Getting your game into distribution

Distributors are gatekeepers with limited warehouse space and catalogs full of proven publishers, so they say no to most small publishers most of the time. What changes their answer is evidence of demand: a strong crowdfunding campaign, steady direct and convention sales, store owners asking their distributor rep for your game, and visible review coverage. The best pitch to a distributor is proof that stores will order the game without the distributor having to create demand from nothing.

Before pitching, have the basics in order. Your game needs a barcode (a GS1 UPC), a case pack configuration, professional packaging with the MSRP-supporting production values stores expect, an available reprint or inventory position, and pricing that works at 40 percent of MSRP. Prepare a one-page trade sell sheet with the commercial facts: MSRP, case quantity, weight and dimensions, release date, and your marketing plan. A distributor is evaluating you as a business partner, not just the game.

Small publishers often enter distribution through a consolidator or fulfillment-and-sales partner rather than knocking on distributors' doors alone. Consolidators aggregate many small publishers' catalogs and already have accounts with the major distributors, taking a cut in exchange for access and logistics. This costs a few more points of margin but converts an unanswerable cold pitch into an existing relationship.

When an offer comes, read the terms like the contract it is: buy price as a percentage of MSRP, payment terms (net 30 to net 90 is normal), freight responsibility, return and buyback rights, and any exclusivity. Nonexclusive terms with two or three distributors are common in the US market and protect you if one partner underperforms. And keep marketing after you sign. Distribution fills the pipe to stores, but demand from players is still what pulls games through it.