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Approaching the Publisher
Armed with your knowledge of the market and all the marketing materials for the game, it's time to go knocking on some doors. There are quite a few methods for approaching a publisher. Which one you choose comes down to factors such as time, cost, and even personality.
In Person
The first method for contacting publishers is the most directgo and see them. If you think you can become a successful developer without leaving that chair, then welcome to planet reality. At some point you need to get out there and show them what you've got.
Most publishers will take the time to see you if you're willing to turn up in person. In these days of electronic anonymity, showing up in the flesh is a powerful method of building a relationship. Just the fact that you're there shows a certain degree of professionalism and commitment to your work. It automatically buys you a relationship. In the future, actually having met the guy will go a long way toward your level of interaction and trustand you can even make some good friends along the way.
Another great result of meeting a publisher in person is that you'll usually get direct feedback. Even if the publisher says they'll review your game in detail with the team later, they will usually tell you the good and bad about the game right then; in turn, you get to clarify what they mean. Sometimes publishers will even go so far as to actually show you an example of what they want. This feedback loop can save you months of time wasted trying to get to a shared vision.
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You don't have to only see publishers; visit media organizations, carriers, and Web portals as well. Anybody who is in some way related to J2ME gaming is usually worth seeing in person. Even if they can't help you directly, there's a good chance these people will help point you in the right direction.
The downsides to showing up in person are time and money. It really isn't practical to fly to a country to visit one publisher and then fly back again. This is where the traditional business road show comes in. You just pack your bag and hit the road, visiting as many publishers (usually in one area) as you can in a few weeks. Feel free to fill in any gaps with visits to related organizations along the way. If you've never done a road show, I highly recommend it. There's nothing quite like living a month on the road, talking up your game to anybody who'll listen. Even if you don't succeed the first time, you'll find yourself gaining confidence for presenting your wares and gaining a lot of inside knowledge of the industry.
Trade Shows
Seeing people in person is very effective. However, it can get time consuming and expensive to visit too many companies, especially if they're far away. An alternative is to go to industry trade shows.
Although this isn't as good as going to a publisher's home turf, it can still be very effectiveif only because you get to see so many publishers in such a short time. At a typical trade show you could easily see 20 or more companies in a single weekend.
At the moment, the main trade shows for J2ME are E3, JavaOne, GDC Mobile, and Milia. Of these, JavaOne and GDC (Game Developers Conference) are conferences for Java and game development, respectively. Both are well worth a visit regardless of the potential sales value. E3 and Milia are both pure trade shows; E3 in particular is all about publishers, distributors, and developers getting together. It's a spectacular, buzzing, super-hyped world of chaos like nothing you've ever seen. Definitely worth a visit, but be ready for a wild ride.
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If you've ever heard the term networking and thought it had something to do with multiplayer gaming, you need to look again. Networking is about building and maintaining relationships with people (generally for business reasons). It's all about who you know in the gaming industry.
Networks of contacts are all about trust. Most people in business, especially gaming, waste a lot of time dealing with people who don't know what they're doing. Getting an introduction through a friend of a friend is an immediate way to gain that initial trust. This isn't something you might encounter occasionally; it's the driving force behind the majority of the industry.
Building a network is pretty easy; you'll encounter a lot of contacts by visiting trade shows and companies. Make sure you stay in touch and help them out if and when you can.
Over the Internet
Probably the easiest and most popular method for submitting a game to a publisher is over the Internet. All publishers invite developers to submit games to them online, usually by asking you to send an introductory e-mail containing a summary of the game.
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If you want to catch a publisher's eye, send them a well-formatted HTML e-mail that includes an animated GIF showing off the game.
Have a look at the publishers' Web sites for the exact details on how to make a submission.
The Response
The best and worst thing about using a publisher is that the publisher gets to decide whether your game is good enough to take to market. If you approach a number of publishers and get turned down (or ignored) by all of them thenhere's the bit every developer doesn't want to hearyour game is likely crap. If you're lucky, your game will be good enough that a publisher will take the time to tell you what's wrong. Most of the time you'll just a get a rejection orgulpsilence. You need to take this the right way. The game industry is about selling games. If you can't get a publisher, then assume it's because the publisher doesn't think the game is going to make money. It doesn't matter whether the game is cool or even great fun to play; all that matters is whether a publisher thinks he can make money out of it. That's the reality; skill, effort, and fairness don't always play a part.
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Integrity plays a big part in any dealings you have with a potential publisher.Always follow through on what you say, and don't leave things half-baked. Above all, remember that the games industry is like a big club. Fate will ensure that the guy you treat badly at one company will turn up at exactly the wrong time somewhere else.
It might well be that your first game is not good enough to picked up by a publisher. If that's the case, you've had a lesson in what not to do. Get back up, dust yourself off, and develop something that will sell.
Okay, you've finally developed something that a publisher likes. What's next?
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