Hey friends! I dug up a new marketing opportunity. I found a Sapphic Book Club on tumblr/twitter, contacted the host (Lara) via email. She wrote a GoodReads review of Moonrise and featured me as an author spotlight. She didn’t have a set price for her service,s and I kinda of ballparked it around $40. I haven’t seen an uptick in sales, though that might be because my self-promotion skills have been lacking lately. However, I did get messages from other queer friends that they saw my name and game, without me telling them to go look. So that was encouraging
Hey all! After taking a marketing hiatus due to [makes vague gesture at everything], I’ve gotten back into the grind. Some more resources that may help:
Interactive Fiction Database. I failed to investigate it in time for Moonrise to be eligible for their yearly XYZZY awards. I honestly didn’t know about the awards until Creme de la Creme won! Congrats!!!
TV Tropes. If I’m remembering rightly, there was another thread on the forum that asked players how they found IF. Most said by scrolling twine or these forums, but one person said TV Tropes. Plus, it’s like a ridiculous amount of fun to add one’s game to the wiki. Make sure to index it back to Choice of Games/Hosted Games.
techradar’s “Queer indie games deserve more recognition” article led down some interesting rabbit trails. And it’s worth the read for its discussion of how players and game journalists settle for not-as-good rep in big budget games, instead of taking pains to find and celebrate stellar rep in not-as-known games.
Qweerty Games is a nonprofit organization that does fundraising for various queer causes and works with big companies to host events/provide resources for queer game devs. They also post Top 10 articles and reviews, so I emailed them asking if they’d consider doing a piece about interactive fiction. More relevant here, they have micro-grants for queer indie devs.
Queerly Represent Me is a nonprofit focused on helping marginalized communities through resources, training, and support. They specialize in the game industry. Relevant here, they have a page of resources and a database of LGBTQ games. There are lots of Choice of Games listed already, and make sure yours is there too!
I Need Diverse Games is a powerhouse of games journalism, and anyone can email them a game rec or article pitch. I emailed them about Choice of Games. It doesn’t seem like they’ve covered interactive fiction before.
Hope everyone is doing best as can be in these times! It’s cold as frick here. I’m typing from under a blanket and 3 pillows. The fuzzy socks are ON.
EDIT 05/13/2021: Someone on Twitter made an awesome thread about how indie creators need more support, because a sea change in indie gaming will make AAA game companies take note. This triggered a similar thought in my head about how gamers don’t have time to do deep Internet searches for queer + trans games, I made a big o’l rec list of sites to start looking. Most of it I’ve already posted in this thread, but some new places people could check out, so I’m sharing it here too!
Hi all! I’m not sure if this is quite “marketing” but it didn’t feel like it should be a whole new thread either. In any case check it outttttt: Gayming Magazine is taking nominations for best LGBTQ indie game of 2021. They define “indie game” as: “For the purposes of this award, we define an ‘indie game’ as a game developed by an independent developer who is an individual or small group that is not owned by another company that makes games. All games released in the calendar year of 2021 are eligible and nominations for this category close on 18th December.”
Choice of Games, Heart’s Choice, and Hosted Games are small groups, so it seems up our alley. I already nominated @SixFeetZen’s If It Please the Court but there’s plenty of love to spread around! Nominate your favs! They’re also taking community input on Streamer of the Year ( @KaiDeleon do you want some recognition for your awesomeness? ) Industry Diversity Award, Best LGBTQ contributor to E-Sports, Best LGBTQ Tabletop Game, and Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment.
This is so sweet!! I don’t think I have streamed consistently enough to qualify or feel I deserve such an award, but now I have something to work towards for next year!!
I’m happy to report I got a few bites! Though something went funny when they tried to initially email me (my Gmail probably freaked out, or it was a problem with them replying to a message sent through their website’s Contact Form), Matt Doyle from Matt Doyle Media went ahead and reviewed Moonrise anyway, at no cost to boot. Matt emailed me again this morning to let me know the review was complete, and that missive got through. When I emailed them back, I mentioned that other IF games were free through the Choice of Games, Hosted Games, and Heart’s Choice omnibus apps, including Choice of Vampire. I donated to their Ko-fi as a gesture of goodwill.
but there’s plenty of love to spread around! Nominate your favs! They’re also taking community input on Streamer of the Year ( 
) Industry Diversity Award, Best LGBTQ contributor to E-Sports, Best LGBTQ Tabletop Game, and Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment.
