I know that people might feel I've not communicated enough in this process. I cannot really deny that, but I've learned over time, that sometimes saying anything at all will antagonise the situation.
The decision to pull the plug was not made a month ago. Actually it was only recently, but there was a lot of thought on the matter for both Bill and myself for roughly a month.
Believe me when I say that, besides perhaps Bill, there is not a single person alive who wanted Septimus to see publication than myself. I've lost consumer faith, several thousand dollars in editing, art, promotion and more. I now go though the long process of refunding everyone's money. Still, with as much as I have lost, the cost to print the book would have been far more.
I don't expect pity, and cannot even expect understanding. Most people DON'T know what it's like to be in my position.
Since buying WEG in 2003, I've lost more money than I can truly mention. Most products that have been launched, have been financial failures.
The following is a list of D6 products I have lost money on.
D6 Adventure
D6 Space
D6 Fantasy
D6 Adventure Locations
D6 Space Ships
D6 Fantasy Location
D6 Bloodshadows
D6 Adventure Creatures
D6 Space Aliens I
Fires of Amatsumara
Otherwheres
Septimus
By contrast, the following is a list of D6 products that I've managed to break even on:
...
That is right. EVERY one has failed. All of them. ALL OF THEM. So, perhaps Septimus would have been the exception. Maybe, maybe not. But in light of the poor sales on D6 products in the past, poor preorders, and looking at almost $23k in print costs -- JUST print costs -- for a mere 1500 copies. You might get the a sense of the difficulties this game faced.
Septimus was priced at $50. A price significantly high enough that many people scoffed at the idea. $50 was about as high as this product could go without pricing itself completely out of the market.
On a $50 product, sold though distribution, WEG revenues are only about $16.25 -- the print cost per unit was about $15.33. Yes, the gross profit on each an every book sold through retail would have been 92 cents. Given a 92 cent profit on 1500 books, the total gross profit on the run would have been $1380. With that $1380, I would still need to: Pay Bill, pay for the art, pay for the editing, pay for some form of promotion. Not including Bill's payment, which was based on royalties, I have already spent over $3000. So, for every single book sold through distribution, I LOST money. Several Dollars per copy sold. POD printing would have increased that loss to as much as $10 per book. Yep, you heard right. If the book was made available to retail, but utilizing POD technology, every book printed would LOSE almost $10.
By printing more that 1500 copies, I could have begun to significantly reduce the cost of each copy, but that would also require a greater overall investment and one that I would probably NOT recover.
Sure, Septimus COULD have been profitable, even at 1500 copies though direct sale -- so I put out the preorder and gave incentives. Did people order? Some, but not enough. Not by a long shot. Still, poeple feel qualifed to tell ME that Septimus could have been a success. I believed it would too, but could I risk yet another $25K on a huge gamble?
I printed 500 each of the D6 Core books, hopeing to sell though the first print in 8 months. 4 YEARS later, I have over 2500 of each book remaining. Before knowing the slim sales of the D6 books, I printed 5000 copies of Bloodshadows. Almost 4000 remain. Most other books were printed by 3000 copies. Most of each print run remains. The only book that nearly sold though it's print run was D6 Space Ships, but only because I printed a mere 1000, and the margin on such a book was so small that even if sold out, The book would have lost money.
Fires of Amatsumara has not sold out and only 500 books were printed.
Torg -- the highly anticipated Lost Rulebook, 1000 printed, and only now have I dropped below 200 remaining in inventory.
In the 4 years I've tried to run WEG, I've LOST hundreds of thousands of dollars. Before WEG, I had no mortgage. My house was free an clear. Now... I pay a monthly mortgage. You think I've been bad to you, the fans? You want me to get staff and pump out more material? The last time I have full time staff, the numbers were worked out and it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to not lose money. Have I ruined your life? Some time ago, two emplooyees got married to each other. They left to get married. When they got back from their vacation/honeymoon, you know what my present was? I layed them off.
Yes, that's right. "Congratulations you two; your fired." Why? I let them go, and fired myself, all because I couldn't afford to lose money hand over fist anymore.
I've been trying VERY hard to bootstrap Septimus into existence. Bill has been great and patient in the whole process. I looked at nearly every option I could think of to get this product out, short of taking another mortgage out on my home and that would have ended my marriage. I do not exaggerate that fact. Speaking of my wife -- she DESPISES West End Games. With every fiber of her being, she looks at WEG as the source of out many financial burdens, and she is not wrong. Still, I stick with it becuase I am a stubborn freaking moron and because I LOVE this company. More that you or anyone else. I am more that WEGs owner. I am a fanatical follower of what it once was, and what I STILL believe it can be.
So, want me to be honest? To keep you informed of everything? How would it make me, and WEG look to tell you that no matter what I do, WEG bleeds money? Will that give you confidence? Do you think that will help sales?
4 1/2 years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars later and what do I have to show? I have the destinction of being labelled dishonest and unwise. How lucky of me.
Damnit, all I wanted to do was put out games, as an avenue for adventurous worlds. Instead, I'm left with debt and years later, I STILL haven't put out anything uniquely my own.
Ich hoffe ja wirklich dass die d6 SRD irgendwie ein Erfolg wird, das System ist wirklich zu schön um einfach so unterzugehen.
