MVP099: Curt Covert From Smirk and Dagger Games on Publishing Games and What We Can Learn From Other Industries

Curt Covert is the founder, creative force and jack-of-all-trades at Smirk & Dagger. He’s worn all the hats including art director, copywriter, marketer and concept director, and in a past life he was also a creative director and marketing planner for promotion agencies servicing Fortune 500 companies and brands like M&Ms, Jameson, Dannon, Unilever, Disney theme park eateries, and more.Today we're going to talk a little bit about the business of making tabletop games and then we're going to dive into the business of selling those tabletop games.PublishingWhy did you decide to get into game publishing?For those who may not know, describe the ‘house style’ of your line and who you see as the key audience?What does Smirk & Dagger provide as retail support?You mentioned demo copies and demo scripts, what would you say to stores that don’t have the manpower or retail space suited to doing demos?RetailWhat are some best practices for merchandising games that help game store owners move more product? (I will spend a lot of time here, doing a borrowed brilliance exercise )How often should store owners remerchandise?As a game publisher, what is one thing you wish retailers knew or would do differently?LinksRetailer Resource Page: https://www.smirkandlaughter.com/retailer-resourcesSND Retailer FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/666949490455299Envoy: https://www.dexposure.com/envoy/Dized Interview: MVP096If you want to be part of a community of peers on your business journey to share ideas with and continue learning, you can become a member of the Manaverse Network by going to manaversesaga.com/join. That's where you can get access to all the seminars from the recent 2020 LGS Success Summit as well as additional exclusive members only content, marketing reviews, and training.