When the Honeymoon Ends: 12 Ways to Keep Your Publisher in Love with You

2. When the Honeymoon Ends: 12 Ways to Keep Your Publisher in Love with You Michael Fitch

3. When the Honeymoon Ends So, who is this guy? • Director of Creative Management at THQ • Previously, a Creative Manager at THQ • A fancy way of saying “Publisher’s producer on creative topics” • Before that, Red Storm Entertainment • Back in the day, at Atomic Games

4. When the Honeymoon Ends What’s this talk about? • Relationship management • Simple, practical approaches • Concrete actions you can take • Building a reputation as a good partner

5. When the Honeymoon Ends What’s this talk not about? • How to pitch (finding a partner) • Managing the due diligence process • Contract negotiations • Bitching about bad relationships On with the show…

6. Pre-Production 1) Talk early and often • Set up regular calls, at least weekly • When in doubt, pick up the phone • Create opportunities for feedback • Follow-up with e-mail, regularly • Track issues, resolutions

7. Pre-Production 2) Plan the future together • Agree on a “vision” for the project • Establish priorities early, revisit frequently • Set expectations clearly • Create opportunities to demonstrate progress

8. Pre-Production 3) Get approvals before you actually need them • Make milestone approval a foregone conclusion • Pre-submit milestone materials • Agree explicitly on build deliveries • Use interim drops when valuable

9. Pre-Production 4) Sell the game with every milestone • Highlight all progress • Include pretty pictures • Over-deliver wherever you can • No nasty surprises!

10. Production 5) Make your builds a present, not a chore • Package it up • Schedule time to integrate and test • Build notes are a guidebook to your work • Create shortcuts to the good bits • Give us something to brag about • Deliver it on time!

11. Production 6) Deliver bad news early, but bring flowers • Shit happens, we know that • Don’t wait until the milestone is due • Help us to understand not just what, but how and why • Present a recovery plan with every problem

12. Production 7) Be scrupulously honest • Let us see everything • Provide access to your wiki, source control, intraweb • Visibility is cheap • Control the conversation

13. Production 8) Keep it a two-way street • Come visit! • Pick up a check every once in a while • Ask questions • Manage up

14. Finishing the Game 9) Budget time and money for marketing • Demand a timeline and asset list • Build tools for screen and video capture • Block out time for all your leads • Dedicate an artist before you think you’ll need one • Plan to lose days for visits, and industry events, and road shows

15. Finishing the Game 10) Tell us what you need • We have resources! • Get QA on-site for free • Insist on usability testing • The best time to ask for more is when everyone can see the end • The more of a confidence surplus you’ve built up, the more likely you’ll get what you ask for

16. Finishing the Game 11) Share the load • Your producer(s) can work for you • Scheduling/prioritizing • Testing/balancing • PR • Community management • Content

17. Finishing the Game 12) Test everything • Pretend you don’t know how it works • Get into the dark corners • Try wacky combinations • Nothing hurts more than a slip that’s too late to do anything about

18. Takeaway • A relationship is just that – a relationship • Communication • Trust • Collaboration • You need to satisfy both partners’ needs • Bumps happen; it’s how you handle them that matters • Treat every project as the courtship for the next one – because it is

19. Questions?

20. When the Honeymoon Ends: 12 Ways to Keep Your Publisher in Love with You Michael Fitch Follow-ups: web@micrysweb.com Slides will be posted at www.micrysweb.com