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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf

@tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com

290 followers 210 following 110 posts

Owner/Operator @TabletopBookshelf.com Your friendly online TTRPG shopkeep ✌️🤓

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Nov 22

It's me, Tom G, the guy behind the curtain at Tabletop Bookshelf!

In 2023 I saw an opportunity to build a new kind of shop that would serve as a platform for all the great work being done in the TTRPG space, bringing it all together in one place for people to discover, explore, and enjoy.

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 3d

I'm deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Rob Weiland. He was a supporter or Tabletop Bookshelf, and everything I've been trying to do. He helped me find the shop's first employee. Once long ago, I even got to be a player it has table. My heart goes out to those closest to him.

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Reposted by Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf

Eric Lazure @ericlazure.bsky.social · 7d

I just published my first project on itch: a supplement for Midnight Muscadines!
ericlazure.itch.io/wining-and-d...

Wining and Dining Under the Beacons by Eric Lazure

A supplement for Midnight Muscadines

ericlazure.itch.io

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 7d

10 horror movies to get to know me by

👽 Alien
🪓 The Shining
👹 Gremlins (and G2!)
🌲 Blair Witch
😱 Scream
🧚‍♀️ Pan's Labyrinth
🧟 28 Days Later
😈 Hereditary
🧙‍♀️ The Witch
👁️ Get Out

The Ken in Yellow @kenlowery.bsky.social · 8d

10 horror movies to get to know me by

🚑 Return of the Living Dead
🥩 Ravenous
💃 From Dusk Till Dawn
🧛‍♂️ Nosferatu
📚 In the Mouth of Madness
☎️ Skinamarink
🪓 The Shining
🖐 Evil Dead II
🕶 Near Dark
📷 Lake Mungo

Gretchen Felker-Martin 🍉 @scumbelievable.bsky.social · 8d

10 horror movies to get to know me by

🦇Bram Stoker's Dracula
✝️The Devils
🍼Rosemary's Baby
👻The Medium
👫Possession
📹Lost Highway
💉Audition
🐸The Wicker Man ('73)
⚫Under the Skin
♦️The Neon Demon

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 10d

Finally, there's lots of levers you can pull around color, paper quality, binding, size, that have a significant impact on cost, and most printers have free calculators. It pays off to spend the time to consider and calculate alternatives.

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 10d

And if you're not sure about your audience, crowdfunding is your answer

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 10d

Also, loss is REAL, just this week I had a creator lose 40 copies through a shipping mishap. I don't pick up that cost, the creator does.

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 10d

When considering print formats, I'd ask, do I have a large enough of an audience to support the scale of production that will keep prices reasonable? Does this still make sense if the bulk of my sales will be wholesale (50% off list price)?

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 10d

Customers are price sensitive. If the cost to acquire is too high, it will impact a title's sales.

This means not every title can succeed in the shop, but that doesn't mean it can't succeed in other formats or venues.

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · 10d

On the topic of TTRPG publishing costs...

99% of what the shop sells is priced at 2x the total cost to acquire (most of the markup goes to marketing, shipping, labor)

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Reposted by Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf

Tabletop Bookshelf🔜Gamehole @tabletopbookshelf.com · 18d

This week @sharangbiswas.bsky.social hangs up his adventuring gear and settles down into the world of Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern a cozy roleplaying game by Takuma Okada from @evilhat.bsky.social

Learn how Stewpot makes cozy more than a vibe
tabletopbookshelf.com/blogs/tablet...

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Reposted by Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf

Shannon Appelcline 🌮 @shannonappelcline.bsky.social · 21d

Two years from full draft of Designers & Dragons Origins to crowd-funding announcement?

Yep!

Here's a bit on what that totally normal hang time resulted from.

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Sep 13

an influx of bots on this platform the past few days...

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 31

and the forbidden first logo, which I realized pretty quickly was not going to work. A huge benefit of starting small is you polish off the rough edges of everything before you bring it to more people.

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 31

logo variations I thought about when I was getting started

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 30

I'm so excited the shop is able to offer this opportunity! We are going to need a lot of help over the coming months... 😅🤐

Tabletop Bookshelf🔜Gamehole @tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 30

Join our small but mighty team as we continue on our journey to celebrate and connect people to the world of indie RPGs and solo games!

Tabletop Bookshelf is looking for a hospitality-minded, tech-savvy tabletop RPG enthusiast to help build our audience and community (link in comments)

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 23

For indies, I'd say it's even -more- important because the experience you're intending to deliver may be quite different than a traditional TTRPG. In these cases, knowing the designer's intentions explicitly is helpful.

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 23

Absolutely. And, as hard as it is to hear, most people still have no clue what a TTRPG is.

In One Way Out (coming soon!) I avoid the words TTRPG and role-playing game altogether:

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 22

I have never been more busy in my life. good busy. but whew

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 17

It's been a big week for the shop, feels like we are at another level up moment (and it's a big one)

Cannot wait to share more of what's coming 🚀

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Reposted by Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf

Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · Aug 16

Omg, just seen that French artist Jean Jullien has a big show on at Nanzuka in Shanghai, JUJU’s Castle, that looks INCREDIBLE. basically you get to wander around a fantasy world built from his “memories & experiences”. Someone please send us out there to cover it! More info & link in the replies

An installation in a gallery of a physical 3d cartoon model of a fantasy castle, various people in the battlements. Various monsters roam the countryside outside the walls

An installation in a gallery of a physical 3d cartoon model of the interior of a fantasy castle, a big green gelatinou cube roams the stone hallways, various weapons embedded in its glistening slimy bulk

An installation in a gallery of a physical 3d cartoon model of the interior of a fantasy castle various adventurers fight their way through a topsy turvy gravity defying corridor, big up the axe wielding frog lad

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 13

wow, D&D is totally getting crushed 😒

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Aug 2

Looking for rare tomes at the Ren Faire today

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Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Jul 13

I got an email today from someone thanking me for the shop, how it "opened up a window" back into their younger life and I just... it's a lot 🥹

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Jul 10

I'm just going to start every post I do now with a luke-warm "D&D is dead" and then redirect them to the good stuff

Tom G of Tabletop Bookshelf @tomg.tabletopbookshelf.com · Jul 10

post a D&D take, get the most views and likes in months

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