Then the bottom dropped out . . .

[Kevin]

Then the bottom dropped out . . .

Yesterday, I talked about how strong sales had been the past few weeks and this week's sales had been outstanding. I had even written about how hopeful I was about Palladium's future for tomorrow's Press Release.

Then . . . BOOM . . . the wake up call.

This morning sales were 75% lower than what we had been seeing in the days of the first part of the week. Ouch. I'm NOT freaking out, because it is the first big drop we’ve seen in a few weeks, and Thursday morning sales are usually the lowest of the week, but it was a surprise and an eye opener.

The low sales was a big reminder that the economy is definitely not racing to get back on its feet. We can still expect roller coaster (steep highs and lows) days and weeks. Actually, I’m glad it happened. I was starting to get too hopeful and excited about sales and overly hopeful about Palladium’s future. I so badly want things to pick up, get better and stay better, that a few exciting weeks of strong sales during our slow season got all of our hopes starting to soar. I'm afraid it is still going to take awhile. There are still going to be bad days, bad weeks and, though I hope not, but possibly bad months from time to time. We’ll hang tight, stay focused on producing great new books and remain a bit more guardedly optimistic.

With any luck, sales will pick up tonight and remain strong over the weekend and into next week. Like I said before, The Rifter® Subscription ends in something like 11 days, so hopefully we’ll see a bunch of last minute subscription orders, and we have three hot titles coming out in April with more coming in the months afterward.

Stay frosty when you hit your own downturns and stay on track. Don’t let the slumps and disappointments get you down. Focus on the positive and stay on the right track.

Smile and enjoy the nice weather, if you have it. It has been sunny and in the 60 degree temperature range here, which is about 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual. The cold snap is coming this weekend (back into the high 40s), so I wish I was outside today instead of indoors writing. Oh, that’s okay. I’m really enjoying writing Heroes of the Megaverse®. I was hot last night (worked till 10:15 PM on Cosmo-Knights) and I’m writing at a good clip this morning. I think folks are going to enjoy this book very much. It’s full of surprises, heroes and fun ideas.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, and Game Designer
Palladium Books, 29 years of publishing role-playing games

© Copyright March 18, 2010 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, 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, 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.