Thursday, November 21, 2013

In Which The Warlock Interviews a Dread Pirate...

Now that I've recovered from the "30 Days of GameMastering" challenging, it's time to get back to our normal routine of entries.  This time around, I had a chance to catch up with an old friend:  Tim Riley, who's currently running a GoFundMe campaign for his new endeavor--GamePAWN.  Tim's been a community member of the Wittenberg Roleplaying Guild for quite a while, so this is definitely exciting...

You've been in the games industry for a while – who have you worked with and in what capacity?

Since I owned a store a lot of my working relationships have been with other store owners, distributors and with company owners.  I've worked with several small game companies, stocking their product and offering critiques as requested.  I have relationships with other folks, from seeing them at conventions and chatting online.  I've also worked with some of the local printers both for advertising and for production.  A long time ago I produced a couple of game books and got to know the process.

Tell us a little bit about what GamePAWN's mission is:  Why this company and why now?

Well, the why now is easy – I have time.  I can spend time finding the right people to introduce and take time to make GamePAWN work.
As to why this company, because I've been studying Kickstarter projects that fail to meet their shipping dates and it seems to me that most of the problems come with creatives that don't have access to business infrastructure and they spend their time and capital trying to set up the business framework required to run a company and then lose track of actually creating the product. I want to see if I can help with that.

What benefits would a creator see by working with GamePAWN?

Access to introduced contacts and to each other.  Insight on projects and plans. Looking forward, access to services like bookkeeping, payroll, marketing, copy editing and anything else we can do to make life run smoother.

How does GamePAWN fit into the digital revolution in publishing?

Even with the digital revolution you still need framework and access to the people who make the publishing work.  GamePAWN will work with creatives to find the best prices and most advantageous delivery schedules.  Sometimes better prices can be arranged when several companies are planning to use the publishers services and GamePAWN can help negotiate that sort of thing.

You're currently running a funding drive via GoFundMe – what does this funding go towards?  What does a pledge net me, as a game creator?

I'm planning for the funding to be used to sponsor networking events at the major cons.  A pledge will get you an invite and the swag from your sponsorship level.

Is there anything else you'd like our audience to know?


This will grow and expand as our members need.  We want to make this a useful part of a free-lance or start-up experience.  There will be room for growth and improvements as we find our feet and get an even better idea of what the membership can use.

Thanks, Tim!  I'm sure we're all excited to see what's in store with GamePAWN!

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