SPIDERWEB SOFTWARE SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTION SERVICES:
OK. So you've written the perfect shareware game. It's complete, it's pristine, it's fun, and it's ready to go out the door. Unfortunately, in many ways, your work is only beginning. There's the bother of distributing it, and the constant grind of taking and processing orders, and the shrill cries of users needing tech support. After all, writing the game is only half the battle. Now you have to sell it.
Fortunately, you can have an ally in this battle. We at Spiderweb Software, Inc. are ready and able to take over and handle the tedious second half of the shareware war. We have the resources, know-how, and skill to get your game to users and users' money to you.
WHO WE ARE:
Spiderweb Software, Inc. is a small company (Washington State C-Corporation) composed of people who are obsessed about the Shareware Concept. We have three full-time employees and an assortment of part-timers, free-lancers, and miscellaneous helpers. We're based in Seattle, Washington.
WHAT WE OFFER:
Order Taking and Processing: Taking people's orders and filling them can be an incredible chore, one which we take out of your hands. We accept checks, money orders, and the all-important VISA, MasterCard, and AMEX, through a number of methods:
Secure Web Registration: We have a secure registration form on our web site (www.spidweb.com), with one business day turn-around.
Phone Registration: We man the phones from 10 to 6 (Pacific Time), Monday through Friday. Note that we answer the phones ourselves; we don't leave it to an apathetic third party answering service. Thus, you can be sure that every call is answered by someone who is familiar with your product.
Mail Registration: Of course.
Distribution: Tracking down all the various ftp sites and joining all of the online services can take a lot of time and effort. We know many of the places where you can place your shareware, and we'll get it there.
Publicity and Marketing: Over the years, Spiderweb Software games have been written up in quite a few gaming magazine, and we've kept in touch with all of the contacts we've gained from it. We'll make sure that all of the major (and most of the minor) gaming magazines and online gaming sites get press kits pushing your game. The Spiderweb Software name has accumulated some value over the years, and we'll do our best to put it to work for you. Also, when your game is ready, the thousands of people on our mailing list will learn all about it.
Web Hosting: We'll give you a section on our web site to populate with press kits, hint guides, and whatever else you think would help sell your product. Our site is popular and pretty fast as well. We'd also make sure to link with whatever sites are dedicated to your game, both your official site and fan sites.
Sound and Graphics Resources: We've licensed a large, professional quality sound effects library and have contacts with a number of good artists. If you need additional graphics and sound, we provide it.
WHAT WE ASK IN RETURN:
Payment: When people order your game, we will collect the money and mail you a royalty check at the end of every month. Here's how this will work ...
When we agree to carry your game, we'll work out what you want sent out with it (disks, printed docs, etc.) and determine a fixed amount to be kept by us to cover the cost of handling the order (usually $3-4). When we take an order, we will take this fixed amount to cover our expenses and an additional percentage for labor and services. The rest is sent to you in, we promise, a prompt manner.
Support Assistance: While we'll be able to give people minor help with your game, nobody can be as familiar with it as the developer. Tricky tech support questions will be forwarded to your tech support box, and, should nasty bugs appear, we'll count on you for timely upgrades.
Logo Placement: While we have no problem with your development house having it's logo prominently placed in your game, we want our logo to appear beside it. In addition, we want our URL and E-mail address to appear in the ordering information, alongside yours.
FINALLY:
While we hope you'll consider Spiderweb Software for your shareware distribution needs, we know that this sort of service is not for everyone. So, before you go, no matter what, let me give two friendly pieces of advice:
* Take a quick look at http://www.spidweb.com/shareware.html. It has a lot of advice and articles I've written about shareware development and marketing. Some of it may come in handy.
* Should someone send you a contract, ALWAYS get a lawyer to look at it. Hard.
Thank you very much for your time, and good luck with your product!
- Jeff Vogel, President
Spiderweb Software, Inc.
PO Box 85659, Seattle, WA 98145
http://www.spidweb.com, spidweb@spidweb.com