How to Self-Publish a Game

Game publishing is a great way to express your creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. It's also a lot of fun and may even earn you a buck or two.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Home/small-office Fax Machines
• Home/small-office Computers
• Microsoft Office Software

1. Research your target market. Find out what kinds of games have already been published, how much they cost and which ones are popular.

2. Develop a business plan. Find out how much it will cost to develop your game, and identify your financing options.

3. Write it down. When developing your game, maintain detailed notes and update the written rules frequently.

4. Make it attractive. In an age of television and computer graphics, visual presentation is vitally important to your game's success.

5. Play your game. Get your friends and relatives to find bad rules and boring game play.

6. Talk to your distributors early and often. Game distributors like to know about new products at least three months in advance of release.

7. Advertise your game. Identify the most appropriate media for your advertising campaign, including media specific to your game's genre or theme, as well as game-related magazines and Web sites.

Tips & Warnings

• Get client references from the firm you choose to print your game. It will be difficult to market a poorly printed or packaged game.
• Ship on time. If you can't make a scheduled release date, contact your distributors and alert them about the delay.
• Keep your books up-to-date. Don't ship a distributor or retailer a new product until it has settled past-due invoices.