out very well, but ‘rebooting’ a series is often a peculiar thing psychologically. After all this time, why not act as though it were a standalone book? Part of the point is that they already are "standalone" in the sense that you can start from anywhere. So, ‘We acknowledge that it's been years and the initial plan of twelve books isn't getting completed. We are returning to the Fabled Lands for this one book. Sure, it connects with all those books, and it draws from the missing 7-12 domain, but we know things are different 25 years later and this book is its own thing.’”
Jamie Thomson: “I just don't see the value of not calling it FL 7. It's a series of linked books, each playable on their own anyway. Mucking about with it at this stage will only confuse people. Is it Fabled Lands or not? Or some new spin off? There's no need to complicate a fairly simple idea. There's a bunch of fans out there who want more in the series. We just give them the next one. Then we find out whether there's enough of them to justify the work, but hopefully there will be. And if so, they'll want the next, and we could even keep doing that until they don't want to fund any more. I can't see where the gain is. It sounds like we'd be saying, 'This isn't book 7, although actually it is.’ Unless we did it as a stand alone title, but it referenced all parts of the world, and wasn't just set in the Feathered Lands. You'd just have fewer adventures, but spread around a bit. It wouldn't actually be book 7 then.”
Mikael Louys: “The fans want it to be a Fabled Lands book not a standalone. I've heard this often enough over the last few years.”
Richard: “There was a recent movie called Tron: Legacy. It was not called Tron II. They didn't even try to get people to watch the original Tron first. That's what I mean by ‘standalone’.”
Paul Gresty: “Looking over the FL reprints, they aren't really called 'Fabled Lands 1', 'Fabled Lands 2' etc. The pertinent number appears on each book's spine, but that's the only place it does appear. The cover of Book 2, for instance, says: Fabled Lands: Cities of Gold and Glory. So, for the Kickstarter, it's easy enough to drop the 7. By the very nature of the FL series, The Serpent King's Domain could easily be considered the first book you play anyway.”
Dave Morris: “That’s what I’m saying. The fans already know The Serpent King’s Domain is the seventh book in chronological order of publication. They also understand they can start in any book. But somebody who has never played Fabled Lands before but does have an interest in gamebooks and is willing to support a campaign on Kickstarter – I submit that could be a respectably large set of potential backers, for whom seeing it described as ‘book 7’ will only put them off.”
Paul: “I think it would be particularly tricky to reboot Fabled Lands, given how interconnected the books are – far more so than, say, Golden Dragon. The as-yet-unpublished Lone Wolf 29 apparently takes place twenty-five years after Lone Wolf 28. A quarter of a century has passed in real-life, and it has passed in the life of the book's protagonist as well. Could something similar be done with Fabled Lands? For the moment, I'm failing to see how. As I say, the books are too interconnected, and non-linear, to make that sort of thing easy.”
Dave: “I don't think anyone is advocating an FL reboot. And I like the sound of what Joe Dever is doing there, letting the 25-year hiatus be a feature not a bug, but we can’t really do it with Fabled Lands because we don’t have a central character in that way. Short of adding show tunes or pop-up maps, what can we do to make this, not a reboot, but more than just ‘here’s more monsters and treasure’?”
Jamie: "I think we just have to say it’s book 7! You know what will happen if we don’t: ‘Is this book 7 in the series?’ ‘Can I go straight from one of the earlier books to this one?’ ‘Why isn’t this the next in the series’. ‘What is this?’ ‘Can I take my old Fabled Lands character into this book?’ ‘Is this set in the same time period as the original series?’ ‘This sounds interesting, but I really just wanted the next in the series’ and so on, and so on.
It seems the debate will rage on and on. Should the book be trumpeted on Kickstarter as "Fabled Lands Book 7" or as "Fabled Lands: The Serpent King's Domain"? Or should it even be a single volume that wraps up the whole Fabled Lands series once and for all? A lot depends on whether we are willing and able to reach out to a new bunch of readers, and thus inject the series with a fresh lease of life, or whether the market for Fabled Lands books is going to stay restricted to those players who have stuck around for the last twenty years. What do you think?
Fabled Lands: The Serpent King's Domain.
ReplyDeleteYou can start in any book you like (I started in Plains of Howling Darkness and was quite happy pottering around the plains freezing to death). The number suggests there's a sequence. There's a sort of sequence, in that if you start with War-torn Kingdom and try to sail to Plains of Howling Darkness, your crew might object. But that's very much a guide, and if you're on your own, then a Rank One Troubador can pop down to the Underworld if the book was written.
At least you're being open and honest and realistic with the Kickstarter stuff; there've been a lot of disappointed/burned folks on Kickstarter so integrity is the way to go.
Fingers crossed that the magic can happen :)
I think back to my earliest experience of role-playing. A bunch of us clubbed together to buy Empire of the Petal Throne, and every Saturday morning we'd gather in the 6th form common room for an all-day gaming session. As we had no idea about the "proper" way to play, we took turns. So I'd accompany a merchant caravan up the road to Usenanu, then another guy would get 30 minutes helping a noblewoman to track down her missing son, then another player would get his 30 minutes, and so on.
DeleteAfter a while, two players (John Whitbourn and Steve Wiltshire) decided to team up so as to get a full hour. They looked at the world map and they saw the ruins of the fortress of Hrugga marked in the tidal flats. "We're going there." They were level 2, and the umpire said, "You're sure?" Yep. They bought a rowboat and the best armour they could afford and they set out.
After some hair-raising adventures they found the ruins, started up the steps, and were attacked and killed by some hideous jungle critter - probably a dnelu. The umpire told them: "You know when Conan enters an ancient shrine and his boots crunch on the bones of adventurers who came before him? That's people like you, level 1 and 2 guys. You're the bones."
We all appreciated that it was that kind of world. You had the freedom to set out and try or die. Nobody would nanny you or herd you, Baldur's Gate like, into the path you were meant to take. And that's the principle I've always applied to my roleplaying and to Fabled Lands too.
Yes. I get the magic of that. One of the things I initially liked about Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was that the challenges were tailored to your level. Then I really disliked it as challenges were tailored to your level. It turns out I like "Beef Gates" where "Here be dragons" means watch out, you're going to die. If you go into the smoking cave that smells of sulphur, into the castle on top of the mountain beyond the haunted forest, or into the pirate king's lair, then so be it! Nothing is as disappointing as a "Land of No Return" that you can easily return from!
DeleteIn storytelling they say "show, don't tell". In a game, "show" would be having statues frozen in attitudes of terror outside the entrance to the gorgon's lair. "Tell" would be to have a sign saying, "Medusa lives here. Keep out." And even worse design would be to have a cave-in that blocks the way into the lair until the "right" point in the story is reached.
DeleteI completely agree with you, Dave, when you say "That’s what I’m saying. The fans [...]". If I were new to the Fabled Lands, I know I'd be put off by 'part 7' in the title, because I'd assume I had to buy and read the first 6 first. But the fact is, you don't need to read the first six first! You can start in The Serpent King's Domain, like it, then find out there are 6 more FL books you can buy, and only then buy those and play on and be happy.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Jamie (no offence), because every FL fan knows 'The Serpent King's Domain' is book 7. But still, if they are not sure, you might inform them by adding that fact to the book's description on Amazon and all the other websites.
Thanks, Kilian. And of course, the Kickstarter page would make it very clear that there are six other FL books already available. We just need to make sure that non-fans (well, let's call them new fans) realize you don't have to play the books in numbered order.
DeleteHi All,
DeleteThe lone wolf series simply say you can play the book solo or as part of an Epic Campaign. A similar notification on the appropriate reviews etc will suffice :)
I think I'm right in saying that youdo actually have to play the Lone Wolf books in order, though? I mean, you can skip them but you can't take a character from book 12 to book 3 and then to book 7, etc?
DeleteQuite right Dave. However on the back of each title it states " The LONE WOLF adventures are a unique fantasy gamebook series- each episode can be played separately or you can combine them all to create a fantastic role playing game". 1984. It was the first series where you could do this and play the same character until Avenger came out the following year. Anyway, back to the EPIC Fabled Lands! The spines of each book would be served well to emulate the Way of the Tiger Collectors editions, Fabled Lands : The Serpent King's Domain - Collectors Edition - . As you say clearly stating that the series can by played in no particular order will be important on the kickstarter page. Regardless I will be purchasing THEM ALL. Good luck with the new release Dave. PS- Hope you consider the Golden Dragon Series too :)
DeleteHey David - you mean *this* Golden Dragon series?
Deletehttp://fabledlands.blogspot.co.uk/p/golden-dragon-gamebooks.html
:-)
Hehe Fantastic!! Ill be having some of those :)
DeleteShould The Serpent-King’s Domain appeal to the long-time fans who have been waiting for twenty years to see it materialise and want it to be Book 7 in the same way that books 1–6 are books 1–6? Hopefully yes. (I always thought of the entire 12-book series as an integrated whole, but with a sense of progression towards more exotic and dangerous regions, so it would be jarring now, after all this time, if it turned into something else.) Should it also appeal to potential readers who know little or nothing about the first six books? Hopefully yes. So, the problem is how to pitch it on the Kickstarter page. I suggest that this could be done first by describing the open-plan nature of the Fabled Lands with reference to some of the possible quests *within* the book, then by describing the book as an ideal introduction to the wider world of Fabled Lands, and *then*, with an “And there’s more…!”, by making reference to books 1–6, and presenting the fact that they already exist to be a virtue and a bonus, rather than a burden.
ReplyDeleteThis might be more easily achieved if the next book, instead of being labelled Book 7, was actually labelled Book 0.
Having made that suggestion, I’m not entirely sure I like the idea of The Serpent King’s Domain itself being numbered 0. Perhaps a Book 0 could occupy just some of the territory of The Serpent King’s Domain… but then somehow you would have to allow for the fact that you would not be able to get back into Book 0 from books 1–6…
So, how about a prequel Book 0, set years before in the same geographical area as the originally planned (and still-to-come) Book 7: The Serpent King’s Domain? The unsatisfying part of it would be that you could not carry your character straightforwardly over to books 1–6, so in that sense it would no longer be quite such a good “introduction”, and if, in Fabled Lands-style, there were multiple routes out of the book, they would all somehow have to accommodate the gap in time between Book 0 and the remaining books; on the other hand, again, a virtue could be made of it, with certain storylines left unresolved for completion upon your return in Book 7 (or at least, if you had been there in the past, that would make a significant difference). So, there would then be two consistent ways of approaching books 7–12 (and the reader could choose either or both): from Book 0, and/or from books 1–6.
I'm not really sure what a prequel would be. It makes sense in the context of a fantasy world with a fully developed history (Game of Thrones, say) but in FL I don't get the feeling that much changes over time. General Marlock may replace the King, but for most people life just goes on as it ever did.
DeleteWe do need to think about how to explain the open-world nature of the series. For years I've just been saying, "It's like a role-playing game," because for me that implies complete freedom to define your own objectives. But I notice that many RPGs these days are highly prescribed, with rules that are designed to formally direct "a story" rather than just letting you do what you want. So RPGs have become more linear, more formalized, more "meta" - the opposite direction to the freeform simulation gaming that I enjoy and that FL is modelled on.
I wholly agree that The Serpent's King Domain can't simply be 'more of the same'. I think that, these days, few people simply want quests that go, 'Kill the evil wizard, take his treasure'.
ReplyDeleteSo the question becomes how do we stay within the spirit, and the structure, of the existing Fabled Lands books, while also incorporating something new?
An example: I've lately been reading about how (real life) tribes in the Amazon can consider mental illness a blessing. While classic western medicine might consider hallucinations a problem that needs fixing, for instance, these tribes see it as the schism that's created in the imperfect human body as the human spirit grows closer to seeing the true nature of the universe. Those who have such hallucinations are envied, rather than pitied. Perhaps this sort of thing could be incorporated into FL. What dangers exist for a player on the brink of madness? What advantages does this bring? How is this viewed in Dunpala, or Inkatek, and is it viewed in the same way in, say, the City of Stargazers?
That's just an example, but it's the kind of thing that we haven't seen yet in Fabled Lands. And then, of course, we have to work out how to make it backwards-compatible with the existing books. It's all very well to present the player with the threat of losing his mind, but what happens if he makes his way back to Sokara, or Golnir? That sort of state doesn't just go away because somebody crosses a border...
Thinking further about the idea of a distinction between books 1–6 and 7–12 being exploited as a virtue, so that Book 7 is in some sense the start of something “new” even though continuity (in terms of freedom of movement between all the books) is preserved, I would suggest perhaps a change of focus. Books 1–6 could be treated as a means of building up material assets, rank, and abilities so as to survive the practical hazards encountered in books 7–12, but then Book 7 also introduces a new theme, some sort of mystical quest towards transcendence, which is naturally suggested by the final Underworld setting of Book 12: instead of simply amassing wealth and trinkets and knocking over tyrants and monsters, the reader’s character is moving towards a form of enlightenment, a drawing back of the veil that can only be accessed directly by journeying, in the end, to the Underworld, though what lies beyond may first need to be glimpsed by the sort of shamanic ritual that you imply, which brings with it the danger of madness.
DeleteI agree that any expression of such a new theme would have to be tied somehow to geographical regions, to preserve continuity of mechanics with books 1–6, but I don’t think that this should necessarily “feel” wrong, as long as localities and encounters are described in such a way that the reader feels that his or her character is venturing into lands of forgotten or hidden knowledge, of alien, esoteric realms and wild, chaotic wastes, revealing, for all the reader’s long, prior travels, how narrow the horizon of the familiar really still is.
Ooh, now that sounds interesting!
DeleteI was replying to Paul and your comment intervened as I posted, Graham. So not to say your point isn't interesting, but I meant that to refer to Paul's madness-as-visions idea.
DeleteAnent your points, Graham: I don't want to tread on Paul's toes here, and it sounds like he has some great ideas already, but I like the idea of the books providing a little more than a Skinner box of treasure and kills. At the same time, I bridle at telling the player that their character needs enlightenment - what if they're playing a young Genghis? Freedom is always key. The books could feature more recurring characters, though. That way they're not just about travelling and fighting, there's the possibility of building relationships too. How that goes is up to the player - friendship, rivalry, jealousy, hostility, love... I'd play that, anyway.
DeleteI'm a simple man so I go with the simple option: "Fabled Lands - The Serpent King's Domain".
ReplyDeleteThe very openness of the original books are going to be what restricts the format of book 7 and beyond, because it/they simply must cross-reference with what has been before, otherwise you may as well do a completely new series.
One thing I do agree with is Graham's comment above about an underlying larger quest which underpins all the books. Nothing that dominates the individual quests, but which is hinted at throughout the series and builds to something accomplished in book 12. The Bad Wolf theory, if I may steal from another franchise. I think this would appeal to FL fans, as I seem to recall (and I certainly felt) a slight sense of disappointment when Dave said that there was never anything like this planned.
Whether this is true to the spirit of the series is probably debatable, but I'm inclined to think it may appeal to new fans as another 'string to the bow' for the series.
Anyway, great to hear that this is being discussed, thanks for making us feel part of the process Dave; it's a rare thing among authors, even in this day of t'interweb. And thanks (in advance) to Paul for generously offering to write the book pro bono!
That's what I can never get, Mike. With FL we were saying to people, "Hey, here's this interactive world where you can define your own character and choose your own goals," and yet it turns out most of them just wanted to be told what the story was. Now me, I'm happy to read a novel or watch a movie, but when it comes to gaming I don't want any author giving me their idea of what should happen. But that's probably because I imagined most gamebook readers were using gamebooks as an intro to roleplaying, whereas in fact there seems to be surprisingly little overlap. It's cool, though. If a Bad Wolf connecting arc is what the fans want, I'm sure we can deliver.
DeleteI'm hoping that Paul will get paid eventually btw. I bet he is too :-)
I can see what you mean Dave, and I'm one of those oddities that never got into roleplaying as much as I enjoyed gamebooks (but that's probably more a factor of my peer group at the time than an active choice). I suppose the distinction in any Bad Wolf arc you may include in FL is that it needn't be mandatory to complete the read the books. That is, casual readers pick up a book(s) and read the way you intended originally; while those of us who will read the entire series get the added benefit of being part of this masterplan.
DeleteThat reminds me, Mike: did you notice that the new edition of War-Torn Kingdom starts with a codeword whose purpose is solely to check whether you began your adventures at 1st rank? Anyone who starts off there and progresses all the way through to the end of the series should get an extra bonus. I'm deliberately underplaying that because I don't want to do a Molyneux here.
DeleteI haven’t at any point stated that I “just want to be told what the story [is]”, because that wouldn’t be true, though I can see why I might have given that impression. I was thinking in terms of the Fabled Lands being finite: even with the full hypothetical 12 books and 10,000+ paragraphs, a determined reader could eventually root out most of what there is to find. If you had a team of writers working full-time on Fabled Lands, conveyor-belting out gamebooks at a greater rate than even the most committed reader could keep up with, going on into the indefinite future so that the landscape and possibilities were effectively infinite in scope (now there’s a thought…), then a complete absence of any over-arching plotline or grand finale would make sense; but in the context of a *finite* gamebook world, it feels natural to me that there would be something to serve as an endpoint, should the reader choose to seek it out. This they would still be free not to do, if that were not their interest; but there could be signposts in earlier books to point the way, hints and rumours deeply buried that perhaps only the reader who is actually looking for a grand finale would be likely to see (and which would also prevent a reader who *started* with Book 12 from going down that particular path).
DeleteAll I’m saying is that there should be one last place to go when there are no more worlds to conquer.
Or maybe a dozen different "last places" to go? I hope to end my own adventures in a well-appointed townhouse, for example, sipping sherry as I imagine recounting my adventures to whoever cares to listen. The difficulty with providing a one-size-fits-all ultimate goal is that we don't know who the character is. I imagine there is such a goal in the Lone Wolf books because the character's life story & goals are defined by the authors. Way of the Tiger likewise. In Blood Sword it made me uncomfortable (as I hate both straightjacket plots and save-the-world quests) but I just imposed attitudes on the four character types. In FL it's going to be a lot harder. Luckily that will be Mr Gresty's problem, not mine.
Deletewhat i liked particularly about the fabled lands series was the inclusion of and the allusion to real world folklore and fairy tales, like the story of kashuv/koschei the deathless from russian mythology, the variety of eastern ghost and monsters in akatsurai, and especially (coming from a country without naval tradition) the superstitions and legends of the seafaring parts of the books (i also
ReplyDeletereally enjoyed down among the dead man). so perhaps the new book could feature african, south american and/or mezo american lore and mythology?
I like seafaring stories myself, Michael. If I could have my perfect dream holiday, it would be a few weeks in the Pacific learning how to sail a tall ship. Maybe you could tell?
DeleteI know that Paul has been researching some very interesting legends as inspiration for The Serpent King's Domain - as well as inventing a lot of cool stuff of his own. And, while central and south American and African myths are bound to play a part, he has some other surprising sources to add to the mix. No spoilers here, though.
As far as the title on the cover goes the current books don't have the number in the title, just on the spine. I'd stick with the same. This also fits with the books themselves, you are told to turn to paragraph so and so in The Plains of Howling Darkness, not Book 4: The Plains of Howling Darkness.
ReplyDeleteBut I personally would make it clear it is 7th book in a non linear series in the blurb. If I was an old fan, I'd need to know this was part of the series and not some spin off. One of the main features is that the series is bigger than the sum of it's parts and that you can move about between books, I think most new people looking into Fabled Lands will still be game bookers or solo RPG players and are clever enough to get that.
I was never bothered by the lack of a main story arc in Fabled Lands - this was one of the things that differentiated it, you build your own story. But, it would be nice to have some deeper (optional) story arcs which span across the final books. I also like the ideas people are have on mythology and madness :) Some more guilds to join that are tied in with profession? As long as we keep in mind that Fabled Lands need to be played as a whole, all 12 books in one playthrough. New directions would need to integrate rather than be some schizopheric shift - or else you might as well just release a new series.
One thing I'd like is to keep the books as uniform to each other as possible in terms of format. To me that means being similar in look and feel to the originals or LLP reprints. I'm not sure how my obsessive compulsiveness will handle a series which the books matched each other up to 6 then completely change part way through. Ideally they will all look and feel like the 90s books with fold out maps, but I realise that may be a dream. As long as 6-12 match each other I might be able to handle it :) Gritty black and white Russ Nicholson illustrations would be great!
The edition offered in the Kickstarter campaign will presumably be a hardback in the same format as Megara's "collector's editions" of Keep of the Lich Lord, etc. Fabled Labds Publishing will then follow up with a b&w paperback version in the same format as all the other new edition FL books. I'd love to have fold-out maps but it's not one of the options with print on demand, unfortunately.
DeleteSo imagine FL 1-7,(dreams 1-12) Blood Sword 1-5, Way of the Tiger 0-7 all with uniform spines(as per Megara Entertainment 2nd print) A collectors Nirvana!! Fold out map is a long shot but maybe the maps could be purchased separately as an add on?
DeleteNow there's a thought. Maybe we could set up online Giclée prints of the FL maps. I'll look into it.
DeleteI was going to make the Blood Sword paperbacks the same format as FL, Golden Dragon, Way of the Tiger and Critical IF, but decided in the end to go a little bigger to make more of the tactical battle maps. Less ideal for collectors, but handier for players ;-)
The map is a great idea - I always used to photocopy mine as it's constantly referred to when played and didn't mind annotating a copy.
DeleteNeil I did exactly the same but the photocopies never looked that great. -
Delete- Dave that sounds fantastic, if there was a "Like" button beside Giclée I would be liking it :) . Another option to explore is an A4 folder that included all the Maps associated with the books. Failing this, high resolution versions of the maps that fans(&new fans) can print themselves :)
Most of the FL colour maps are online already, in fact, David - on the Spark Furnace site (see sidebar). But I'll see about getting better scans and making the link a bit more obvious!
DeletePerfect Dave. Fantastic resource you have here. Thanks :)
DeleteIm personally a sucker for numbers and I would prefer it as FL7. Even though it can be done without the number, it just feels weird to me. If I have to get the first 6 books, no problem for me.
ReplyDeleteCase in point, when they released the new young James Bond book, it was entitled as Shoot to kill. Initially I thought it was a new series, only for me to find out it was ACTUALLY book 6, which threw me off. At least with a 6 in the title, i know what im getting into and I have no problem going out to look for the first 5 books. By naming without the 6 in there, imagine I telling some other lads about the new title and they will go "Oh, its actually book 6, not a new series"
The thing is, Sidney, you *don't* have to get the first 6 books. That's the whole point. That's what we are trying to make sure people realize.
DeleteAs I said in the post, publishers don't like putting numbers on the cover because that puts people off buying the book. They think, "I need to buy book one first." It used to annoy me as a kid. Nowadays I can just look at Wiki to see which Peter Wimsey book to read next. Not that I have read those in order, come to think.
Not that I'm bothered about the inclusion or otherwise of numbering, but I'd have thought excluding them was slightly counter-intuitive for publishers. Doesn't it act as a spur for readers to pick up earlier/other titles in a series if they can see it's book 4 or whatever? I could see why dropping the numbers might have made sense for FF back in the day (in fact they did for a short while around book 37 IIRC), but I wouldn't have thought it would detrimentally affect the shorter-run series. Not that I have any knowledge or credibility at all on the subject I hasten to add. :)
DeleteIt is the reverse, I can assure you, Mike. If people see book 4 on the cover, and they haven't seen books 1-3, they're not interested. Of course, in the case of both FF and FL, you don't need to have read the earlier books. You can jump in anywhere. But that's not what most folks will assume.
DeleteSame format and design as the previous re-released ones, thanks. Anything else and that's just annoying, and taking the piss, for series collectors!
ReplyDeleteThat's not as easy as it sounds, though I take your point, Richard. To make it work as a Kickstarter we have to offer full-colour hardback editions. Nobody will pledge $50 for a b&w paperback, and if we don't raise enough then we can't pay for art, editing, typesetting, etc. Fabled Lands Publishing will release a paperback edition of the new book in uniform format with the pb editions of FL books 1-6, but we can't start selling that till all the Kickstarter pledgers have their copy.
DeleteSeries collectors may choose to wait, therefore, but if the KS hardback doesn't raise enough money then there will be no new book in any form.
Ah well, lap of the gods.
Glad to see everyone is interested! I also think everyone is well-spoken. I hope that developments with Fabled Lands turn out to satisfy.
ReplyDeleteGimme gimme more fable lands, title me no care. Gimme me love.
ReplyDeleteOK, well... If there were 1000 more like you, my friend, we might even be able to complete the series :-)
DeleteHi Dave, does your marketing strategy include offering fabled lands through the book stores?
DeleteMarketing strategy is a very flattering way to put it, David. I believe Createspace do distribute to a few US bookstores, but the economics of print on demand make it unprofitable for most. We couldn't give a bookstore owner the ~50% discount on cover price that they expect, as our profit margin on each FL book is barely 10%.
DeleteHow about making the books available through libraries Dave? Even though each library would only need 1 or 2 copies of each, there are a huge number of public and school libraries across the world that could be potential avenues for you. If you have eBook versions as well you'd have another bite of the cherry if you made the books available through eBook systems like Overdrive.
DeleteI'd like to, Mike, but Createspace doesn't allow books to be distributed to libraries unless they have an ISBN assigned by Createspace themselves. Since Fabled Lands is a publisher in its own right, with its own ISBNs, that means we can't get the books into libraries. I don't know the reason Createspace do things this way, and it's very frustrating, but short of republishing every book as a Createspace instead of Fabled Lands title, I don't know what we can do about it.
Delete50% is a tad high that's for sure ...Wish I could help more Dave.
DeleteLooking on the bright side, it doesn't seem like gamebooks would sell very well in physical bookstores. They're a very specialized interest, and so need to find their small, dispersed market online. Thanks to Amazon & POD, anyone who wants a copy of Fabled Lands, Blood Sword, etc, can buy them. That's all Jamie and I expect of the print books. They're not a business, just something for the fans.
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