A fan offered this at the end of his Christmas Surprise Package and I wanted to share it with you.
He wrote:
I do want to leave you, Kevin and all the wonderful Palladium staff with this quote. It has gotten me through some tough times in my life and I’m only hoping that it will help you all as well. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
Words to live by. Thank you for sharing them Danny.
While I had not heard this wonderful quote before, I can tell you that it is true. And I have tried to live by them all my life.
I grew up poor. Life was a struggle. Yet my beautiful mother always found something beautiful about every day even when she was dying of cancer. Even when something terrible happened, she’d say, “Well, at least we have each other, and how many people know they are truly loved? We are so lucky.” She was amazing.
She also ingrained in me and my brother with the crazy idea that, we could be or do anything. All we had to do is believe in ourselves and try.
You see, when you grow up poor, really poor, people look down on you. You are garbage, white trash, a dumb Pollock, simply because you are poor, wear patched up, out of style clothes, and live in a little house. It doesn’t matter that the clothes are clean, the house and lawn well kept, or that your parents are loving, sober and hardworking. You’re trash.
As trash, you get the message you are nothing and will grow up to be nothing, so why try to be otherwise?
I hate that about human beings. I hate that we look down on others, like to hate other people for the stupidest reasons, and try to tear apart other people's dreams.
My own experiences with Palladium
All my life I had people telling me what I could or couldn’t do. That I was stupid, foolish or crazy for even trying.
But you know what? I tried anyway. I tried and tried. I made sacrifices and worked my behind off. And I often succeeded.
I followed my dreams to become an artist and a writer. Even my own, well-intentioned Grandfather tried to talk me out of my chosen path. He was relentless. “The only thing worse than an artist is a writer,” he screamed one day in self-righteous frustration. I know he was thinking, “Why won’t this boy listen to reason? I’m only trying to help him.” I also know he was proud of me when I succeeded.
When people said I would never make a living as an artist and it was stupid to try, I tried anyway and succeeded.
When people said I was just a dumb artist and asked, what made me think I could write role-playing games or start my own game company? I tried anyway and succeeded.
When I did things – virtually EVERYTHING – different than the rest of the gaming industry, people laughed, mocked, criticized and called me stupid. They said I’d never succeed. The company was doomed. They insisted nobody does X, Y or Z. They said I needed to follow their lead. To do as “everyone else did.” As they do. And to have much, much lower expectations. After all, I was just a dumb artist who had worked for some of them. I was no game designer. I was no writer. Why even try to do something else or be something more? And if I was going to pursue this foolish path, then I needed to listen to them about how to do things "the right way." Except there is no "right way." There are all kinds of different ways.
When Palladium had its first early success, the naysayers chuckled, pointed out all the flaws and called it a fluke. The next several other successes were flawed flukes as well. The TMNT® license and the success of the RPG in 1985 was pure dumb luck.
The Robotech® license in 1986 was stupid. A joke. Don’t do it, people cried. There was already Battletech, so why do another giant robot game? It will never sell. Nobody is going to buy it! What am I thinking? When Robotech® was Palladium’s next smash hit, it was deigned to be a fluke and dumb luck too.
When I announced Palladium was going to release Robotech episodes on videocassette, people had a laugh riot. That Kevin Siembieda is crazy. Who’s going to buy some stupid cartoon, especially from a role-playing game company? Even my wife thought it was too expensive and risky to try. When the first tape was released, only two distributors purchased any copies at all, and the total between them both were 26 copies. I could have quit then and there. Yep, my critics were right. It was crazy. I was stupid. Time to quit and accept my mistake.
Instead, I sat back and figured out a new way to get my product into the hands of the people “I knew” wanted it. I had to scramble and rethink my whole approach to marketing the product. I knew there was a demand, but how did I reach my audience if the distributors and stores wouldn’t take the product? The answer (at the time) was print ads and direct sale mail order. Something we had never tried before. Three months later, I had ALL 70+ distributors calling and begging for me to let them purchase and sell the Robotech® videocassettes. That bit of insanity grossed Palladium Books a few million dollars in two years, and helped to launch the burgeoning anime market (called Japanimation back then) when it was in its infancy.
The next thing I was crazy, foolish, and stupid to release was Rifts®.
When the Crisis of Treachery happened, I was told by many we could never survive. It was time to shut our doors and call it the end. The damage was too severe, too terrible. Give up. Instead I came up with a plan and worked at it hard.
The Crisis of Treachery practically killed Palladium. We have never completely recovered from it. We remain hobbled by debt and insufficient resources (e.g. cash, cash flow and personnel). That hobbles us in other ways, but we make do with what we have, adapt and press on. Palladium was clobbered by other devastating turns of events that threatened to crush our spirits and set back Palladium’s progress in getting completely on our feet. Some were personal and unknown to you, others were public. The Death of Erick took a heavy told on all of us and affected the company on many levels.
The global economic crisis came next. It has slaughtered God only knows how many thousands of businesses of every variety, large and small, strong and weak. The economy has hurt Palladium, because it has profoundly hurt YOU and forced changes in your buying habits. You know first hand, what these uncertain times have done to you, your spending, your game time, your lives. All you can do is try your best and find peace and happiness where you can.
All of us at Palladium Books continue to be positive, work hard, long hours, make sacrifices and try our best to keep the company going. We love what we do and appreciate the fans who support us so ardently, as well as those we know want to, but cannot. Thank you everyone. We give back when we can and we continue to fight the good fight.
The point is, every step of the way, Palladium Books has faced challenges. Every step of the way, I had people second-guessing me, telling me my plan or product wouldn't work, or that I was out of touch, delusional, crazy, or foolish for going down that path, or that I should give up. I tried to stay true to myself and kept trying, sometimes even when there seemed to be no hope.
The secret of trying, by the way, is to try with your whole heart and soul. It means giving it EVERYTHING you have. It means taking calculated risks. It means being your own harshest critic. It means weeding out the good advice from the bad, and the good from the well-intentioned but misinformed, misguided and downright destructive. Most important, it means dedication, sacrifice (never fun or easy) and hard work. Really hard work and long hours. The kind of dedication, sacrifice and hard work most people are not willing to invest. You do that, and odds are you’ll succeed.
It's all about the trying. Failure is okay. You can't always succeed, even when you try your hardest. If you learned from the experience or walked away a smarter, better person for it, then it was a good thing. Not desired, perhaps, but a good thing. My Mom always said, “Do your best and there can be no regret. And if you’ve done your best, but fail, there was nothing else you could have done. You tried. You gave it your all. Be proud of that and move forward, head held high, because sometimes even your best is not good enough.” Wise words from a woman who was doing her best to fight cancer in a battle she could not possibly win. Erick Wujcik echoed that sentiment before dying with grace and courage against that same insideous enemy.
Will all our valiant efforts be enough to get Palladium strong and going for years to come? I don’t know. I hope so. There are days like today, when I feel positive and full of fight. On these days I say, “Hell yes!” But there are the days when I feel beaten up and worn out, when I say, “God, I don't know if we can keep this up another day.” As I said, these are uncertain times. All of us are hurting. Time will tell. Just know that we are trying hard and doing our best.
We all have our challenges and battles to fight. All we can do is try our best. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we lose. But we need to keep trying. Keep trying to live and love as best we can. Keep trying to find joy in the things that really matter. Don’t let the naysayers hold you back. Don’t give up on yourself or others. Dare to live bold. Dare to live well. There is always hope! Please don’t forget that. Rich or poor, you can be happy. Find your happiness. Keep trying. Enjoy what you have and cherish what is most precious. Laugh and keep pressing forward.
What keeps me going?
The knowledge that we have made huge headway and have already beaten seemingly impossible odds. Being surrounded by people I love. The times when I lose myself in writing or drawing so completely that I experience pure bliss and I actually stop for a moment to revell in it and think about how much I love and enjoy what I do. It doesn't get better than that. I love knowing I am creating things other people will enjoy. I love my job, my company, my friends and my life. I love YOU – well most of you – because there is a connection and joy we share through gaming and unleashing of ideas, imagination, adventure and laughter. Life is hard, sometimes, but life is still good if you let it.
As for Palladium’s future. Right now sales have picked up dramatically. If they stay that way, we’ll do okay and get stronger. If the economy worsens . . . who knows?
I do know we are producing great product and people want our books. The Rifts® movie deal and other opportunities are full of promise. Palladium’s fans are kind and supportive. Like I said, on days like today, I know Palladium will take off and reach new heights that will rock you out of your socks.
Don't give up. Keep trying. We won't give up, if you don't.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer & Game Designer
Palladium Books®, Inc. – 28 years of RPG Publishing
© Copyright October 10, 2009 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural, Dead Reign, Warpath, Shemarrian Nation, Fleets of the Three Galaxies, Mysteries of Magic, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.