How to publish your thee game

[hvor]

So let's say that someone made a *java* game that he is really satisfied with and proud of. Did anyone tried to publish it? Contacted some indy gamedev publishers (garagegames ...)? Or the best way is to do it yourself?
I opened this thread for us to share experience, suggestions etc...
(Coding is fun, but even funnier is to earn some money from it   )

[elias4444]

There are numerous options available these days. I just recently went through the research needed to release my first "game," although perhaps mine isn't the best example as it's also been released as a book for purchase through www.lulu.com. Despite that difference, I think you still need to ask yourself some of the same questions first:

1. Do I want this to be sold on CD? Or just as a download?
2. Do I have the ability to make an attractive online storefront, complete with a method for online purchasing of the product?
3. Do I have the capacity to go out and advertise on my own? Or would I rather someone else do that?

I'm sure there are many other questions that need reflection as well, but here are some options depending on how you answered the ones above:

If you want it to be sold on CD, as opposed to only being a download, there will be a production cost involved. In order to cover this, you'll either need a publisher who's willing to accept and fund your project, or you'll need to handle the bill yourself. I do recommend lulu.com as a publish-on-demand group - although you need to keep in mind that people won't necessarily pay more to cover the lost revenue of CD production.

If you're able and willing to make your own online storefront, you'll retain most of the earnings from the sales of your game. However, keep in mind that this means a degree of maintenance and liability of your sales system and website, as well and having to pay for advertising yourself.

Personally, I went with lulu.com. I'm not advertising for them, as for a pure electronic download they may not be the best choice, but for me, it was nice that they can do on-demand publishing for books, CDs (audio and digital), as well as a myriad of other things. They do take a chunk out of your profits though, just like any other publisher would. Also, you're still pretty much on your own for advertising (something I'm still trying to figure out).

Hope this helps.

[hvor]

Well spoken, pretty good analyse. These days  am thinking to try with some dowloadable , smaller game (<10MB) . Advertising by myself could be painfull, so I will rather give some percent of profit to someone who will cover these things up. For now, the best opportunity seems to be garagegames, but i'm not shure if they take into account java games.
There is an issue in big JRE (20+MB) compared with small game (5-10MB) if you want to offer a whole game to end-user , without unnecessery downloads (of JRE).