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Sunday 12 October 2014

When Empires Clash! ... the book

If blogging is self-indulgent, then publishing your own book is super-self-indulgent ... and I must admit to being just that!

Back in 2009 I wrote a set of wargame rules entitled WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! and made them available free online. I know that a few people have used them, and as part of an experiment I decided to turn my previously free rules into a proper book. I wanted to see just how difficult it would be ... and discovered that it was in fact quite easy.


I am not expecting that anyone will buy the rules in their new book form ... but if you are interested in buying a copy it is currently on sale via Lulu for £5.99 plus postage and packing.

10 comments:

  1. I ordered it Bob. I chose the cheap shipping, so it will be a while till it comes. :)
    Looking forward to seeing it.

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  2. Edwin King,

    No need to apologise! I occurs to me that if I had added the word 'zombies' to the title, sales might have been higher!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. William McHarg,

    I hope that you enjoy the book when it is delivered.

    Publishing it was an experiment. I wanted to see how easy it was to do as I had been giving serious thought to publishing a book about THE PORTABLE WARGAME. Publishing WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! has convinced me that it is a viable option ... so watch this space for further news!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  4. According to a certain comissioning editor, if nuns and cats are added to the title, sales will go through the roof.

    As a terminal bibliophile I'm off to order a copy for my wargaming library! I'd also love to see the Portable Wargame in book form.

    Cheers

    Nick

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  5. I too would love to see The Portable Wargame in book form. However, you seem to come up with new ideas constantly to improve it. Perhaps you could do it in subscription form. :)
    The only problem I have with Lulu is that I always spend another $5 to have the binding cut off and replaced with a spiral binding at a FedEx office store. I prefer rules to lie flat on the table.

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  6. Nic101,

    I am told that adding the letters 'SS' and 'SAS' to a title will also increase sales ... so SS CAT-CARRYING NUNS VS. SAS ZOMBIES should be a best-seller!

    I hope that you enjoy my first attempt at self-publishing ... and I am already working on a revised version of THE PORTABLE WARGAME that I hope to publish in the not too distant future.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  7. William McHarg,

    I think that spiral binding is an option for certain types of publication produced by Lulu. I will certainly consider that option when I publish THE PORTABLE WARGAME ... but will probably have to go for perfect binding.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  8. Hi Bob,

    I have already chopped my copy up and placed the pages in plastic wallets in an A5 ring binder.

    I did not know that you could get binding options with Lulu although I suspect that spiral binding would add to the cost.

    I chopped my copy up because it will be getting rather a lot of use over the next few months - at least until PW hits the press!

    All the best,

    DC

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  9. David Crook,

    I am glad that you are putting the rules to good use!

    Lulu has several binding options, including A4 spiral bound ... but that would have made WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! at least three times as expensive ... so I am probably going to have to stick to A5 Perfect Binding for THE PORTABLE WARGAME ... although A4 might be a better size.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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