The Board Game Designer's Guide to Getting Published

✍ Scribed by Joe Slack

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 252
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Making a great board game and pitching it to publishers are two completely different things.

If you’ve got a game that you want to share with the world but don’t know what to do next, this book will help you navigate through exactly what steps to take.

You’ll discover

How to find the right publisher
Exactly what publishers are looking for
How to create a sell sheet that will actually sell your game
How to negotiate the best deal and get paid more for your game
What to look out for in contracts to make sure you don’t get exploited
You’ll learn from Joe’s experiences as a full-time board game designer and instructor, along with tips and stories from a dozen other published designers, plus the exact things that publishers want. Direct from 16 established publishers.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
Section I: What You Need to Do before You Even Think of Pitching Your Game
1. Making a Great Game
2. Understanding What Makes Your Game Unique (and the Hook)
3. Thinking about Your Game as a Product
4. The Importance of Playtesting
5. How to Write Your Rule Book Without Getting a Headache
6. How and Why You Need to Blind Playtest Your Game
7. Should You Pitch to Publishers or Self-Publish?
Section II: Everything You Need before You Pitch to Publishers
8. First, What You Don’t Need
9. Become Pitch-Perfect (or at Least Pitch-Great)
10. How to Create a Sell Sheet That Will Actually Sell Your Game
11. How to Avoid Overdoing Your Overview Video
12. Putting Together Everything Else You’ll Need
Section III: How to Find the Right Publisher
13. First, Figure Out Who Is Going to Want Your Game
14. How to Get Meetings at Conventions (Cons)
15. How to Wow Publishers at a Speed Dating Event
16. Going to Cons Without Going Broke
17. Reaching Out to Publishers
18. Why You Need to Enter Game Design Contests
19. Other Effective Approaches
Section IV: What Publishers Want
20. Questions Publishers Ask (and the Answers They Are Looking for)
21. Advice from Real Publishers
22. Publisher-Specific Wants and Needs
Section V: Getting Your Foot in the Door with a Publisher So You Can Get Your First Game Signed
23. How to Prove to a Publisher That You’re Worthy
24. When to Send a Prototype and When You Should Never Send One
25. Setting Expectations
26. What Do You Do If a Publisher Says No?
27. Peanuts and Promises—How Board Game Designers Get Paid
Section VI: Contracts—Understanding What’s Important to You
28. Knowing If This Is Really the Right Publisher for You
29. What to Look for in Your Contract
30. How to Avoid Getting Trapped in an Exploitative Contract
31. Negotiating for the Best Deal
32. Congratulations! You’ve Got Your Game Signed. Now What?
Section VII: Stories from the Battlefield
Appendix
References and Suggested Resources
Thank You!