Spiderweb Software - On Selling Indie Games

Jeff Vogel eplains what you should keep in mind when selling indie games:

The Most Important Article On Selling Indie Games Ever!

Please don't pee in the pool I'm swimming in.

People really undervalue apologies. Almost everyone understands that sometimes things don’t work out and nothing can be done now. An honest apology will defuse a lot of free-floating rage very quickly.
I have a tendency to get really wordy with these posts, so I'll say the good bits first and let you get on with your day.

I've been writing indie games for a living for 30 years now and so have been shipping them continuously for longer, as far as I know, than anybody else, ever. Along the way, I've learned a thing or two about a thing or two.

Here are the most timeless, fundamental things to know about this business (and any business as a small indie making music, books, and so on):

1. It is an incredibly challenging, competitive business. Success is very rare, and ruin is always one bad decision away.
2. We sell products that are often very easy to pirate and there is always extremely high-quality competition available for FREE. (If you want to make a living selling indie games, my first question is always, "Can you compete with FREE?")
3. Anyone who actually gives you their hard-earned money doesn't have to. Therefore, this person is a treasure and must be valued.
4. Our greatest weapon is that fact that people like us and want us to succeed. The small, independent creator, tinkering away in the garage, is an incredibly powerful archetype to tap into.
5. If you are an indie developer and act in a publicly obnoxious and insulting way towards our precious, precious customers (or worse, defraud them), you're not just hurting yourself, but you're hurting all indie developers.
6. Don't do that.

There. That was is. Quick, clean, and easy. Plus, true. Please feel free to return to your Normal Internet Business. (Which, the way things have been going lately, means caring about what is happening on Twitter way too much.)

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Thanks Couchpotato!