As we enter the new year, I’ve got some updates on what’s going on with So You Want To Be a Game Master.

To quickly bring everyone bring everyone up to speed:

• The book arrived at the publisher’s warehouse in mid-October and was immediately shipped out.
• The street date was November 21st, but stores stocked them in mid-November as they arrived.
• For many overseas countries, the books were still in shipment on the North America release date: Either in container ships, hung up in customs, or processing through local distributors.
• The book almost immediately began selling out. Domestically, this meant rapid fluctuations in estimated delivery dates until, shortly before or just after Christmas, most online retailers reported the book to be completely out of stock.
• Overseas, the pattern was more complicated: Initial release date was usually conservatively listed as January (since they didn’t want to over-promise on the vagaries of international shipping), but in many cases the books arrived in December. But they would then almost immediately sell out — so people would see delivery estimates go from January (cautious promise), to December (it’s here!), and then to June (we’ve waiting on international shipping again!).

Obviously, everybody involved — me, Page Street, Macmillan, the bookstores — want to be able to sell you the book. So what’s happening?

First, some people have told me that the publisher “obviously” shorted the initial print run. This is not the case. The initial print order was quite large for a first time book, and reflected both their confidence in the book and the amazing success the book had in preorders.

(Tangentially: Thank you to everyone who preordered the book. It has an exponential effect on a book’s success in the modern book market, and it’s also the reason we have an audio book!)

The book was just INSANELY successful. Literally no one expected it to become a USA Today Bestseller, but it did!

This is what followed, and where we are now:

• Within three days of the book’s release, a second printing had been ordered.
• This second printing was then MORE THAN DOUBLED in size.
• It was not enough, and a THIRD PRINTING of the same (more than doubled) size has been ordered.

The second printing has come off the presses and is now in the bindery. Within days, these new copies will be shipped to the publisher’s warehouse. From there they’ll be shipped into distribution.

The third printing is slightly behind the second printing, but should arrive in the publisher’s warehouse by the end of January.

In North America, this makes it likely (but not certain!) that new copies will start reaching readers by the beginning of February. I am sorry to say, however, that international retailers are going to face the same wait with international shipping that they did with the first printing. (We are very hopeful, however, that the new supply should be sufficient that the book will not immediately vanish from shelves again.)

BUT I WANT THE BOOK!

Of course you do!

If I was forced to pick one problem for the book to have, “unexpected runaway bestseller” would certainly be the one I would pick. But it still sucks, and I feel awful that so many people haven’t been able to get the books they ordered.

So here’s the deal:

1. Barnes & Noble currently has 700 copies. We don’t know how many copies are in their distribution center for online sales vs. how many are on shelves in B&N stores, but if you’re looking for a copy of the book RIGHT NOW, check your local B&N and/or their website.
2. Call around to other local stores, including game stores. There could very easily be a copy sitting on a store shelf near you.
3. If you have a preorder with a retailer you trust to honor the preorder, keep that preorder (at least until you have another copy of the book in hand). It should give you priority when the second printing resupplies the distribution channels, and will likely be the quickest way for you to get a physical copy in many cases.
4. Otherwise, place a preorder ASAP. Again, this will give you priority in getting a copy ASAP when the second printing arrives.
5. There is both an e-book and, in North America, an audio book edition, available from all the places you’d expect to find e-books and audio books available for sale. If you just can’t wait (and I don’t blame you!), there’s no faster way to get it.

I know this is immensely frustrating, but I’d like to thank all of you once again for your support. And I hope you all find the book worth the wait!

At 2:00pm CT today, I’ll be making an attack with Roll for Combat! as we share tips for becoming the best GM you can be!

We sit down with award-winning author Justin Alexander from The Alexandrian, who just released a must-read book for all TTRPG players, So You Want To Be A Game Master, where he will give you tips and tricks on improving your TTRPG game!

If you can’t join us for the livestream, you can always check out the video later!

SAVE THE DATE!

Matthew Perkins and I chat about prepping a Shattered Obelisk campaign using the techniques from So You Want To Be a Game Master. It was really cool to have a practical example of using the book to prep content that’s going straight to the table!

YES I’m working on a series about Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk! But first, I need to run it myself. So I’m using Justin Alexander’s new book So You Want to be a Game Master to challenge myself.

WATCH NOW!

Over on Scroll of Initiatives, I’m joined by Keith Baker, MT Black, Matt Colville, Monte Cook, Luke Gygax, Robin D Laws, Mike Shea, B David Walters, and many others for From the Experts: The Greatest RPG Adventures of All Time.

Pop over there to read my thoughts on why Masks of Nyarlathotep is my favorite published adventure, and then check out all the other recommendations, too! There’s some all-time classics, and also some truly surprising entries. There are some I’ve never even heard of before, and you can be sure that I’m going to track them down ASAP!

CHECK IT OUT!

You’ll be able to find me on Dungeon Masterpiece tomorrow for an interview about So You Want To Be a Game Master and the secret arts of the DM.

“So You Want To Be A Game Master” might be the best dungeon mastering advice book to be published ever. And rightly so. @TheAlexandrian has been a game designer and writer of some of the best TTRPG content and blogging since the early 2000s. Even I was greatly influenced by his earlier works. Join me as I talk to Justin about some of the novel ideas in his book, his thought process on game development, and what lead him to bring this book to bear.

SAVE THE DATE!