Sales for Second Quarter 2016

Things are more than a little quiet over in Sword’s Edge Publishing land, but Nefertiti Overdrive continues going strong, which is very nice. There’s not much to say other than this is likely the new normal. I would expect Nefertiti Overdrive sales will slow to something like Sword Noir‘s once we hit a year of its release (which will happen in Oct 2016). At least I’m not losing money.

Sales for Second Quarter 2016 (Apr – Jun)
All sales venues

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 1

Covert Forces
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Centurion, 4
Nefertiti Overdrive, 22
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 28

Sword’s Edge System
Kiss My Axe, 7
Sword Noir, 6

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 42
Khorforjan Gambit, 12
Qalashar Device, 135
Raid On Ashkashem, 177

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 65
For Simple Coin, 6
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 40

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 111
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 183
In Her Majesty’s Service, 159

Other
Centurion, 186
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 43
Line Zero, 40
Nefertiti Overdrive, 80
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 627
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 154
Kheufer Scrolls, 199
Kiss My Axe, 218
Suffer the Witch, 95
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1669
Sword Noir, 649

Sales for First Quarter, 2016

Here are the sales figures for the first quarter of 2016. What is very interesting – to me – is how much Nefertiti Overdrive sold this quarter. It was stronger this quarter than last, which included its release – and the release period is usually the strongest. Most of those sales (14) were through Indie Press Revolution, and 13 of them went to retailers. This makes me happy.

Also, I’d like to assure you that there are still copies available at Indie Press Revolution, 10 at last count.

So . . . on with the show!

Sales for First Quarter 2016 (Jan – Mar)
All sales venues

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 1
For Simple Coin, 1
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 1

Covert Forces
Covert Forces Redux, 1
In Her Majesty’s Service, 2

Other
Centurion, 5
Nefertiti Overdrive, 25
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 29

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 4
Kheufer Scrolls, 4
Kiss My Axe, 4
Suffer the Witch, 1
Sword Noir, 6

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 42
Khorforjan Gambit, 12
Qalashar Device, 135
Raid On Ashkashem, 177

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 64
For Simple Coin, 6
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 40

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 111
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 183
In Her Majesty’s Service, 158

Other
Centurion, 182
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 43
Line Zero, 40
Nefertiti Overdrive, 58
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 599
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 154
Kheufer Scrolls, 199
Kiss My Axe, 211
Suffer the Witch, 95
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1669
Sword Noir, 643

The 2015 Numbers

Last post was discussing events in 2015. This one is about sales. First are the totals and next are the numbers from different venues, like Amazon or distribution sales.

The sales are better this year than last because of an increase in the number of places I’m selling my games. Still not ready to quit my day job yet.

TOTAL SALES

Systems
Centurion: Legionaries of Rome, 70
Kiss My Axe, 13
Nefertiti Overdrive, 49
Sword Noir, 75

Spec Ops
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 4
Covert Forces Redux, 6
In Her Majesty’s Service, 7

Adventures
Albenistan: Election Day, 3
Crossing the Millers, 11
Khorforjan Gambit, 3
Qalashar Device, 3
Raid On Ashkashem, 3
Suffer the Witch, 4
The Kheufer Scrolls, 11

Supplements, Fiction, other
Arcane Kingdoms, 5
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 3
Modern Dispatch 104: Line Zero, 1
Modern Dispatch 120: Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 2

Sales By Venue

Drive Thru
Systems
Centurion: Legionaries of Rome, 30
Kiss My Axe, 13
Nefertiti Overdrive, 35
Sword Noir, 28

Spec Ops
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 4
Covert Forces Redux, 6
In Her Majesty’s Service, 7

Adventures
Albenistan: Election Day, 3
Crossing the Millers, 11
Khorforjan Gambit, 3
Qalashar Device, 3
Raid On Ashkashem, 3
Suffer the Witch, 4
The Kheufer Scrolls, 11

Supplements, Fiction, other
Arcane Kingdoms, 5
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 3
Modern Dispatch 104: Line Zero,1
Modern Dispatch 120: Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 2

Amazon
Centurion, 7
Nefertiti Overdrive, 2
Sword Noir, 9

IGDN Distribution
Centurion, 6
Sword Noir, 5

Gen Con
Sword Noir, 10
Centurion, 9

IPR
Sword Noir, 24
Centurion, 18
Nefertiti Overdrive, 12

Sales for November, 2015

No love for Kiss My Axe in November, but then it is the least popular of the games I have published. Not quite sure why that is, though it may be its size. It is the smallest game I’ve published. Perhaps I have also not marketed it well – that can honestly be said about all of my games.

Other than Nefertiti Overdrive, everything is getting back into the regular groove. Sales were relatively high as a carryover of the release of Nefertiti Overdrive, but December will likely be a slow month as everything settles back into its usual rhythm.

And this brings us to the present. No promises that I’ll be more up-to-date with these in the future, as I think they are more for me than for you.

Sales for November, 2015
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 1
Khorforjan Gambit, 1
Qalashar Device, 1
Raid On Ashkashem, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 1
Covert Forces Redux, 1
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Centurion, 3
Nefertiti Overdrive, 13
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 26

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 1
Kheufer Scrolls, 1
Sword’s Edge System, 15
Sword Noir, 6

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 42
Khorforjan Gambit, 12
Qalashar Device, 135
Raid On Ashkashem, 177

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 63
For Simple Coin, 62
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 39

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 111
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 182
In Her Majesty’s Service, 156

Other
Centurion, 177
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 43
Line Zero, 40
Nefertiti Overdrive, 23
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 570
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 149
Kheufer Scrolls, 195
Kiss My Axe, 207
Suffer the Witch, 94
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1669
Sword Noir, 637

Sales for October, 2015

The last post was kind of a catch-up on sales data, something I used to release every month. It might be of interest to those thinking of entering the RPG indie scene, or maybe other indies looking to benchmark their sales. It’s also useful to me as a moment to consider what has been happening and how it has maybe effected my sales.

Something that was missing from my other data was the Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules. This was due to a glitch in how that gets reported from OBS. Also, I’ll never have a real number for that because it was available through other methods which are not tracked. I’ve included the historic numbers downloaded on the Totals, but have just October’s downloads in the monthly numbers.

This was also the month that saw the release of Nefertiti Overdrive. 295 people received this through Kickstarter, but I’m not including those numbers. I’m sure they have an impact on sales, but in my mind, those aren’t sales.

Total Sales for October, 2015
Other
Centurion, 19
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 1
Nefertiti Overdrive, 10
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 30

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 1
Kheufer Scrolls, 2
Kiss My Axe, 1
Suffer the Witch, 1
Sword’s Edge System, 8
Sword Noir, 28

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 41
Khorforjan Gambit, 121
Qalashar Device, 134
Raid On Ashkashem, 176

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 63
For Simple Coin, 62
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 39

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 110
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 181
In Her Majesty’s Service, 155

Other
Centurion, 174
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 43
Line Zero, 40
Nefertiti Overdrive, 10
Nefertiti Overdrive Quickstart Rules, 544
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 148
Kheufer Scrolls, 194
Kiss My Axe, 207
Suffer the Witch, 94
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1654
Sword Noir, 631

Sales for a Darn Long Time

Wow, the last time I did this was for first quarter 2014 (Jan to Mar). That’s a long time with now data. Not that anyone was hanging their business plans on this, but I wanted to be transparent. So let’s dive in and get you the rest of the picture. I’m actually going to start with Total to Date before diving into a year’s data (Apr 2014 to Mar 2015) and then the second and third quarters of 2015.

One very interesting result is that of free products switched to pay what you want. Both Operation Nearscape and the Sword’s Edge System were switched, and the number of downloads in a year went from hundreds to under ten. I think this better represents the actual interest, meaning very little. Although the two games that use the Sword’s Edge System, which are not pay what you want, outsell it.

I have some theories but no actual evidence, so I’ll keep those to myself.

On to the numbers!

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 41
Khorforjan Gambit, 121
Qalashar Device, 134
Raid On Ashkashem, 176

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 63
For Simple Coin, 62
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 39

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 110
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 181
In Her Majesty’s Service, 155

Other
Centurion, 155
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 42
Line Zero, 40
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 430

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 147
Kheufer Scrolls, 192
Kiss My Axe, 206
Suffer the Witch, 93
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1646
Sword Noir 603

It’s a bit astonishing to me that Sword Noir has sold over 600 copies now. That’s kind of amazing. Centurion is also doing really well, considering that 169 people also have copies of it through the Kickstarter. It’s honestly a bit humbling.

So, what does a year of sales for SEP look like?

Sales for Apr 2014 to Mar 2015
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 3
Khorforjan Gambit, 3
Qalashar Device, 3
Raid On Ashkashem, 4

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 6
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 5
Covert Forces Redux, 7
In Her Majesty’s Service, 7

Other
Centurion, 27
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 3
Line Zero, 2
Operation Nearscape, Pay What You Want, 3

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 15
Kheufer Scrolls, 16
Kiss My Axe, 17
Suffer the Witch, 2
Sword’s Edge System, Pay What You Want, 9
Sword Noir, 36

This shows which products are SEP’s strongest sellers, and there is no surprise there. Also, many of our products sell only one or two copies per year. Sales of For Simple Coin, my sword noir fiction collection, have pretty much dried up. Gift of the Elder Gods sold a stunning one copy.

That’s not really fair as these numbers are from an RPG sales site. Still, my fiction does not sell well. Kind of makes me sad.

To get better into the weeds, let’s go to the quarterly reports.

Second Quarter 2015 (Apr to Jun)
Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 1
Covert Forces Redux, 1

Other
Centurion, 4

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 2
Kheufer Scrolls, 1
Kiss My Axe, 2
Sword Noir, 5

The second quarter of 2015 looks pretty familiar. This is what sales are like outside of periods of heightened interest – such as around a Kickstarter or when a product is otherwise showcased, like in a Bundle of Holding. You’ll notice the almost complete lack of d20 sales, although still a couple. Even the Sword Noir products are having a hard time holding on. Still, the main games – Sword Noir and Centurion – sell a game a month. Not a huge amount of money here (for your edification, the take home from this period was $94.35 USD, or $31.45 per month . . . beer money).

Third Quarter 2015 (Jul to Sep)
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 1
Khorforjan Gambit, 1
Qalashar Device, 1
Raid On Ashkashem, 1

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 1

Covert Forces
Covert Forces Redux, 1
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Centurion, 23

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 2
Kheufer Scrolls, 2
Kiss My Axe, 2
Suffer the Witch, 2
Sword’s Edge System, Pay What You Want, 1
Sword Noir, 21

I am wondering what happened in the third quarter, and my suspicion is that this was the Gen Con effect. Now my actual sales at Gen Con were 9 Centurion and 10 Sword Noir. That’s not bad. Also, I think there was some spillover into August and September sales from people I met at Gen Con, or from interest due to Gen Con posts. The other possibility is a higher profile due to daily posting at SEP during August. It’s hard to say, but it was a good quarter.

I’ll do posts for the last two months in the coming week, just so I am up to date.

Isn’t this riveting? 😉

Quarterly Sales for Fourth Quarter, 2013 and First Quarter 2014

Wow, I haven’t updated the Quarterly Sales reports for a while. Below I’ve included the sales reports for both Fourth Quarter 2013 and First Quarter 2014.

Third Quarter 2013 has the first instance of Sales through Distribution. Centurion: Legionaries of Rome got me a deal with Alliance for print distribution. Centurion and Sword Noir are available through distribution but are also available on Amazon. The numbers for distribution and Amazon are included in the reports in brackets. For the Total Sales, they are folded into the numbers.

It’s important to note that the Nefertiti Overdrive Kickstarter campaign ran during the First Quarter 2014, and although that failed, the push for visibility also brought more eyes to SEP, which I believe accounts for the good numbers in system sales.

Sales for Fourth Quarter 2013
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day, 1
Khorforjan Gambit, 1
Qalashar Device, 1
Raid On Ashkashem, 1

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 2
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 1
Covert Forces Redux, 1
In Her Majesty’s Service, 2

Other
Centurion, 0 (58)
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, Pay What You Want, 1
Line Zero, Pay What You Want, 1
Operation Nearscape, Pay What You Want, 30

Sword’s Edge System
Kheufer Scrolls, 2
Kiss My Axe, 5
Suffer the Witch, 1
Sword’s Edge System, Pay What You Want, 87
Sword Noir, 5 (105)

Sales for First Quarter 2014
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day, 1
Khorforjan Gambit, 1
Qalashar Device, 1
Raid On Ashkashem, 1

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 4
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 1

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 2
Covert Forces Redux, 2
In Her Majesty’s Service, 3

Other
Centurion, 43
Operation Nearscape, Pay What You Want, 22

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 7
Kheufer Scrolls, 5
Kiss My Axe, 11
Sword’s Edge System, Pay What You Want, 68
Sword Noir, 21

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113), 37
Khorforjan Gambit, 117
Qalashar Device, 130
Raid On Ashkashem, 171

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 55
For Simple Coin, 62
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 38

Charity Products
Relief Effort, 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section, 104
Covert Forces, 100
Covert Forces Redux, 172
In Her Majesty’s Service, 147

Other
Centurion, 101
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 39
Line Zero, 38
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 427

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 130
Kheufer Scrolls, 175
Kiss My Axe, 187
Suffer the Witch, 89
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1637
Sword Noir 541

Quarterly Sales for Third Quarter, 2013

Sales have continued to be slow, but they do continue. I did an interesting experiment of making some of my smaller titles pay what you want. That was generally 0, though a couple of kind patrons put real cash money down for copies of Sword’s Edge System. I certainly appreciate that. That may be the reason for the spike in downloads of Sword’s Edge System, as those looking for pay what you want items may have found it.

Otherwise, a pretty normal quarter.

Total Sales for Third Quarter 2013
Albenistan
Khorforjan Gambit, 1
Qalashar Device, 1
Raid On Ashkashem, 1

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 2
For Simple Coin, 2
Gifts of the Elder Gods, 1

Covert Forces
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 19

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 5
Kheufer Scrolls, 4
Kiss My Axe, 2
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules, 82
Sword Noir, 7

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113): 35
Khorforjan Gambit: 115
Qalashar Device: 128
Raid On Ashkashem: 169

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms: 49
For Simple Coin: 61
Gifts of the Elder Gods: 37

Charity Products
Relief Effort: 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section: 101
Covert Forces: 100
Covert Forces Redux: 169
In Her Majesty’s Service: 142

Other
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit: 38
Line Zero: 37
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 375

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 123
Kheufer Scrolls, 168
Kiss My Axe, 171
Suffer the Witch, 88
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1482
Sword Noir 410

Quarterly Sales for Second Quarter, 2013

The second quarter of 2013, without the Centurion Kickstarter to draw attention to SEP products, looks pretty dire. The total revenue from sales – after paying commissions and fees, etc – is just over $75. That’s $25 a month. Not even a case of good beer. I wish I could say I am surprised, but I’m not. Without releasing regular products or having a back catalogue in excess of 50 titles, it’s pretty hard to show decent revenue. Things will likely pick up when I embark on the next Kickstarter and then again when Centurion is released as a commercial product (probably in late 2013, early 2014).

Until then, here are the most recent numbers.

Total Sales for Second Quarter 2013
Albenistan
Election Day, 2
Khorforjan Gambit, 2
Qalashar Device, 2
Raid On Ashkashem, 2

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 2

Covert Forces
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Line Zero, 1
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 20

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 5
Kheufer Scrolls, 4
Kiss My Axe, 5
Suffer the Witch, 3
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules, 74
Sword Noir, 12

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113): 35
Khorforjan Gambit: 114
Qalashar Device: 127
Raid On Ashkashem: 168

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms: 47
Gifts of the Elder Gods: 36
For Simple Coin: 59

Charity Products
Relief Effort: 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section: 101
Covert Forces: 100
Covert Forces Redux: 169
In Her Majesty’s Service: 141

Other
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit: 38
Line Zero: 37
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 357

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 118
Kheufer Scrolls, 164
Kiss My Axe, 169
Suffer the Witch, 88
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1400
Sword Noir 403

Quarterly Sales for First Quarter, 2013

I haven’t done a sales report since December 2012. I think you can all understand (if there is indeed anyone out there reading this . . . I have my doubts) that Centurion is taking up most of my free time. However, monthly sales for SEP are also quite minimal, as past reports should have revealed. Granted, switching to a quarterly report means even less appearing on these pages, but while work on Centurion goes forward, I think that’s the best option. Sales will likely not see an increase until Centurion is available for sale.

So, for the first quarter of 2013:

Total Sales for First Quarter 2013
Albenistan
Election Day, 1
Khorforjan Gambit, 4
Qalashar Device, 4
Raid On Ashkashem, 4

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms, 3
For Simple Coin, 2

Covert Forces
Covert Forces Redux, 3
In Her Majesty’s Service, 1

Other
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit, 1
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 12

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 10
Kheufer Scrolls, 10
Kiss My Axe, 17
Suffer the Witch, 4
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules, 114
Sword Noir, 26

Total Sales to Date
Albenistan
Albenistan: Election Day (Modern Dispatch 113): 33
Khorforjan Gambit: 112
Qalashar Device: 125
Raid On Ashkashem: 166

Arcane Kingdoms
Arcane Kingdoms: 45
Gifts of the Elder Gods: 36
For Simple Coin: 59

Charity Products
Relief Effort: 55

Covert Forces
Canada’s Combined Security Reconnaissance Section: 101
Covert Forces: 100
Covert Forces Redux: 169
In Her Majesty’s Service: 140

Other
Cyber-state Avatar Toolkit: 38
Line Zero: 36
Operation Nearscape, Free Product, 337

Sword’s Edge System
Crossing the Millers, 113
Kheufer Scrolls, 160
Kiss My Axe, 164
Suffer the Witch, 85
Sword’s Edge System, Free Rules 1326
Sword Noir 391