Blah, humbug. I’m feeling tired and a little blue this morning. I feel like we’re in the same stinking rut working our tails off, seem to make some headway, and then slide back. Frustrating.
After 3-4 weeks of very good sales, online sales remained flat. Not awful (thank goodness), but lower than what we’ve been seeing and lower than what we need (by about 20%). The worst part is, you don't know if this is just a little slump and nothing to worry about, or the start of a big drop in sales. That uncertainty is murder.
The sales trend has also reversed itself again. Something I just don’t get. For the last several months, Friday sales were the lowest for the weekend, Saturday sales were higher and Sunday sales were the highest. As of this weekend, Friday night sales were the highest, Saturday was half that, and Sunday was half of Saturday’s sales. Friday being the best sales day with Saturday and Sunday being lower is what we consider the “normal sales” pattern, even though numbers were down. It’s just not until the global economic crash, we never saw the trend reverse itself for weeks or months at a time and switch back and forward. I don’t think it has any negative impact on sales, it’s just weird and never happened until the economic crash.
As for sales being down, it is what it is. We just hope that sales pick back up, or at least don’t drop any lower. They should pick up when new books come out. Still it’s nerve-racking not know what’s coming next. Of course we fear the up and down roller coaster.
A Bit of Burnout
Everyone at Palladium has been working very hard for a very, very long time. We’re all tired and a little crispy around the edges from a bit of burnout. I’m especially worried about Wayne, Kathy and myself. We seem to be dragging and moving slow lately, even when we think we’re being positive. It’s tough to stay positive when you work pretty much non-stop. It drags you down when you break your back and you still slide behind schedule. I worked all weekend, so did Wayne and Alex, as well as Julius and Kathy for part of it. We just didn't get as much done as we needed to. It’s frustrating.
And before a bunch of you wonderful caring fans send me PMs and emails saying, “Kevin, take a damn weekend off!” I know I should and I wish I could, but I can’t. We need to get books finished and to the printer. Not just to satisfy fan demand, but because we need the cash flow and we need to get Heroes of the Megaverse® and Triax™ 2 out in time for the Open House. Besides, I am so tired of missing deadlines and I hate disappointing people.
Fear not, we’re hanging in there
The Rifter® #50 is done and at the printer. It looks great and should ship around April 8. Waiting for an exact ship date from the Printer.
Heroes of the Megaverse® is shaping up to be another epic title with a lot of fun material and plenty of surprises.
Triax™ 2 is going to be outstanding. Every bit as good as the first book.
Don’t forget that The Rifter® subscription sale ENDS next week, so get those subscriptions in.
http://www.palladiumbooks.com/Merchant2 ... t_Code=100
Don’t forget the Open House is coming up fast and it’s not too late to plan on coming. Only you need to reserve your hotel room by April 10th to get the superior discount rate.
Also, those of you who wanted Palladium to make Hoodies, it is very helpful to us if you could place your order before March 31 so we can figure out how many to have made. Thank you.
Sorry for grumbling a little bit, but I feel a bit better after doing so.
I guess I got it out of my system. Gotta run a couple errands and then I write all day long. All week long. Thanks for your years of support. Keep those imaginations burning bright and game on.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, and Game Designer
Palladium Books, 29 years of publishing role-playing games
© Copyright March 22, 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.