Here's to You, Mr. Robertson

[calithena]

So one good thing that's come out of recent discussions is a point that Stuart Robertson made over on Grognardia. I do a lot of marketing/selling of the magazine by the names of authors. Part of that is I want to promote those of us who are 'newer' blood who I feel deserve recognition, and at the same time I want to attract attention by pointing out that gaming and non-gaming legends like Lee Gold, Timothy J. Kask, Dave Arneson, Steve Marsh, Geoffrey O. Dale, Bill Owen, Pat Farley, prominent folks from other parts of the FRP metaverse like James Mishler and Bill Webb, and well-known members of other gaming 'scenes' like Vincent Baker, Paul Czege, and Baz Blatt sometimes contribute to the magazine. The point of this is getting new people to look at the magazine who might not be predisposed to check out something 'old school', and I think in the early days of publication it worked.

But now I think maybe we're more accepted and don't need to resort to that as much. What Stuart recommended is that our ads should describe the actual gaming content of each issue, and I think he's right.

This doesn't mean actually eliminating the names completely either. For example, we could say

- James Mishler details the hamlet of Haghill in a long-awaited, semi-official expansion to the legendary Wilderlands campaign!

but doing it this way would no doubt lower the number of people we recognized.

It also makes more work for me writing ad copy but that's not too big a deal. If it helps promote the magazine, especially to the people who are currently playing these games, I think that's good!

[kelvingreen]

I chimed in on this over at Grognardia, and I almost immediately regret doing so. I'm not sure, but it perhaps felt like a betrayal of the many people who have contributed so much good stuff to the magazine. I used Jeff's "Slimy Lake" as an example of how detailing the content was better than simply listing the names, but now I'm thinking why the heck shouldn't you use the names? But then I try to think about it as someone who doesn't know anything about the old school community, and how "Jeff Rients" would mean nothing, but a

All in all, I think I'm trying to say, in my own inarticulate way, that your suggestion of a compromise between namedropping and content is perhaps the best way to do it. But I know nothing about editing magazines, so I'm going to stop digging a hole for myself and will instead go to draw some flying death pumpkin things.

[zacharythefirst]

Sept 3, 2009 14:43:49 GMT -6 calithena said:

]

This doesn't mean actually eliminating the names completely either. For example, we could say

- James Mishler details the hamlet of Haghill in a long-awaited, semi-official expansion to the legendary Wilderlands campaign!

but doing it this way would no doubt lower the number of people we recognized.

It also makes more work for me writing ad copy but that's not too big a deal. If it helps promote the magazine, especially to the people who are currently playing these games, I think that's good!

I think I like this. Letting folks know the awesome stuff that's in FO! before they buy is fine. I don't mind if my name isn't in the big print or lulu or whatever. I mean, you still post the TOC as well, but the descriptors are really cool.

And if you wanted, you could always do something after a few of those with "plus, new content from fan favorites Gamers X, Y, and Z!"

FO! is the gaming product I look forward to the most these days (along with the Castle of the Mad Arch Mage), and I think anything that's done to help let people know what amazing content it has is a big plus.

[Melan]

I don't have a huge stake in either form of presentation, but I have the firm opinion that people matter, and should not be hidden behind brand names. That is one of the great mistakes of our hobby - to think that you should be looking for a "Greyhawk" adventure instead of a "Gary Gygax" adventure. Anyone who does that should be forced to play through the TSR-released Castle Greyhawk, Gargoyles and Child's Play in sequence.

[calithena]

Hmm. Well, I've got to consider. My real suggestion was to list both, which I can do on all the internet ads. "Gabor Lux's Fomalhaut, a weird science-fantasy setting" rather than "Gabor Lux" or just a Fomalhaut description.

Artists will have to get individual shouts out though, except for whoever gets the front cover.

[calithena]

The point I got out of conversation with Stuart that I think is valuable is this. Let's say you're Joe FRPer and you stumble across the FO! website or Dragonsfoot or whatever and see one of our ads. You see a cool cover and a big list of names. So what? Who are these guys (even say Tim Kask and Dave Arneson - I have had long-time D&Ders ask me who Arneson was!)? Then you look at this long TOC and list of artists and go huh, I don't know, this thing is sort of cool I guess but I can't spend any more time thinking about it.

Whereas if we tell you that we have dungeons, monsters, etc. etc. that maybe helps more. I do a little of this already but more detail there might be appropriate.

[brianm]

It looks like a win-win to me. People still get their names mentioned and prospective customers get a better idea of all the cool stuff actually in the magazine.

Other than perhaps inflicting carpal tunnel syndrome on Calithenia (a sacrifice I'm more than willing to make ) I don't see a downside.

[James Maliszewski]

I see no harm in including authors names with the descriptions of their articles. I'd actually be a little disappointed to see them go, given that FO! is, first and foremost, a labor of love rather than a "professional" magazine. I think the guys and gals who contributed deserve some recognition for their hard work, particularly since the content is so consistently good.

[Finarvyn]

Sept 3, 2009 23:12:30 GMT -6 Melan said:

...to think that you should be looking for a "Greyhawk" adventure instead of a "Gary Gygax" adventure.

A fantastic point. One thing I always liked about the old TSR products was that they did feature author's names on their products. There are definitely certain authors that I enjoy more than others, the same way that when I buy a fiction book I enjoy certain authors more than others. The fact that many of the newer blogger types aren't "name designers" yet shouldn't hinder them from getting some of the spotlight, and since FO! is open submission it's not really a crony publication where only friends of the publishers get in. At least, no more than Dragon or any other magazine.