Game Design 101 - Sell-sheets & Publishers

Deciding which publishing route to take (self-publishing vs. signing with a publisher) is an important decision. If you decide not to self-publish, you will ultimately need to find a publisher to sign with - which is sometimes easier said than done!

A lot of work goes into signing a game with a publisher. Let’s start from the beginning!

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Preparing Your Materials

When submitting your game design to a publisher, you’ll want to include a few pieces of information and documents. Some publishers may have specific things they want you to include via a submission form, so be prepared to write a little extra in those cases. You may be asked to talk a little about the intended audience, your goals as a designer, or to provide further information about your game.

In general, you’ll want to make sure you have the following:

1. A sell-sheet

2. A quick, 2-minute video overview

3. A rule book (this may not be immediately required, but it's good to have one prepared)

Your sell-sheet is the primary document that provides an overview and “hook” of your game. Your sell-sheet should include the following basic pieces of information:

• Game Title

• Your name & contact information 

• Player count, age group, and playtime

• Component list

In addition to your game’s basic information, I recommend including an overview of your game, a succinct example of gameplay, and some pointers about what makes the gameplay special or unique. Try to address the following questions throughout your sell-sheet: 

• What is your game about? How do you win? (ie. a short, 2-3 sentence overview)

  • Include a thematic connection in your overview - what are you, as the player, trying to achieve in the game?

  • Include your game’s main hook - what is that element that ties everything together? What is that mechanism that makes it fun or unique?

• What are the core mechanisms that players use? For example, do players draft cards? Do they try to control different areas of a map via area control/majority? Do they build a deck of cards?

• What is special and unique about the way in which the mechanisms connect gameplay? Think about this as your hook.

  • For example, is there a trade-off between drafting certain cards? Is there a special way players obtain cards, resources, tokens, or other game pieces? 

• What does a turn look like? Use this to provide some context and examples of the mechanisms and hook of your game.

There isn’t really a wrong way to make a sell-sheet - but there definitely are ways to make a strong sell-sheet. You want to avoid making your sell-sheet too wordy while making sure there is still enough information to draw the reader in. It’s easier said than done! Included below are two rough layouts of my sell-sheets. Feel free to use the same layout or make changes as you please.

How do I find a publisher to pitch to?

Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way to answer this question. Even if there is a company you think is the perfect fit for your game, they may not be accepting new submissions. Finding a publisher often ends up being a two step process:

1. Locating a publisher that matches your game’s design and goals

2. Determining if that publisher is accepting submissions

I recommend trying the following steps to find a publisher that is right for you:

1. Cardboard Edison publishes a compendium of publishers, which is available for a small fee. This directory includes a database of hundreds of publishers which is updated on a (yearly? Bi-yearly?) basis. It’s worth looking at, but you may have to click through individual listings to see if the information is up to date and confirm that they are accepting new game submissions.  

2. Search for games and publishers on BGG within the category, style, and/or mechanisms of your game. Oftentimes, publishers may publish games with certain goals and/or product lines in mind, and might be open to publishing games of similar weights or styles. Once you find a few publishers that seem to prefer similar styles of games, look them up and see if they are currently accepting submissions. 

3. The way that I have (personally) had the most success is by being involved in as many communities as possible - Facebook communities, Discord communities, submitting games to contests, playtesting communities, convention communities, and more. Publishers who are looking to sign games may directly post within these communities and discuss their publishing goals, very often around the same times as large conventions. Being plugged into these communities also informs you of upcoming opportunities, such as contests, pitching events, conventions, and more, which can lead to connections with publishers.

I recommend keeping your own personal list of publishers that you can refer back to when you are ready to pitch a game. Look for publishers who publish games of similar styles and weights to the game(s) you are designing and add to your list over time. 

Finding the right publisher takes time. Some publishers may not have the time to respond to all game submissions, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear back from some, but always be courteous to those that do (especially with rejections). You may need to submit your game to dozens of publishers before finding the right one (hopefully not!) but it’s always worth it in the end.