Basic Layout for a 128-Page Sector Sourcebook?

[Flynn]

Good Afternoon, All,

It seems that the professional standard for a sector book appears to be ~128 pages. (At least, any time I've heard someone ask about doing one, the response is always "if you have an idea for a 128 page sourcebook, come talk to me...") Because I'm curious as to the possibilities of writing a sector book based on my experiences with Stellar Reaches, I've made the following notes on a basic layout for a generic sector book. Page counts, of course, are only approximate, and should vary by sector and content.

Basic Sector Sourcebook Outline
</font>

• Title page (1 page)</font>
• Introduction (1 page)</font>
• Races (6 pages, varies by sector)</font>
• History (4 pages, picks up slack if not enough races)</font>
• Political/Nobility Overview (4 pages)</font>
• Mercantile/Corporate Overview (4 pages)</font>
• Alpha Quadrant (Map & Data, 4 pages)</font>
• Beta Quadrant (Map & Data, 4 pages)</font>
• Gamma Quadrant (Map & Data, 4 pages)</font>
• Delta Quadrant (Map & Data, 4 pages)</font>
• Library Data (4 pages)</font>
• Ships of the Sector (12 pages, more if deckplans are available)</font>
• Lifeforms (4 pages)</font>
• Sector-specific Essays (9 pages total; this could be where outline has slack)</font>
• Referee Section: General Adventuring In Sector (4 pages)</font>
• Patron Encounters (16 pages)</font>
• Amber Zones (8 pages)</font>
• Major Adventure (possibly several smaller adventures, totalling 24 pages)</font>
• Consolidated Sector Listing (includes Sector Map, 10 pages)</font>
• OGL and Legal Text (1 page)</font>

Note that about a third of the above outline is dedicated to adventure material directly, which would allow the reader to make immediate use of the sector material provided.

However, that's just a first glance at a possible outline for such. There are many more ideas. Would the above interest you? What, if anything, would need to be changed? Please bear in mind that I am asking within the context of only a 128-page sourcebook, so increasing an area or adding new parts means other areas must suffer from reduction, to stick with the 128 page limitation.

Once I have an idea of what the Traveller community would want from a sector book, I may approach Avenger, QLI or perhaps even MWM directly with a proposal. Depends on if I think I can crank out that much text in a reasonable period of time.

Thank you in advance for your time and input,
Flynn

 

[Gruffty]

<Baron von Tuftmeister peers over the top of a crate of Blue Nun wine>

Hmmmmmm, most intereschtink, das Flynn ov der Reaches Stellar-ink magazeenun-nun........

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Oh poor Lord Flynn! Formatting is where I always get sidetracked. There are literally a bunch of things you can do, and sometimes for me I get sidetracked by experimentation.

Ditch Quadrants for the maps. It changes the "feel" from subsectors. Try two pages per Subsector, one map and one data sheet. Plus the scale of quadrants is by and large too big to be useful to players, imho.

Gods free time is so good to have again!

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Question: when you conceptualize these releases, do you picture them as 8.5x11 pages/books, or do you think of them as screens, as in screen size?

I have been experimenting with finding an optimal screensize for pdf products, anyone know any good ratios?

 

[Flynn]

Actually, I think quadrants are the right size for a campaign, rather than subsectors. Of course, we travel a lot in my games, so one subsector isn't a significantly large enough sandbox to play in. That, and I like quadrants as a good compromise between subsector and sector views.

However, I can see where a subsector approach gets the nostalgia purchase more than quadrants.

As for size, I go with an 8.5 by 11, which is pretty standard for PDF releases, as most people I know print them out. Besides, I'm sure that Avenger or QLI would want them in that format as that's typically what they release their works in.

And if I were doing it as a solo venture with permission straight from MWM, then I would definitely stick with the standard format, and look into making a dead tree product as well as a PDF available.

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[Gruffty]

Originally posted by Flynn:
And if I were doing it as a solo venture with permission straight from MWM, then I would definitely stick with the standard format, and look into making a dead tree product as well as a PDF available.

Soooo...<lights up a smoke and leans back in chair>....

What size margins, headers and footers would be optimal for a PDF and/or dead tree sourcebook?

 

[Gruffty]

I'm making the following assumptions in my post above:

1) That PDF "books" are designed to be printed out onto 8.5" by 11" paper;
2) That dead tree 8.5" by 11" books share some characteristics with their PDF cousins.

 

[Gruffty]

To give more space to the PDF/book's contents, the following could be removed from your list of pages:

Title page (1 page)
Introduction (1 page)
OGL and Legal Text (1 page)

That would give you 128 pages of pure Traveller goodness + 3 pages of gumpf = 131 pages.

I take it you're not counting the front and back covers...

 

[Gruffty]

Flynn, just out of interest, why 128 pages? How did you arrive at that number? And do you mean 128 sides (i.e. 64 sheets of paper, with print on both sides) or 128 sheets of paper with print on both sides (= 256 sides)?

Interested but confused

Gruffty

 

[Flynn]

Originally posted by Gruffty:
Soooo...<lights up a smoke and leans back in chair>....

What size margins, headers and footers would be optimal for a PDF and/or dead tree sourcebook?

Lots of questions. Okay, here goes:

From what I understand, the optimal PDF margins, etc, are 1" on the sides and 0.75" top and bottom. Nothing goes closer than 0.5" to the edge, unless you've got some graphics at work in the background.

Next question?

Originally posted by Gruffty:
To give more space to the PDF/book's contents, the following could be removed from your list of pages:

Title page (1 page)
Introduction (1 page)
OGL and Legal Text (1 page)

That would give you 128 pages of pure Traveller goodness + 3 pages of gumpf = 131 pages.

I take it you're not counting the front and back covers...

Nope. It has to be 128 pages of text (and that's sides, not separate pages). Something about how publishing houses like multiples of either 8 or 16, and that's what was asked for originally by Hunter and Martin when the question's been put to them in the past.

Covers traditionally don't count. (So technically, a PDF would be 130 pages if you include the cover images in the PDF, but a deadtree product would have 64 physical pages printed on both sides numbered 1-128 between a set of covers.)

You have versatility in page count with a PDF-only product, and don't have to hold to imaginary limits set by some industry standard that doesn't apply to PDFs. However, if you are looking at getting your work printed in deadtree, you have to work within the boundaries set by the person hiring you to do the work or the demands of the publishing house that will print your work.

There are, of course, ways around that, but that isn't what Martin always asks for when the subject comes up. He always asks for 128 pages, so that's what I'm looking at should I make a proposal.

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[Flynn]

Sorry, in looking over Gruffty's questions above, I forget that most people don't necessarily have any knowledge or experience in freelance work or publishing. (I don't have very much myself, but I've been studying it over the last few years since D20 came out.) If I post something in those regards that needs clarification, please feel free to ask for a clarification. Either myself or someone else on the boards with domain knowledge will most likely respond and clear up the confusion.

Sorry about that,
Flynn

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

snd by quadrants do you mean maps with 4 subsectors per sheet?

 

[Flynn]

Now, if I had the luxury to do this on my own, and I didn't have a page limit set on me by an external source, I'd probably go with something in the neighborhood of half the size of the requested proposal, but that's because it's easier to come up with that level of detail. Having to write 128 pages can be pretty rough, as you might be able to tell from the above outline.

The problem is that a 64 page sector book probably wouldn't sell in today's more sophisticated Traveller market.

Just my two creds,
Flynn

 

[Flynn]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran von Gushiddan:
snd by quadrants do you mean maps with 4 subsectors per sheet?

Yes. Two subsectors by two subsectors, as made popular by QLI in their Gateway Domain sourcebook, and which I have used extensively in Stellar Reaches.

Hope that helps,
Flynn

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

SR 3 is pretty ffin' cool, Flynn! The ad at the end for the Live game is hysterical, save that it suspiciously lacking in Hivers!

I am seriously thinking of the Triumverate as a good setting for a face to face game. Very, Very, good read! Well Done!

 

[Gruffty]

Thanks for clarifying those points, Flynn.

 

[Gruffty]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran von Gushiddan:
The ad at the end for the Live game is hysterical, save that it suspiciously lacking in Hivers!

No Hivers? Flynn! How could you leave us Hivers out?

Pah. Pishaw. Tosh and tittle-tattle. I say! That man there! More Hivers, I say! More Hivers!

 

[Gruffty]

P.S. I like Hivers. Can you tell?

 

[Flynn]

Hey, don't look at me; I only printed what I was given.

Now, back to the question at hand: any other suggestions or input on the outline?

-Flynn

 

[Gruffty]

That's really useful information, Flynn.

However...

What size font is best for PDF and dead tree books?

CT LBBs look like they used either Verdana 9 point or Arial 9 point.

Thoughts?