What is the Best Way to Publish?
There is no easy answer. Shareware is all the rage right now, because Id hit it big time with Doom and Wolfenstein and MVP, Epic and Apogee have created excellent businesses and the margins are higher. Remember, though: Successes of any kind are exceptions to the rule. The fact is most shareware products don’t make the millions that Id made. Don’t get discouraged, you may be the next exception, just be prepared to be happy for a mere trickle of orders. Shareware success is about good products and great effort–read the stuff about shareware I referred you to, and you’ll see. Self-publishing requires a lot leg work. Processing orders, technical support, and so on are going to be big requirements on your time. Even if you sell only 10 to 20 copies a month after 2 years, you may have some 500 users. That is why many people submit to publishers. In addition to helping with programming, publishers can market your game much better than you yourself.
