Well, new year is here, hopefully a new start to bigger and better things. It’s been a while since I have made a proper blog post so 2020 has given me an excuse to do so.
I hope you are all doing well, and have a good foundation for the new year ahead, so with that in mind I want to share with you a few things that I’m hoping to
achieve in the year going ahead. Not that I will actually get everything done what I have in mind, just what I’d like to do!
You know what it’s like, but I have a bit of fire in my belly and some new ambition in my heart to get new ideas out there, new products, new plans and directions. Like I said, hopefully some of them will come good, maybe some will end up as just brain farts.
I have been working behind the scenes to get some stuff in place that will expand my brand and introduce new ones too (New seems to be the keyword here!) I’ll let you
all know as soon as these are ready, but as a publisher there will be continuations to existing ranges, as well as introductions with additional digital imprints that will expand us and appeal to more people, not just as a hobby producer, but bring new customers to the fold. I realise that some of the content won’t appeal to everyone, but so we can grow beyond what we are currently.
Our DriveThruRPG sales are doing fine, which is good, and we will continue as we have done, bringing a whole heap of new titles each month, this will not change, but
to further our reach, we will have new options for purchasing our products with an additional storefront for those of you who don’t use DriveThruRPG, but still want our
stuff (You know, non RPGers and hobbyists, the normal folks!). In addition, we will be releasing exclusive titles on the new storefront that wouldn’t normally be allowed or fit on our OBS publishing pages.
These titles will still be in a genre vein and be integrated with the brand whenever possible. This will include Fiction and Non-Fiction titles, archive media and so on. This won’t detract from our usual works, just add to our back catalogue. Such as the very popular Historical Reference titles seem to appeal to many other types of customers, there are many interested parties that simply don’t take part in the hobby stuff, the additional storefront will make it easier for new customers to get their Grinning Skull fix without the hassle of making a DriveThru membership and get their purchases more direct from us.
Most notably is the introduction of the Goats Head Publishing Imprint, which as mentioned will focus on other subjects and ideas, mainly all that don’t fit with the
hobby aesthetic. We’ll be trying other publishing platforms and formats, which I’ll admit will be a steep learning curve for me, but we will see how it goes, so keep your eyes open for that (I’ll be more proactive on here, so I’ll keep you updated) The KDP platform is a mystery to me which I want to explore, so I have a few titles in my head that would be a great fit there once I get it figured out.
Patreon has been a bust for me, so I’ll be probably be taking it down, so I can concentrate better on what is important. I think my mistake was I still don’t fully get it so maybe it’l be back at a later date, it’s been something that I haven’t put my whole efforts into. I don’t mind really, everything is a learning process and next time I’ll have a bit more insight before starting it up again. As a busy father, I’m always fighting a good workflow, so when I get in a better swing, I’ll be better suited to making it work in unison with the rest of what I’m doing.
Networking has been getting better over these last few months, and I’m hoping to expand further on social media and such, so if you want to become part of that, please feel free to get in touch via Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and joining my growing network. Doing the numbers on the metrics has been an eye opener, so I’ve focused on that (and it’s working great!) so being in the loop with so many great creators and people is full of fantastic opportunities, so like I said, hit me up!
Another thing I’ll be doing is having a massive push on physical product, which I have quite a few ideas for, so I hope you lot are going to like some of it! More news on that
at a later date, but rest assure I’ll be putting some effort into that for sure!
What exactly the final products are, there’s a shortlist (well, a list) and all final ideas that make the cut, I will let you know so you can get yourself some!
I’ve got more to post about over these next few days, so I’ll tell you more as soon as I get around to that (eloquate my words, that is) but, here’s to a great 2020 for each and
every one of you!
Grinning Skull Design Studios 