1/01/2018

A Quick Look at Frugal GM's 2017...

A Quick Look at Frugal GM's 2017...
Hopefully everyone had a good Christmas and was also able to gather with their gaming group for a little bit of dice throw-down.

Since my "day job" is in retail, I've been busy, so I was on a "vacation" for the last couple of weeks.

Once the turmoil of the holiday season is passed I like to take a little bit of a look at the last year and, if I'm able, give my 12 readers a look ahead on my plans for the next year as well.

Since I started the Frugal GM blog I've been using DriveThruRPG as a barometer for how I've been doing as a small-time content creator.

Overall: It has been a bit of a mixed bag. Due to a few personal issues that I won't get into here, I've not been as productive as I was in the past, something that needs to change. Few "products" means fewer sales and downloads. On the plus side, one of the metrics (percentage of free downloads) increased from 86% to 91%. That might seem like a negative, but achieving a 90% was probably the 1st goal for using DTRPG. Adding a PWYW option in 2014 skewed the free downloads percentage.

As an aside, a LOT of the PWYW purchases were for a dime or even a penny, which really messes up the numbers.....

By the Numbers:
-17.4% Products "sold"
-35.1% Gross sales
-17.2% Free downloads by count
+05.4% Free downloads by percentage
91% Percentage of free products of all products "sold"

What's next?
The last couple of years I have been sharing content through DTRPG and Patreon, but after Patreon's little pass-the-buck cash grab, which they have since rescinded, I'm just not comfortable using that platform any more. I might give them some time to see if they come around to dip into Patron's pockets again, and I might...might, go back to them, but so far that's not in the works for me.

I have a couple of projects that I really want to see in printed form. I don't know if this will mean local printing and distribution, using Lulu, DTRPG print services, or some option I haven't even considered.

I do plan on taking some/all of the maps I've created and disseminated on Patreon over to DTRPG, and to put future maps on that site as well. I might go back to using Dropbox for some files....I'll know more when I start the process.

I'd love to be able to attend some conventions with professional-looking product in hand, but my ability to travel is up in the air for now, pun intended.


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