CompuServe Messages

<<By the way, do you have any idea as to how I can go about marketing it? Thanks.>> You should check out the Entrepreneurs or CD-ROM forums and ask for distributors/vendors for your CD-ROM. I haven't tried this myself but there are a lot of people here on CompuServe who could help you out, you've just got to find the right forum. You'd better have a complete business and marketing plan organised so you can present it to anyone who might inquire. Also be prepared to get a small slice of the pie i.e. 5-15% of the profits. Unfortunately this is how it works since marketing and other costs are fairly high for CD-ROM distribution companies(or at least that's what they have you believe). Also regarding the price, it is an interesting phenomenon that you'll have to charge a fairly high price for the CD-ROM or no-one will be prepared to distribute it for you. Distributors won't put in the time to help develop a product and market it if the profit margin is small, so the price usually has to be high. I remember having a discussion about selling programs and the conclusion is that if you present a business plan that states it will be cheap to make and the market price is low, no-one will be interested. But if you raise the price significantly then you'll have a lot more people interested. This is simply the economic reality. You could think about making a premaster and then having a CD-ROM duplication place make you about a hundred copies then distribute these to prospective distributors. This may be more expensive but it will give you a chance to test the waters and get some feedback. You could also look at selling it here on CompuServe, where people could get a "taste" for what the CD-ROM is(sample images) and then pay by credit card. There is a service here on CompuServe that allows you to do that. What about opening a World-Wide-Web site and showing off some of your images, CD-ROM capabilities there? People could then order directly through your Web site. So in summary, if you want another company to help finance and distribute the CD-ROM you'll be looking at a small cut of the profits but if you do it yourself you'll have more work and need more capital but you'll be in complete control and get 100% of the profits(or losses). BTW Be careful of unscrupulous companies that agree to handle your product after gaining the copyright to the CD-ROM and then "bury" it(don't sell it at all), since they may be producing a competing product. DaviD "I prefer mine with the crusts left on" GouID