Interview with Ed Magnin

Author of Indie Game Development: The Freedom to Create Your Game

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

USA (born in So Cal, now live in DFW, TX)

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

A job offer, but stayed long after because we liked it. And I realized I can make indie games anywhere.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

Wanted to share lessons learned from a 40+ game industry career and 25+ years of indie game experience with the next generation — maybe they could avoid some of the same mistakes.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

An introduction to indie game development and some problems to avoid in starting your own studio.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

anyone with an interest in game development … many of those desiring to become game developers might want to consider taking the indie development route and self-publishing through the various app stores as we do.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

It’s a lot more work writing a book than it looks like.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

Take good notes and save key documents during your career as they make interesting attachments to your narrative.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

As many as can. It is priced at the $9.99 level for both iBooks and Kindle to make it accessible to as many young developers as possible. It has also been translated into Japanese and Spanish on iBooks (worldwide).

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Dealing with unusual policies from Kindle… iBooks seemed much more straightforward in their policies and rates.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Had experience publishing 30+ apps (games) to the various App Stores.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Marketing … not sure that many people are really that good at marketing via social media. It seems that whenever I’m thinking of hiring someone that they don’t know that much more than I do!

When do you think you will write your next book?

Not sure. Have some topics in mind.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

Self published via Apple iBooks and Amazon Kindle Book Store.