The Long Tail Plan for ttRPG Professionals (Patreon)

I have 200+ products on @drivethrurpg.com for which I was only paid (and still am) royalties.

The oldest is (today) 15 years old.

The 2st year it earned enough for one pizza.

The 2nd, dinner out for two.

After 15 years it's paid me a total of more than $5/word.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/65893/the-genius-guide-to-the-dragonrider

That long-tail business is one of the reasons I can pay a mortgage. But if I told a freelancer "I'll pay you 35% of all monies earn by the PDF in perpetuity... which will be $40 or so in the first year" most would decline.

And, fair enough.

But doing that over and over for 15 years worked for me.

Some of those pdfs have never made me enough money to justify the time put into them.

But the ones like Dragonrider, that are platinum best sellers? They keep the lights on.

And publishers are often able to take risks on royalty-only deals they never could on something with a $250 up-front cost.

I'm not the only person doing this. @jacobblackmon.bsky.social has more products on OBS earning royalties than I do, and has put them out over a shorter timespan.

Same deal with my Patreon, which I started in 2016. It was Pizza money for years, but I kept at it. Now it earns 4 figures montly.

Obviously writers deserve to get paid what they are worth. There are multiple authors I have paid a flat fee and a royalty, or a flat fee plus performance bonuses if a product his certain sales levels. And some I have done just a flat fee, or done a wordcount swap.

But I lack the money, as a publisher, to pay a decent fee and a royalty all that often. It's for my best freelancers, on the most promising projects/I can almost always find a way to make a product if the author wants a royalty only (which, obviously, gets you a bigger royalty.

Sadly royalties + Patreon articles don't bring me ENOUGH money, by themselves. But they do pay month after month, long after I stop working on them, and combined with regular freelance, and the occasional crowdfunding campaign?

They've kept the normal bills paid and insurance steady... so far.And that's a big part of how I have managed as a full-time tabletop ttRPG professional for more than 27 years... thought the stints where I was on-staff at WotC, Paizo, Green Ronin, and others was generally a lot more comfortable.

If anyone has questions about this, ask away.

ABOUT THOSE CANCER BILLS

Without the cancer bills piled up from my 18 month fight with cancer (currently in remission), I'd be in a pretty god place.

Sadly, I still need help, thanks to the American medical system.

If you are willing and able, you can pitch in here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-owen-kc-stephens-fight-cancer