Hardcover shipping, Secrets and Expansion hopes

[Kevin]

Hardcover shipping, Secrets and Expansion plans.

Hardcover Machinations of Doom

I don’t know what anyone else did yesterday, but I glued the signature card into 200 copies of Rifts® Machinations of Doom and Julius shipped something like 50 advance orders. Of course, I have 200 books to finish tipping in the signature card, but I hope to do that over the weekend. Freelancer copies will ship Monday or Tuesday.

The book looks really great too. I’m amazed how classy a black hardcover with Gold foil printing and artwork always looks. I think you collectors will really enjoy them. Ramon made the tip-in sheet (e.g. signature card) fun and special.

Other business matters

Talked on the phone with several freelancers, paid some bills, answered e-mails, negotiated some building repairs, plotted scheduling, and had a top secret meeting with Mark Dudley that lasted three hours.

Top Secret Meeting with Mark Dudley and Company

I met with Mark, Mike and Jeff to discuss a possible new endeavor for Palladium Books. It’s something they are developing completely. It’s a speculative venture and really top secret, at least for the next six months, maybe a year. But if they pull this off . . . wow.

Why mention this if none of us can talk about it yet? A) Because I’m evil (ask anyone). B) Because the three of them blew me away with their presentation and I'm stoked about it, so I need to talk about it even if it's only in generalities. Their work, to date, was nothing short of awesome. Brilliant. Creepy and cool. It was everything I could have hoped for. Now if only they can pull it off from start to finish. And no, it is not a Rifts® project.

Palladium Product and Game Events will be at Origins

The Palladium crew and I will NOT be at Origins 2007, HOWEVER, Palladium’s RPGs and sourcebooks will be available at the show.

We are being repped by the same gent who takes Steve Jackson Games products to major conventions. He does a GREAT job and we are happy to be working with him to get our books out to conventions we can't attend. Likewise, I believe the Megaversal Ambassadors (and other G.M.s) are running something like 6-12 Palladium RPG role-playing game events. So if you’re going to Origins, and you are a Palladium fan, look for our products and games at the show. Good ol’ Tony Falzon helped to make this happen.

Palladium’s next appearance at a convention is Gen Con (we’re in front of the WoTC booth) and GallowsCon (a small, fun one-day game convention in Indiania this September, where Wayne and I are guests and something like a dozen Palladium gaming events are going to be run; I’m running two DeSilca games/Palladium Fantasy).

Expanding into the book trade

Tony Falzon is another busy guy for someone who has had to cut his appearances at the office to three days a week. Tony is currently hard at work expanding our presence into “mom and pop” stores as well as book chains. With any luck we’ll be adding a chain or two and getting into Canada by the end of Summer. Keep your fingers crossed. Returns are always a concern and problem, but so far they have been very manageable.

Online sales shot up Wednesday and Thursday (thank goodness) as people purchased the A Megaverse United print (thank you, one and all) as well as the hardcover Rifts® Machination of Doom, greeting cards and other Palladium products.

Hopefully, that’s the beginning of the usual Summer sales boost the hobby industry usually sees around this time of year. The last couple months sales were a bit sluggish (typical for that time of year). Online sales are big for us, so seeing such a dramatic spike (quadruple the previous two days!) was a very welcomed sight.

A Megaverse United print is no longer available. If I recall correctly, the last print was number 1983. I'd like to think that number is a sign of a bright future for us. 1983 was the year the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game was released, the weapon books were selling tens of thousands of copies and Palladium Books was really starting to take off. Let's hope we're at a similar junction right now in our recovery. Thank you, everyone, for your support.

We have lot of great, new product in the pipeline for the months to come, so I better quit murmuring and get back to work editing and writing.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, Artist and Gamer
© Copyright June 1, 2007