Hey guys. I just spoke to my printer about the scorebooks again, and well, the problem is I’m going to have to order a lot of these things to cover production costs and have them be affordable. Like thousands. So, I need your help.
1. I need to get the word out about these. Tell your buddies, tell the baseball communities you frequent, everything. If you know a site that sells or advertises baseball gear, send me a link so I can beg them to carry it.
2. I can’t change the orange color on the inside of the book depending on your team, or the stitching down the spine, as that’s just going to multiply the cost exponentially. But I can change the reference card and band on the outside to match team colors. I can’t however brand them by team, as the MLB would hunt me down.
3. Right now the smaller book, with the extensive sections for noting game-day minutiae is set up to hold 20 games, and it will naturally be cheaper because it’s smaller and uses less paper. The larger book holds 40 (might bump it up to 50) games and is going to be more expensive. Bigger, more paper, more stickers… It’s going to be harder to make cost effective. I might have to dump the stickers on the bigger book.
So yeah, there’s a rambling update for you. I really want to make this happen and be a success, but I can’t do it without help!
Russ
I’d concentrate on the smaller book and only do the large one if demand warrants it.
Seems like an ideal thing to get kids involved a little more in the game, I don’t think every 10-year old is as glued to computing devices as adults want to believe. Maybe the ideal place to put these is in Little League – it’s generally older kids (around 10) so the rules aren’t modified like t-ball or some adult leagues and the leagues usually play around 15-20 games.
I don’t know if this link is helpful to you, but it can’t hurt.
http://www.eteamz.com/llbsouth/index.cfm?
02-03-11 » 3:25 pm »
Bethany Heck
Thank you very much for the link, Russ. I’ve been given this advice by others as well. I’ve got a lot of phone calls to make.
02-03-11 » 5:11 pm »
bbgods
Any chance to get big league and minor league teams to sponsor them and sell them at the ballpark? They’re great, and I would buy some for sure. Thanks for a wonderful site. Really gorgeous design and interesting content.
02-03-11 » 8:10 pm »
Bethany Heck
bbgods, thank you so much! I would love to get teams to sponsor them, I’m just not sure how to go about it. If anyone has any experience with this or has any connections, I’d really appreciate the advice.
02-03-11 » 8:48 pm »
nesser_5
Hey! I really want to see this get made. I just found your site tonight, but I love it! I whipped up a post on my blog to bring you some more customers. Your doing amazing work!
(Here is the post if you want to see it, http://tinyurl.com/4j7j36e )
02-04-11 » 12:43 am »
Max
As someone who keeps scoresheets and books for years and actually looks back through them I’d be interested in the larger book. Of course if it is only cost effective for the smaller to be printed I might have to buy more than one!
02-04-11 » 3:01 am »
Bethany Heck
Nesser, thank you for visiting the site and for the link! I hope it will be enough to convince you to start keeping score!
Max, I definitely feel the larger book is going to have an audience and I want to get it made. I don’t want people who visit a lot of games every year to have to buy 2 or 3 of the smaller books just to hold one season.
02-04-11 » 9:13 am »
Thomas McLeod
Kickstarter! This is a perfect Kickstarter. I think you will get approved and funded for this easy. It’s exactly the kind of thing they go for over there.
http://www.kickstarter.com
02-04-11 » 9:28 am »
Bethany Heck
I actually just filed this through kickstarter yesterday afternoon! I’m not sure how long the screening process takes, but my fingers are crossed. Thank you for the suggestion, kickstarter would be the perfect solution to get this off the ground.
02-04-11 » 9:30 am »
ZiM1021
I’d definitely be interested in purchasing a scorebook. I’ve never done scorekeeping before but was always interested in trying. I think this would be absolutely perfect for a beginner like myself. If they go into production, just know you’ve got one sold.
Also, just stumbled onto this site for the first time recently and I love it. Fantastic job.
02-04-11 » 2:12 pm »
Bethany Heck
Thanks so much, ZiM! I appreciate you visiting, and I’ll let everyone know when they go into production.
02-04-11 » 3:51 pm »
Ben Goetting
You REALLY should fund this with Kickstarter.com.
I’ve seen more than a few people get their projects published. It’s basically an awesome way for people to pre-order while funding your project. Do it. Do it.
02-04-11 » 4:46 pm »
Bethany Heck
Great news guys! Kickstater just accepted the project! As soon as I get the project page ready with a video and some images I will let you guys know so you can spread the word! Thanks to everyone who suggested kickstarter, I’m so excited!
02-04-11 » 4:49 pm »
M.S. Birt
I play fantasy baseball, and I also subscribe to a stats and analysis service called Baseball HQ to help me gain a competitive advantage.
They have an active message board there, and I put up a little post promoting the scorebook. I hope you get some interest from some of the people at HQ. They’re rabid fans, so I think they’ll have some interest.
02-08-11 » 5:10 pm »
Bethany Heck
Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate all you guys have done to spread the word. I’m nearly finished with the kickstarter page, just need to get back some quotes on the posters and the books!
02-08-11 » 7:18 pm »
yoshiki89
Thanks for the update, you can start a ‘twitter storm’ to spread the word (you know I will retweet). Thinking you will be better off starting with the smaller book, then “see how it goes” and offer the larger one later if the demand calls for it. You can already count on me for at least 2-3, my kids saw this and freaked out, they really want them!!
02-09-11 » 10:02 am »
M.S. Birt
I guess I should have said that I’ll be buying one or two as well. Would love a larger version, but will be more than happy with the smaller one.
02-09-11 » 10:43 am »
Jack S.
keep us posted, The Texas Playboys Baseball Club would
love these scorebooks. Thank you
03-14-11 » 10:04 am »
Bethany Heck
Hey Jack! I’ll be sure to contact you when I have the finished books in hand, I’d love to sell them to the club!
03-14-11 » 1:13 pm »
Paul
I’d buy a bunch, for sure.
03-24-11 » 4:00 pm »