From fastgraph@aol.com Wed Sep 21 20:31:21 1994
From: fastgraph@aol.com (Fastgraph)
Newsgroups: rec.games.programmer
Subject: Re: Why do you write shareware?
Date: 18 Sep 1994 23:45:03 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
NNTP-Posting-Host: newsbf01.news.aol.com

For people interested in marketing games through shareware
and retail channels, here is a list of useful contacts:

Vendor List -- updated 09/18/94
  
 The following royalty-paying Shareware and LCR vendors are accepting
 submissions from authors. Please send updates and corrections to this to
 Diana Gruber at Fastgraph@AOL.COM or 72000,1642@Compuserve.com
  
 ------------------ 

 Khan Lowe 
 Director of Product Development 
 Expert Software 
 800 Douglas Road 
 North Tower, Suite 355 
 Coral Gables, FL 33134-3128 
 (305) 569-1400 voice
 (305) 443-0786 fax 

 Expert publishes mass-market software. They are picky about their product

 line and will only accept exclusive titles that have never been released 
 as shareware. They are currently looking for DOS games and Windows
 productivity products. As of 1/94 they are not accepting educational 
 titles, but that may change in the future. Authors report Expert is 
 slow to evaluate new products, but if you can get on this product line, 
 you will make excellent money.
  
 ------------------ 
  
 Michael Callahan (A.K.A. Dr. FileFinder)
 Product Line Manager 
 FormGen/Gold Medallion 
 7641 East Gray Road 
 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 
 (602) 443-4109 voice 
 (602) 951-6810 fax 
  
 The Gold Medallion and Titanium Seal racks are royalty shareware 
 racks, and FormGen publishes some high-end retail games and programs, 
 including Spear of Destiny and Doom. The shareware distribution appears
 to be massive, and authors report getting good royalty checks.
  
 ------------------ 
  
 Brad Wildes or Michael Stubbs
 UAV Corporation 
 P.O. Box 7647 
 Charlotte, NC 28241 
 (803) 548-7300 voice 
 (803) 548-3335 fax 
  
 UAV publishes an LCR line with attractive, small boxes. They pay  
 reasonable royalties, but as of 1/94 their level of distribution has 
 not been determined -- this is a fairly new product line. Brad Wildes 
 reports he would prefer to have exclusive, non-shareware products, 
 but when I explained the economics of the situation to him, he agreed
 to take non-exclusive programs which also have shareware distribution.
 They prefer games.
  
 ------------------ 
  
 Jim Green 
 Shareware Testing Labs 
 5610 E Washington 
 Indianapolis, IN 46219 
 (317) 322-2000 
 
 Shareware Testing Labs is a shareware rack vendor who pays royalties if 
 the author requires it of all rack vendors.  They have shown some 
 interest in LCR titles, but as of 1/94 they are primarily a shareware
 vendor.
  
 ------------------ 
  
 John Mayo 
 National Systems Technology (used to be Software Concepts) 
 3130 N Arizona Ave #111
 Chandler, AZ 85224 
 (800) 978-4440
 
 This LCR distributor publishes a wide variety of products, but like most 
 LCR vendors, has a higher percentage of games than other product
 categories. They pay monthly royalties. Authors report while previously
 being very happy with these checks, they have gone done markedly over
 the past few months. Some authors report talking to Jim Crabtree. 
 
 ------------------ 
 
 Gary Berg
 Sofsource 
 3186 Pine Tree Road 
 Lansing, MI 48911-4205 
 (505) 523-6789
 
 Formerly a shareware rack vendor, Sofsource is one of the original
 mass-market LCR publishers. They have several product lines including
 Personal Companion and Who. They have increasingly moved away from
 shareware and now tend to decline shareware titles, in favor of
 exclusive, retail-only products. Their new product line, Pro One, is
 straight shelfware in the $15 price range.
  
 ------------------ 

 Jeff Weaverling
 Software USA, Inc.
 P.O. Box 526
 Carnegie, PA 15106
 (412) 276-8940 voice
 (412) 276-8943 fax

 This is a royalty shareware rack that closely resembles the Software
 Revolution racks. This company used to distribute for Software
Excitement,
 and the color catalog looks remarkably similar, but they are no longer
 associated with SE or Mike Commish. Royalties on shareware programs are
 negotiable, and they are interested in acquiring some LCR titles in the
 future.

 ------------------ 

 Jim Horowitz
 The Software Labs
 8700 148th Avenue NE
 Redmond, WA 98052

 206-869-6802 voice
 206-869-1503 fax

 The Software Labs has massive shareware catalog distribution -- on the
 order of 10 million catalogs per year. They launched their shareware
 racks at Winter CES. I think their boxes are extremely attractive.
 Distribution, thus far, is unproven. Royalties are negotiable, they
 do pay royalties to some authors. I talked to Paul O'Dell.

 ------------------

 Gary Roskin
 National Sales Manager
 Value Software
 700 West Hillsboro Blvd, bldg 3, suite 102
 Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
 (305) 428-7408  ext 209 voice
 (305) 428-7428 fax

 This company claims to have a non-exclusive royalty LCR line, but their
 products appear to be mostly shareware titles. Level of distribution is
 unknown. This is a fairly new software vendor, previously they were in 
 the video tape business.

 ------------------ 
  
 Scott Stanley 
 Author Relations 
 MicroStar 
 2245 Camino Vida Roble, Suite 100 
 Carlsbad, CA 92009 
 (619) 931-4949 voice 
 (619) 931-4950 fax 
  
 MicroStar publishes shareware in game packs, up to 25 games to a pack. 
 Scott reports he is trying very hard to resolve problems MicroStar has 
 had with authors in the past, and he wants you to let him know if you 
 have any complaints. MicroStar will pay royalties on LCR programs and 
 royalties are negotiable on shareware.
  
 ------------------ 

 Jon P. McKinley.
 Flagg's Floppies
 Willard Financial Group, Inc. 
 276 W. Bagley Rd. 
 Berea, Ohio  44017
 216 891-1190 (voice)
 216 891-1193 (fax)

 Shareware rack vendor, member of ASP and NACS (National Association of
 College Stores). They claim to be in over 1000 locations, possibly
college
 book stores? I was told they are coming out with new and better
packaging.
 Royalties paid monthly.

 ------------------ 

 Vince Webb
 Software Marketplace/BCN
 710 S.W. Foundry
 Grants Pass, OR 97526
 503-471-7881 phone
 503-471-8836 fax 

 Shareware rack vendor, unclear on whether they pay royalties.
Distribution
 and packaging unknown. They have shown some interest in LCR.

 ------------------ 

 Gil Gilgen
 Wiz Technologies
 951 Calle Negocio
 San Clemente, CA 92673
 (714) 366-8783 voice
 (714) 366-8784 fax

 Wiz is the home of the $5 Computer Software Store, Rainbow Avenue
 Software, and Cyberquest Software. They claim to pay royalties on
 shareware and LCR. There have been a variety of problems associated
 with this company. I personally have never received any royalties on
 a program they have been selling for years, and they refuse to stop
 selling it even though I have asked them several times.

 ------------------ 

 Frank Cumberland or Paul Rinde
 The WizardWorks Group
 3850 Annapolis Lane, Suite 100
 Plymouth, MN 55447
 (612) 559-5140 (voice)
 (612) 559-5126 (fax)

 The WizardWorks Group publishes a variety of primarily retail-only
titles.  
 However, they have some titles that are also marketed as shareware, 
 particularly with their game collections.  They distribute to major 
 retailers under the names CompuWorks, WizardWorks, and MacSoft.

 ------------------ 

 Charles Berrebbi
 WorldWide Software
 54 B Brunswick Ave.
 Edison, NJ 08817
 (908) 248-1150 (voice)
 (908) 248-1958 (fax)

 WorldWide Software produces royalty CD-ROMs for retail distribution.
 This is a newcomer in the LCR business who shows a lot of promise.

 ------------------ 

 Some hints and tips:

 Rack vendors are looking for mass-market appeal, which means good
 graphics and titles designed for impulse buyers. Games are best.

 LCR means low-cost retail, in other words, not shareware. That does
 not mean you can not solicit after-sales of related products. Include
 a discription of your shareware offerings in the LCR product.

 Remember, you can distribute a game as shareware or non-shareware,
 exclusive or non-exclusive, or with cleverness, some combination of
 the above. You can change the name of a game and redesign levels and
 put it on more than one rack, but don't do anything sneaky, be honest
 with the vendors you deal with. 

 Do submit programs in a professional manner, with attractive disk
 labels, cover letters, good documentation, etc. Follow up with a
 phone call.

 Do not throw your program away. Don't sign an exclusive contract unless
 you have some guarantees regarding release dates, distribution, and
 performance. Whenever possible, reserve the right to release your
 program as shareware, and don't sign away that right unless you are
 appropriately compensated.

 Do insist on written contracts, read them carefully, and discuss them
 with others in the industry.

 Do not believe everything you hear, rack vendors are notorious for 
 making extravagant promises. Analyze your expected returns in terms
 of distribution, royalty rate, past performance, and future
 opportunities. Be objective and make your decisions carefully. Rack
 vending has the potential to pay off well for informed authors, but
 also has been known to make big money for the vendor and virtually no 
 money for the author. Go into this with your eyes open! Good luck.



