Starting a TTRPG Label and Publishing Without Losing Your Mind

Dear Readers,

Today I have a special treat for you! If you remember, I was Senior Editor on a recent Kickstarter project called "Scum Among Us" about goblins. Mike is a good friend of mine and the man behind the label "Chaotic Chronicles." A big thanks to Mike for doing this guest article!

Dear Readers, let’s get one thing straight:

If you want to start a label and publish TTRPG content, you’re not just “making cool adventures.” You’re building a machine that can reliably turn creativity into finished products.

That’s the difference between a creator and a label.

A creator can drop a one-shot when inspiration hits. A label can ship a book after three rounds of editing, collect playtest feedback without melting down, pay collaborators fairly, and still have enough oxygen left to market the thing.

I came into this world after a long military career and a whole lot of time learning how operations work under pressure. And I’ll tell you what translates perfectly into indie publishing: clarity, systems, and consistency beat raw talent every day of the week. Talent matters. Systems finish books.

So let’s talk about how to build a label the smart way.

Start With the “Why” (Because It Becomes Your Filter)

Most labels fail for one of two reasons:

1. They don’t know what they are.
2. They try to become everything at once.

Your “why” is not a motivational poster. It’s your filter for decisions.

• What kind of stories do you publish?
• What type of table experience are you promising?
• What emotional tone do people expect when they see your logo?
• What do you refuse to publish, even if it would sell?

If you can’t answer those cleanly, you’ll drift. Drift turns into chaos. Chaos turns into “we’re 9 months behind, and everyone’s mad.”

Think Like a Label, Not a Lone Wolf

Here’s the shift that leveled things up for me:

A label isn’t a person. It’s a repeatable process.

Even if you’re solo right now, design your workflow as if future-you will hire help. Because if you do grow (and you want to), you’ll need the work to be trainable.

That means you start documenting your basics early:

• Style guide (tone, formatting, word usage, statblock preferences)
• File naming conventions (yes, seriously)
• Editing stages (what “draft” actually means in your world)
• Release pipeline (idea à outline à playtest à revise à edit à layout à proof à launch)

If you’re building a setting, start treating your lore like an asset library. Even a short setting document becomes gold when you’re handing work to a writer, designer, or cartographer later.

Build Your First “Minimum Viable Catalog”

A label doesn’t need ten products. It needs a few products that:

• Match your brand
• Those are polished
• They are easy for new fans to try
• Prove you can finish and deliver

If you’re starting from zero, I recommend a tight ladder like this:

1) A flagship freebie (or low-cost PDF):
Something people can run this weekend. Give them a win. Earn trust.

2) A “core product” (your first big paid release):
This is where you show your full voice: world tone, monster design, adventure structure.

3) A follow-up that proves consistency:
The second release matters more than the first. First is hype. Second is proof.

A lot of creators launch big, then disappear. Labels don’t do that.

Your Team Doesn’t Need to Be Huge. It Needs to Be Clear.

Let’s talk real quick about collaboration, because it’s where dreams go to die if you’re sloppy.

You don’t need 15 people. You need the proper roles covered, even if one person wears multiple hats.

At a minimum, most publishing pipelines need:

• Writer / Lead designer (you, most likely)
• Editor (developmental and/or copy)
• Layout (or a layout template you can execute)
• Art support (even if it’s limited at first)
• Playtest coordination (someone collecting feedback and organizing results)

And you need one more role nobody wants to talk about:

Project Wrangler.
The person (also you at first) who keeps deadlines honest, scope sane, and deliverables moving.

If you don’t actively manage scope, scope will manage you. And scope is a violent little goblin.

Publishing Workflow That Actually Works

Here’s a publishing flow that won’t sabotage you.

Draft fast, revise slow

Write the ugly draft. Get it done. Then revise with purpose.

Perfectionism at the draft stage is how books die in Google Drive.

Playtest early (and don’t take it personally)

Playtesting is not validation. It’s stress testing.

Your job is to find what breaks:

• unclear mechanics
• boring stretches
• confusing NPC motivations
• encounters that spike difficulty for no reason
• missing “DM support” (boxed text, callouts, maps, pacing notes)

Editing is not optional.

If your budget is tight, cut something else before you cut editing. People will forgive simple art. They won’t forgive a book that reads like a first draft.

Layout is a production stage, not a “final step.”

Layout affects readability, pacing, and whether DMs can use your content at the table. Treat layout like usability design, not decoration.

Kickstarter (and Crowdfunding) Without the Crash-and-Burn

Crowdfunding can be a rocket booster or a flamethrower pointed at your feet.

Here are the rules I live by:

Don’t sell what you can’t deliver

Backers don’t expect perfection. They do expect honesty and follow-through.

Build your schedule in business reality.

Printing delays happen. Holidays slow everything down. Proofing takes time. Shipping is its own beast. Plan like an adult, not like an optimist.

Communicate like a professional

When things slow down, update anyway. Consistent updates turn “where’s my stuff?” into “thanks for keeping us in the loop.”

Marketing Is Not “Extra.” It’s Part of Publishing.

This is where a lot of creators get salty.

They’ll spend 200 hours writing, then treat marketing like a cringe side quest.

If you want to publish, marketing is the job.



Marketing doesn’t mean being fake or screaming on social media. It means:

• building trust
• showing proof (previews, excerpts, development updates)
• creating familiarity (people buy what they recognize)
• repeating your message (because nobody sees it the first time)

If you hate marketing, treat it like brushing your teeth. You don’t have to love it. You just have to do it consistently if you want to keep your publishing breath from killing the room.

The Unsexy Stuff That Keeps Labels Alive

Here’s the part nobody puts on the cover.

If you’re starting a label, you need to think about:

• basic bookkeeping (income/expense tracking from day one)
• contracts or written agreements for collaborators
• version control (what is the “final-final-FINAL.pdf” problem)
• asset management (where art, maps, and drafts live)
• a release calendar you can actually maintain

A label is a long game. The unsexy stuff is what makes “long game” possible.

Final Thought: Build a Machine You Can Survive

I love big imagination. I live for grim worlds, wild lore, and that moment at the table when everyone goes quiet because the story just landed.

But if you want to publish under a label, your goal isn’t just to create something cool.

Your goal is to repeatedly create something cool.

Build systems. Keep your scope sane. Treat people well. Ship what you promise. Then do it again.

That’s how a label gets born.

And if you do it right, one day you’ll look back at your early drafts and laugh… because you’ll realize you didn’t just write a book.

You built a forge.