This quarter was the first for my Omnihedron Games Imprint, dealing exclusively with the launch of Duty & Honour whilst also hosting the CE Journal on my OBS account. Duty & Honour launched in the first week of October, making this a full quarter sales report.

DUTY & HONOUR

51 Direct Sales (inc. Cons)
8 Retails Sales
14 Lulu Sales (Print)
10 Lulu Sales (Download)
30 OneBookShelf
3 Comps

Total Q4 (and lifetime!) sales

73 Print
40 Download
113 Total

DUTY & HONOUR ALMANAC

119 D&H Almanac #1 downloads
53 D&H Almanac #2 downloads

COLLECTIVE ENDEAVOUR JOURNAL

245 Collective Endeavour Journal downloads

Other Activity

I've attended two conventions promoting D&H - Furnace and Dragonmeet - and the game was kindly represented at Indiecon as well. Reception has been very positive within the UK and the game has also been sold around the world (Finland, Sweden, Spain, NZ, USA and Brazil). The Facebook group has grown to 73 members and I have been using it prudently to alert members of new products and D&H happenings. The website has been established but I am not happy with it or the messageboard.

Beat To Quarters

The text for BtQ is sitting in bits of notepad all over my PC at the moment and I am going to attempt to get it together into a playtestable format for Conpulsion in March. Due to the nature of the beast, I think this game will become a larger (read thicker) book than D&H and a slightly more customisable game. I am particularly interested in not only dealing with the swashbuckling heroics but also the social gamesmanship below decks, in the wardroom and around the Captain's table. It just needs to be teased out a little! I have three groups of external playtesters primed and ready as soon as the document is created.

Goals for 2009

1. Continue to grow the sales of D&H especially through its inclusion at IPR. I have the contract on my desk, the funds for the print run and I just need to get it sorted.

2. Continue to attend conventions and generate play and sales through Collective Endeavour.

3. Investigate and implement a better website solution for the game. At the moment, it is substandard and doesn't meet my needs.

4. Continue the aggressive scheduling of the Almanac releases and towards the end of the year look to pulling all of the content together into one printed document, with expansions.

5. Seek to release BtQ in October 2009 - which is, I think, a realistic target.

Reflections

My breakeven target for D&H was ... 18 copies. My own target for sales in total for the game was around 50. To go over 100 in the first quarter was beyond my wildest dreams. After the initial rush, sales have steadied to a constant trickle, which I think is to be expected for what is essentially an exceptionally niche genre. Financial restrictions have meant that I have had to take a slow-but-steady approach to the production of the game and that has given me exceptional control of the inventory and the levels I maintain. I am very pleased with that and at this time I don't mind paying a few pennies more per copy to ensure that I do not have capital tied up in books! Joining OBS was the correct decision as it has bolstered sales and allowed for a free and accessible download facility for the Almanac (which has also been received very well). The game is getting actual play now and is also getting convention play which is hugely gratifying.

Beat to Quarters has received a fair bit of interest as well. I always suspected that I would have to do the 'Sharpe' game before I had the tools to do the 'Hornblower' game but looking at the balance of the fiction, it was always the naval version that would be the easier sell. That appears to be the case.

Personally, this has been a breakthrough year for me in a number of areas and many of them I attribute to the launch of D&H, so once again I extend my humble thanks to everyone who has helped. Its been fantastic and I have learned so much about how this all works.

So there you have it!

Neil