Saturday, August 12, 2017

Vacation and WPN Article

I've been on vacation, so I haven't written much, with my usual level of rantiness reserved for myself, rather than expressed outward. Vacations are great to stress test the business, watching the rubber hit the road when it comes to policies and procedures. In my case, it became crystal clear what needed doing by the second week ... but with three weeks to go, I've got to put a pin in that and revisit it when I return.

My revelation was about the precarious state of the business after expansion, and the buckling down that I personally need to do to nurse it back to better health. It's like a marathon runner that just ran 26 miles and nearly collapsed at the finish line and I'm asking him if he wouldn't mind running over and picking up a quart of milk across town. Just chill out already. That's directed at me, while my staff and my manager have been fantastic in my absence.

I've agreed to write articles for Wizards of the Coast in their Wizards Play Network series. Other game trade authors like Michael Bahr are also in the mix, and I encourage you to read them. It was infuriating to hear non retailers give retailers advice in previous WOTC articles (just keep your bathrooms clean), so I'm glad they've asked us to write for them.

My first article is When and How To Expand. I have a very good editor over there that cut this sucker down to size while keeping my "voice" intact. I think it turned out well, especially the section on motivation. In the upcoming book, I try to expand on just about every option for obtaining money for these endeavors. This is an area that I don't mind admitting I've mined pretty hard over the years. OPM is my specialty, at least at the micro level.

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