Freder
Now that the Kickstarter, the printing, all of the production craziness is behind me, I think I want to add on a thought here. Both here and in another thread I have enthusiastically said that I would encourage everyone to design and create their own deck. That's still true: I learned so much in the process of making this deck: about the tarot specifically, about card design, even about myself. I also made some new friends in the process. It's really true: designing your own deck is about the best thing in the world that anyone who has the slightest interest in it could do.
However.
The "Entrepreneurial Thing," the BUSINESS of getting it produced and published, and of having to promote and market and FUND and then sell the thing...
... THAT is a pain in the ASS.
Especially if you're living and working alone. I can't in good conscience recommend that stuff to any but the most driven individuals. It sucks up your life like a huge black hole. In the words of Ross Perot, "That huge sucking sound" that you hear is your life disappearing. I still have not recovered. It's a shock to the system, and the feeling that you get from it is the opposite of the good feeling you had when you were creating the deck. There is some... actually a lot of gratification when your customers are happy. But praise goes by fast while the agonies of the business and marketing end are long-enduring.
So yes, by all means, create that deck, it will be the best thing you can do. But be warned that the fun comes to a screeching halt the minute that the business of publishing begins. I guess this is why people normally leave that stuff to PUBLISHERS... but I just could not see myself going through the old old process of submitting to a place like US Games and then waiting for six to eight months (or more) for a rejection, just so you can submit to another publisher and wait for another six or eight months for another rejection... THAT process is just as bad in its own way, and nothing gets done while you're waiting. I'm at a stage in my life where I want to put finished projects behind me, so that I can move on to the next one. This seems impossible no matter which course you take...
Onward...
However.
The "Entrepreneurial Thing," the BUSINESS of getting it produced and published, and of having to promote and market and FUND and then sell the thing...
... THAT is a pain in the ASS.
Especially if you're living and working alone. I can't in good conscience recommend that stuff to any but the most driven individuals. It sucks up your life like a huge black hole. In the words of Ross Perot, "That huge sucking sound" that you hear is your life disappearing. I still have not recovered. It's a shock to the system, and the feeling that you get from it is the opposite of the good feeling you had when you were creating the deck. There is some... actually a lot of gratification when your customers are happy. But praise goes by fast while the agonies of the business and marketing end are long-enduring.
So yes, by all means, create that deck, it will be the best thing you can do. But be warned that the fun comes to a screeching halt the minute that the business of publishing begins. I guess this is why people normally leave that stuff to PUBLISHERS... but I just could not see myself going through the old old process of submitting to a place like US Games and then waiting for six to eight months (or more) for a rejection, just so you can submit to another publisher and wait for another six or eight months for another rejection... THAT process is just as bad in its own way, and nothing gets done while you're waiting. I'm at a stage in my life where I want to put finished projects behind me, so that I can move on to the next one. This seems impossible no matter which course you take...
Onward...
