Re: Can I make money by writing IF?


Sat, 02 Dec 1995 13:58:35 -0500

Randall Stukey wrote:
>
>> IF might do much better at $2-4 a pop. I'm sure most of the
>> commercial IF authors will say that it would not be worth their time
>> to deal with such small sums of money, but many businesses do think
>> such sales are worth their time.

Randall,

Not that I consider myself any kind of businessman or marketer, but I
think IF could be very successful at around $5-6 a pop, if it were
marketed properly, and could be very profitable at that price if sold in
very large quantities.

I've been thinking a bit about this recently, and it seems to me that
many business travelers and other people who carry laptops would pay $5
for something to keep them entertained while traveling. The trick is in
the product positioning and marketing - these people have to be made
aware of the product, and the product needs to be made available at
point-of-purchase for impulse buyers. For instance, a display rack at
the checkout of bookstores & supermarkets, just like they're doing with
shareware action games such as Doom. As for positioning, I believe the
phrases "interactive fiction", "hyper novel", etc. need to be stressed
over "game", to help attract the more mature crowd who are likely to
enjoy IF, and who already accept reading as a form of recreation.

-- Ivan