E-books

[Shark_Force]

i'd be cool with seeing a bunch of mini-releases for product lines that i'm interested in. seeing those mini-releases combined into a physical book is actually something i'd be less excited for, though i would welcome something similar as a PDF.

i would not want to see it all as one book. offer all the mini-releases as a bundle, sure (or the bigger PDFs, or whatever). regular errata sounds nice too (though i wouldn't expect anything major, just stuff like simple typos, clarifying badly-written sentences, etc - nothing that's going to need layout redone, and no need for balance changes and such).

wait for them to redo layout on the great big book of everything (with everything inside) every single time they release a 10 page booklet? please, no. the last thing i want is for palladium to redo layout on a book that keeps on getting bigger and bigger and bigger every time they get 10 pages worth of material published. that sounds like a nightmare, a huge waste of effort, and a massive clog in a product pipeline which already suffers from blockages.

collecting small releases into one bigger release sounds cool too (and also sounds like the sort of thing where they might be able to hire a freelance layout specialist to do it, since theoretically they'll have incorporated feedback from each of the mini-releases and all the layout specialist has to do is make it look nice and fit onto the pages well, rather than needing a full-time employee to do the work). just don't go overboard and make it so that there is one book to rule them all. when you get one book's worth of mini-releases that go together well (say, 96 pages of material detailing the geography, OCCs, unusual equipment, etc from one area of a given setting), go ahead and combine them and make it available as a print product, even, for those who love their dead tree products.

but i really don't think having one gigantic document which incorporates all the various mini-releases in various combinations is a good idea at all.

[Boethermsbrukan]

Had a few days to think about what's been rolled out in the thread regarding the demand (or lack of it) for electronic versions of print books, sanctioned and supplied by Palladium Books.

The Rifter I think would be an excellent source for compiled-on-demand PDFs; treating the 60-odd installments of the series as an encyclopaedia of sorts or even put together, all in PDF format, on a CD-Rom or DVD-Rom (and which could also be applied to the World Books, for example) either in a set, released in installments or accessible-per-view in a online format.

I don't know what automating the above would involve, if it could be done on a practical level; most of my print books are old enough that the source would be mechanical rather than a sister PDF in existence from day one and the archival copies (or original printing blocks) would be entirely physical, or at least I'd think so.

However, I again suggest that it would be a good back-burner project, wherein once a certain number of books or articles were assembled to fill a ROM and could be massproduced and supplied via the Store or retail outlets in installments, might be an option for electronic editions of Palladium's products not otherwise available.

That's my two Imperial Silvers.

-Boe.

[Forar]

Personally I prefer "dead tree" editions of books, but if the choice were between "digital only releases" and "no releases", I'd be fine with seeing new material produced for those interested in it.

Having the option to get both ('dead tree' for general reading, digital for ease of searching, reduced carrying requirements, and for browsing while on the go and a question or idea hits me) is my preference, but I can see how going pure digital for some would be beneficial to lines that have struggled over the years.

[Tiree]

Personally I prefer "dead tree" editions of books, but if the choice were between "digital only releases" and "no releases", I'd be fine with seeing new material produced for those interested in it.

Yeah, right now it's "dead tree' and "no releases".

The E-Book supporters aren't saying "no dead tree" but we are saying "electronic releases as well"

[Forar]

I mean in terms of books being released at all, not just digital versions.

Example: BtS. If going pure digital would help shave months or more off getting another book out to the public without having to worry about print runs or finding a slot at the factory, I'm sure some of those folks would be happy to have *something* to add to their collection, even if it can't sit on the shelf.

[palladiumjunkie]

I am sure that most of the issues with lack of released material have everything to do with Kevin having not actually written/edited the material yet, and very little to do with the production of the physical print runs. It isn't going to matter e-book or physical book if there is a bottleneck up the line.

-Chris

[Shark_Force]

yeah, i don't recall ever reading "<book title> has been at the printers for the last two months waiting to get printed" as a reason for a book to be delayed. even shipping doesn't usually seem to be much of a problem (not sure if palladium usually uses a local printer or something).

the main problem appears to be that there is basically one editor, and he is only capable of editing so fast. if we had 4 kevin siembiedas, i'm pretty sure we could get 4 times the amount of books (at the very least until the backlog is cleared; at 12-16 books a year, they might actually publish faster than their freelancers submit manuscripts, not sure).

[Killer Cyborg]

the main problem appears to be that there is basically one editor, and he is only capable of editing so fast. if we had 4 kevin siembiedas, i'm pretty sure we could get 4 times the amount of books (at the very least until the backlog is cleared; at 12-16 books a year, they might actually publish faster than their freelancers submit manuscripts, not sure).

That's the solution, then: we need to make more Kevin Siembiedas.

[palladiumjunkie]

the main problem appears to be that there is basically one editor, and he is only capable of editing so fast. if we had 4 kevin siembiedas, i'm pretty sure we could get 4 times the amount of books (at the very least until the backlog is cleared; at 12-16 books a year, they might actually publish faster than their freelancers submit manuscripts, not sure).

That's the solution, then: we need to make more Kevin Siembiedas.

Or...

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster."

-Chris

[Shark_Force]

the main problem appears to be that there is basically one editor, and he is only capable of editing so fast. if we had 4 kevin siembiedas, i'm pretty sure we could get 4 times the amount of books (at the very least until the backlog is cleared; at 12-16 books a year, they might actually publish faster than their freelancers submit manuscripts, not sure).

That's the solution, then: we need to make more Kevin Siembiedas.

well, that or travel back in time and prevent the crisis of treachery from occurring without kevin knowing that it was ever a thing so that he might not feel quite so strongly about doing just about everything himself.

i mean, how many times do you read a murmur or weekly report where he mentions talking to the printer or paying bills as a major part of his day? i can't really fault him for not wanting to let anyone else handle the financial end of things after what happened, but that doesn't mean i don't wish he was more willing to let someone else do that work =S

[Killer Cyborg]

the main problem appears to be that there is basically one editor, and he is only capable of editing so fast. if we had 4 kevin siembiedas, i'm pretty sure we could get 4 times the amount of books (at the very least until the backlog is cleared; at 12-16 books a year, they might actually publish faster than their freelancers submit manuscripts, not sure).

That's the solution, then: we need to make more Kevin Siembiedas.

well, that or travel back in time and prevent the crisis of treachery from occurring without kevin knowing that it was ever a thing so that he might not feel quite so strongly about doing just about everything himself.

Good point.

[Rallan]

well, that or travel back in time and prevent the crisis of treachery from occurring without kevin knowing that it was ever a thing so that he might not feel quite so strongly about doing just about everything himself.

Such a time ever existed? For as long as I can remember everyone's just accepted that water is wet, the sun comes up in the morning, and Palladium will never get everything out on time or release as many books this year as it promised.

[Shark_Force]

well, that or travel back in time and prevent the crisis of treachery from occurring without kevin knowing that it was ever a thing so that he might not feel quite so strongly about doing just about everything himself.

Such a time ever existed? For as long as I can remember everyone's just accepted that water is wet, the sun comes up in the morning, and Palladium will never get everything out on time or release as many books this year as it promised.

if kevin didn't let someone else handle the financial stuff back in the day, then how would anyone have used that to embezzle funds? obviously, money was embezzled, and therefore someone else must have been handling the finances for the company.

and while they may never have produced quite as many books as they (or we) might have wished, they did used to produce more than they have been the past few years.

[The Beast]

...and while they may never have produced quite as many books as they (or we) might have wished, they did used to produce more than they have been the past few years.

http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=143127

Here's a rough estimate of the numbers PB has produced.

[ScottBernard]

well, that or travel back in time and prevent the crisis of treachery from occurring without kevin knowing that it was ever a thing so that he might not feel quite so strongly about doing just about everything himself.

Such a time ever existed? For as long as I can remember everyone's just accepted that water is wet, the sun comes up in the morning, and Palladium will never get everything out on time or release as many books this year as it promised.

if kevin didn't let someone else handle the financial stuff back in the day, then how would anyone have used that to embezzle funds? obviously, money was embezzled, and therefore someone else must have been handling the finances for the company.

and while they may never have produced quite as many books as they (or we) might have wished, they did used to produce more than they have been the past few years.

Wait, what??

The crisis of treachery is the reason theres less books coming out now?

And what about before?

[Killer Cyborg]

well, that or travel back in time and prevent the crisis of treachery from occurring without kevin knowing that it was ever a thing so that he might not feel quite so strongly about doing just about everything himself.

Such a time ever existed? For as long as I can remember everyone's just accepted that water is wet, the sun comes up in the morning, and Palladium will never get everything out on time or release as many books this year as it promised.

if kevin didn't let someone else handle the financial stuff back in the day, then how would anyone have used that to embezzle funds? obviously, money was embezzled, and therefore someone else must have been handling the finances for the company.

and while they may never have produced quite as many books as they (or we) might have wished, they did used to produce more than they have been the past few years.

Wait, what??

The crisis of treachery is the reason theres less books coming out now?

And what about before?

PART of the reason.

Here's the theory as I understand it:
Kevin is the bottleneck for books, because he has to handle virtually everything himself.
This was made worse because of the CoT, because now Kevin is even more reluctant to trust others with real responsibility- he's been burned before.

Also, the CoT damaged Palladium enough financially that I believe that they still haven't recovered, and that means that they don't have as much funding to hire people to do the stuff that they DO trust others for.

BEFORE the CoT... books were late, because Kevin was still the bottleneck. But things seem to have gotten worse over time, not better.

[Metathiax]

Maybe if we showed them/him it's what we would support.

I threw this togeather please add your signature if you think it is something palladium should do.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/pall ... s-for-sale