Nov 97 MacTech Online
Volume Number: 13
Issue Number: 11
Column Tag: MacTech Online
by Nicholas C. "nick.c" DeMello online@mactech.com
Shareware: Software In A Bottle
There are three great myths in modern society. One concerns a man named Elvis,
another involves a place known as Roswell, and the third is the idea that you can't make
money writing shareware. I can't say much about the first two, but shareware is a
powerful and effective marketing method. It isn't easy to make a living building
shareware products, but many folks do. This month we're going to tour some online
resources that you should explore if you intend to make money through shareware.
The Voice Of Experience
One of the first games I remember playing on the Macintosh was called Scarab of RA.
It's not surprising that Rick Holzgrafe, the author of that classic shareware product,
has something to say about making a great shareware product. Rick's shareware
company (Semicolon Software) hosts eight pages of suggestions for aspiring shareware
authors. If you're interested in creating shareware, you should read these pages.
Folks who move files to or from a Mac by FTP know who Peter Lewis is. The author of
Anarchie and NetPresenz, Peter makes his living as a full time shareware author and
few people have better insight into the shareware industry. Peter and Jeremy Nelson
have two pages of practical advice for the new shareware author.
A fundamental and controversial issue of shareware authoring is deciding how to
encourage your user into paying a shareware fee. While everyone was arguing their
opinion on this issue, shareware author Colin Messitt conducted a case study. Colin
released a single copy of a shareware program whose installer had a 50% of chance of
creating either of two subtly different versions. One version was completely
functional, but periodically reminded the user to register. The other version was
hobbled in such a way that the user could explore the programs functionality, but not
seriously make use of the program until it was registered. Colin found folks registered
the hobbled version 5 times more frequently than they did the unrestricted version.
Read the details of this study online at shareware.org.
Rick Holzgrafe's Successful Shareware Pages
http://www2.Semicolon.com/Rick/ShareSuccess/Shareware1.html
Peter N Lewis & Jeremy Nelson on Writing Shareware for a Living
http://www.stairways.com/programming/sharewareauthor.html
http://www.stairways.com/programming/sharewareauthor2.html
"Why do people register shareware?" by Colin Messitt
http://www.shareware.org/gazer7/why.htm
Support For The Shareware Author
Possibly the most impressive track record in shareware development belongs to
Andrew Welch. For three years Andrew published shareware products under the aegis
"Ambrosia." In November of 1992 he released the game Maelstrom, which won
MacUser's 1993 Best Shareware Game award. Then, in August of 1993 Andrew founded
Ambrosia Software, Inc. which has become one of the most successful Mac OS
shareware companies to date. Today, Ambrosia not only offers a variety of award
winning games (Chiral, Apeiron, and many more), but they offer the possibility of
partnering their considerable experience and resources with new shareware authors
and artists. Check out the Ambrosia "TechWorks" pages for the details . Kagi is a
payment processing service, that allows any shareware author to enjoy the luxury of
having their own registration department. For a modest percentage of your shareware
fees, Kagi will supply you with a registration program (written by Peter Lewis) for
distribution with your product. The program allows users to register your shareware
electronically, through the mail, or via a web site (payment by US check, money
order, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or cash). Kagi will handle all the
registration issues then send you a single check and a detailed registration report each
month. If you are at all serious about shareware, consider Kagi.
A number of shareware associations offer support to shareware authors. The most
prominent of these, the Association of Shareware Professionals, also hosts a short FAQ
about shareware distribution. If you do nothing else, read the ASP's answer to the
question "What is shareware?
Ambrosia's Invitation to Shareware Authors
http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/TechWorks/Dev.html
Kagi
http://www.kagi.com/
The Association of Shareware Professionals
http://www.asp-shareware.org/
The Shareware FAQ, by Mitchell Friedman
http://www.asp-shareware.org/sharewar.html
The Elite Shareware Author's Group
http://www.edepot.com/esagindex.html
The Shareware Authors Network
http://www.bsoftware.com/snetwork.htm
These and other links are available from the MacTech Online web pages
http://www.mactech.com/online/