Freight & shipping has accounted for 58% of my business expenses this year.

I've re-printed The Quiet Year twice this year and Monsterhearts once. I've sold lots of product, which has meant a high cost of goods sold. But it is absolutely dwarfed in comparison to shipping costs.

If you ever run a kickstarter with print fulfilment, or set up a storefront to sell your games, I very very very much encourage you to actually weigh and measure your product inside packaging, and use shipping calculators, so that you charge an adequate amount for shipping.

If you're using kickstarter or pre-orders, and are selling your product before it is actually printed, using a similar product as a proxy and padding your estimates SIGNIFICANTLY is encouraged!

"Whoops, I lost thousands of dollars on shipping expenses" is a common KS problem.

I updated the Buried Without Ceremony books last night, and then I saw this little pie graph of expenses, and seeing that 58% prompted me to want to share that advice.

It's important to actually weigh + measure your product, use shipping calculators, and futureproof your rates!

This fits into a larger piece of advice I'd love to share:

Make sure to actually do the math.

"I'll write a personal note for each backer at this tier, how long could that take?" "I'll just make it so additional copies are only +$1 to ship."

Hold up, John. Get your calculator.

Yes, this!

When you make a project timeline, double how long you think things will take, then add three weeks for getting sick.

When you make a project budget, give yourself a safety margin equal to how much you fear and respect the gods of chaos. https://twitter.com/pangalactic/status/1336737961078087682