This came up on the OBS publisher forum too, greeted with great cynicism e.g. about Ken's new proj with artists or something.

Tim Gray
Silver Branch Games
www.silverbranch.co.uk

I will wait and see I think. At the moment I am talking to avalon about doing a 500 deck run of bmovie. Works out pretty cheap per deck and will not cost as much as doing it through RapidPOD. Still looking around though so if you see anything just buzz me.

Cheers

Iain

Mob Justice now available! 'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.

Avalon are starting to look good. I am currently speaking to Lance Williams and should have a quote soon. I will update as I get information.

Cheers

Iain

Mob Justice now available! 'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.

I would like to hear how you get on with Avalon. I heard that a few of the indie guys had no books for GenCon because Lance dropped the ball for them. They thought it was out of character for Avalon, but obviously it was a firm kick between the legs for their chances of making money at GenCon.

For what it's worth on Rapid POD, Matt McElroy has a thread on his LJ here: http://flamesrising.livejournal.com/81897.html

Pretty much burying Ken Whitman, who's now been booted from RPGnet.

Personally, I'm holding off on declaring RapidPOD dead yet... as with Beth Ditto at the helm they may be better than under Ken. From my experience Beth was someone who was able to actually get my my books when Ken fumbled around... so maybe Ken moving on puts them in a better position overall. Or maybe not. Time will tell, I hope.

I wonder if it is the same Beth Ditto who is the lead singer of the Gossip?

My views of Avalon, as posted here, still stand. Fantastic quality books, less so when it comes to communication. Despite this, they've always managed to come through for me in the past - they got 25 additional books to IPR in time for Gencon at very short notice - but others haven't been so lucky.

RapidPOD have never let me down. I'll use them again and give Beth a shot. Now she's standing on the edge of control.

I contacted Avalon about P&P - no reply. So I went with Fidlar instead, they seem very good so far, books due to ship tomorrow.

+++
JoE
+++

Prince of Darkness Games
Rock N' Role-Play....

RapidPOD couldn't even manage to send a package by recorded delivery when I asked for it, and wouldn't give a reason. As a result I never received so much as a proof copy from them, even though they swore blind that it'd been posted. As a result I never put in an order with them, and fortunately didn't pay for the proof copy either. I won't be using them until they've gotten a MASSIVE amount of publicity, especially with this ridiculously low price binge they've gone on. It strikes me that if they sell their services that cheap, they won't be able to keep it up long in either quality or indeed any production at all, and I'd rather it wasn't my product that disappeared due to their sudden collapse.

Ken's new company also claims to be printing books. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's started it purely to ditch the bad name that RapidPOD has made for itself. I also really don't like the sound of a company making fantasy-themes clothing, simply because there are so many scams and exploitationist companies in the custom clothing field.

Avalon, well, the quality is great but, as many have said, their communications suck. Someone on an RPGNet thread who I think is also in the collective (can't remember names well, sorry) recently put me onto Fidlar Doubleday, and I'm looking forward to giving them a try with my next project. Can't comment on prices or quality yet though, as I've only really looked at the website, but the range of options and customisability they offer is staggering.

Ash

I've heard good things about Fidlar too, but Avalon have been very good to me, even though their communication remains patchy at best.

And the reason RapidPOD had a bad name was Ken! I'm sure now he's left it can only improve. His new company though ... well, buyer beware, that's all I say.

Fidlar did the new edition of Mob Justice, right?

I won't be using them. Really don't like the quality of either the cover or the interior text. Which is a shame because it's a beautifully designed book. But the printing on the 2006 edition is so much nicer.

The printer of that 2006 version... step forward Rapid POD.

You have to cry, or laugh, or something.

I never had a problem with the print quality on a RapidPOD book. They always got me my books and I never paid for anything I didn't get. In fact, I got more than a fair shake from them. The downsides are well mentioned elsewhere. For me, the only problem was with books arriving, but Beth Ditto was actually the person who went in, found my books, and sent them to me. That meant I had plenty of books for Dragonmeet last year. Malc's books turned up a week too late (the 10 books he had were sent over from IPR from their stocks). That was a real stress point for Malc.

Fidlar Doubleday have been really great with customer service and they do matt laminate covers too. I feel the print quality isn't as high as the RapidPOD printings but way better than the Lightning Source and Lulu books I've seen.

I hear good things about Publishers Graphics too and I am impressed with their print job ion the latest version of carry for instance.

The print job Fidlar did on the Cold City Companion is great, you should check that out Rich if you get a chance.

Avalon were being buried by some customers at GenCon who I talked to. They screwed up a couple of publishers I know in the US big time, and it was pretty tense.

Hmm, I seem to recall hearing they 'forgot' to do certain books, which is pretty unforgivable.

I think one of the problems with printers seems to be inconsistency - rarely with print quality, but always with customer service. One person's fantastic experience is another person's nightmare.

And yes, the CCC is fantastic - I'll bring my copy to Concrete Cow (had to resist typing CC there ;-) to show you Rich.