Anomia Press

Woooo Hoooo!

I am SO EXCITED to announce that Anomia is one of the final five!  No, not THOSE  final 5, THESE final 5!

Each year a few hundred Mensa members gather for the Mensa MindGames event.  They play a whole slew of new games which have come to market in the last year.  I believe there were 49 games in competition this year.  Games are judged on.." originality (structure, concept, creativity), game play (enjoyment, excitement, challenge), play value (repeatability, longevity, price), aesthetics (look, feel, style) and instructions (brevity, clarity, completeness)."

As a Mensa Select winner, Anomia joins the ranks of such well-heeled games as Set, Scattergories, Trivial Pursuit, and Apples to Apples.

If you don't know, the Mensa Select award is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in the toy industry!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Thank you to everyone who helped me bring Anomia to life.  Anomia would have never seen the light of day were it not for all the people who

- Graciously accepted me into their homes for play test parties
- Pre-purchased games to help subsidize the first printing
- Listened to me prattle on endlessly about any and all aspects of refining and manufacturing a game.

Extra special thanks to my wife Jody, who has been at my side through all this, suffered through more earfuls than anyone else, AND has been an extremely effective and supportive sounding board, helping me to work through all the problems/details/processes of this adventure.

Mensa has yet to make the official announcement, but here are a couple of posts around the web about the winners of this year’s competition. Wired (GeekDad blog), Board Game Geek

Congratulations to the other 4 winners!  They are: Dizios (MindWare), Forbidden Island (Gamewright), Yikerz! (Wiggles 3D Inc.),  Word on the Street (Out of the Box Publishing) 

l will update this post with the official Mensa announcement when it's online.

Update 4/21/10: Here's the official press release from American Mensa.

Thanks!!
Andrew

There was a full page feature on Anomia in the February 28th issue of The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine.  I'm finally just getting around to posting this on the blog as the article generated A LOT of interest which has kept me pretty busy on a number of different fronts.

For those of you curious about what press coverage like this can do for a business consider the following.

The Globe piece generated over 200 orders from interested readers. Anomia was also picked up by a number of new retail outlets. Before the piece ran, Anomia was in 3 retail stores in the Boston area. It's now available in 11 stores around New England, and the list continues to grow.

The Globe coverage also led to interest from a few toy industry Sales Reps.  A Sales Rep. typically covers a specific region of the U.S. I'm pleased to say that I recently signed on with a Rep. whose company serves around 2,000 stores in the New England area alone. I'm hoping this relationship will lead to orders from many more retail stores in New England, as well as connections with other reps/stores around the country.

I thought I'd also share a couple of emails I got from people who purchased Anomia because of the Globe coverage:

Hi, Mr. Innes!
As a transplanted Baystater, I still keep up with all things Boston via the Boston Globe--which is where I learned about your invention, "ANOMIA". Believing that entrepreneurs need support (especially in times like these!), I ordered "ANOMIA", and my husband and I played a couple of rounds with my parents, who loved the game so much I ordered them a copy, too. Then, our Grandchildren (11 and 14) came to visit for a week, and your game was a hit! They begged to play one more time before leaving, and I knew that they had to have one of their own, so I ordered a third! Your game is fun, fast-paced, and a challenge for all--children, boomers, and seniors alike. In short, it's a real winner, and I am doing my level best to bolster this flagging economy by purchasing your game for all of your new-found fans. I hope the recent publicity resulted in a deluge of orders, and that your initiative is rewarded with success beyond compare!
-------
Hi,
I read the article that was on Boston.com and ordered Anomia on a whim.  Our family has had so much fun playing this game with our friends.  We have never laughed so hard and for so long!  My teenagers have shared the game with their friends and it has become an instant hit.  We are ordering additional games to give as birthday gifts.  Thanks for dreaming this game up.

All in all, pretty amazing. It's so great to see Anomia really resonating with people!

Ok, enough about the Globe piece and on to other news...

Anomia Press recently joined ASTRA, the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association.  I'm looking forward to attending the ASTRA Marketplace convention this June.  This will be a great opportunity to meet independent retailers from all over the country and introduce them to Anomia.

I'm also very excited to announce that Anomia has been accepted into the 2010 Mensa MindGames competition!  As the Mensa site says: "Game manufacturers enter their newest products in pursuit of the Mensa Select® seal — proof that the most avid game-players in the country have judged their games to be the best"

Being one of the five games selected for the Mensa Select® seal would be a huge boost for Anomia! The winners will be announced in late April. Fingers crossed!

Ok, that's it for now...more later...must sleep...
Cheers
Andrew

I spent a couple of days walking the floor at the 107th American International Toy Fair.  Toy Fair is the largest toy and game convention in the western hemisphere. It boasts about 30,000 attendees and 1,700 exhibitors which take up about 350,000 square feet in NYC's Javits Center.  In other words, it's pretty huge!  Not surprising, given that the toy/game business in the US alone is a $22 billion dollar a year industry.

Overall, I had a great time. Totally exhausting, but great.  I met a lot of really wonderful people, all of whom are at different stages with their products and businesses.

I've been using social media a lot as I've been working on Anomia and Anomia Press, so it was particularly cool to connect with FunQ Games  and Dr. Jen of Play This Way, who I had previously only encountered online.  

I also met the great people from Virtue Toys and Be Blocks, both of which were attending Toy Fair for the first time.  This was great to see, as I will very likely be in a similar position next year.

One of the most interesting things I saw was in the MakeDo booth. MakeDo is an Australian company that came up with the brilliant idea to create a set of connectors for use with recyclable materials.  Got a bunch of old boxes?  Don't recycle them(yet)!  First, make a huge robot, or an awesome fort, or a dog, or, well, anything!  With the MakeDo connectors you can build stuff with cardboard boxes, egg cartons, paper, plastic packaging. The world is your recyclable oyster!

I also got a chance to talk with a few people at both Set Enterprises and Looney Labs. This was a real treat for me as I have looked at both of these companies as models for Anomia Press.

To everyone I met in NYC, thanks so much for sharing your experiences and knowledge, I really appreciate it, and hope to be in contact with you as we all move forward with our various endeavors! And now, a few random photos from Toy Fair 2010.

I'd say Anomia Press got off to a pretty good start in the last half of 2009.

I started out in June trying to raise enough money to produce the first printing of Anomia. I hit that goal by early August and quickly switched into production mode.  By mid-November I had received the first shipment of games, and by the end of December I had sold more than 900 copies of Anomia!

I've gotten a ton of emails and Facebook posts from all sorts of people telling me how much fun they've been having shouting random things at their friends and family.  It's incredibly gratifying to get all this wonderful feedback.  Thanks again to everyone who helped me get this far!

So, what's next?

We'll for starters I'll be doing a "Meet the Inventor" night at Boing! in Jamaica Plain this Friday, January 29th at 6:30pm.  I'll be answering questions about my experience inventing and producing Anomia, and we'll be playing a few rounds as well!  Please stop by!   Boing!  667 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 http://www.boingtoys.com/

After that I am headed to Toy Fair for a few days in February to make some connections with distributors, retailers, and manufacturers, as well as some of the great industry people I have met online.

I'm also submitting Anomia to the 2010 Mensa Mind Games competition.  Being one of the 5 games selected this year would be a great break for Anomia. Fingers crossed!

In the next week Anomia will appear on Amazon.com.  I am curious to see how this impacts my sales...once it's up there I hope you will consider sharing your play experiences in a review.

Last but not least, I'll be organizing a whole bunch more play test parties to help keep spreading the word about Anomia, AND, possibly even more exciting (?) to try out some ideas I have for expansion packs/alternate versions.  If you want to be in on this, please drop me a line!

That's all for now.   Stay tuned for more updates in the near future.

Cheers
Andrew

Hey, we made the front page of the local paper! So cool!  You can read the full article online here.

Melinda Moore, from On a Limb was kind enough to interview me for her blog. You can win a copy of Anomia by commenting on the blog post. Check it out!
Thanks Melinda!

Here are a few more notes I've received via Facebook and email, from people who played Anomia over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Note, real names have been changed to the names of muppets to protect the innocent AND guilty.


"Hey there, hope you had a great turkey day with your family. I finally played Anomia for the first time time with my mom and The Swedish Chef on Thanksgiving day. We had a lot of fun! I LOVE the game! Had my mom laughing like crazy! :) Great job!"


"Played Anomia for the first time last night with Kermit and Animal (age 10). It was a blast! We played two rounds and were laughing and having a great time. Thank You!!! Awesome game."


"Hey, Anomastro. Anomia is the best. THE BEST. Bert and I played our inaugural game with my mom, dad, Gonzo and Miss Piggy. So much fun! Miss Piggy (age 15) doesn't want to wait till Christmas for me to give them theirs, so... I think the idea of saving them for Holiday gifts has failed. Might as well gift them all early. Miss Piggy advised me to save one in the plastic wrapping so that in the future, when you are famous, I could still have a pristine copy of the first edition, sell it, and make a lot of money. Good job, Anomiandrew."


"Played Anomia with three self-declared non-game-player types on Saturday. I don't know if the whiskey had anything to do with it, but it only took about 10 -15 minutes for the hysterical laughter to begin."

Ok, now things are starting to get interesting.  I managed to ship out almost of  all my pre-purchase orders and had the NY launch party this last weekend.  So, the games are finally making their way into the world.  And, now the feedback has started to roll in...I'm getting tons of Facebook posts from friends who are playing and I must say it is very gratifying to hear of all the fun and hilarity that people are havng with Anomia...see below for a bunch of quotes from my wall on Facebook

"Andrew, my kids are obsessed with Anomia. They will even walk away from their computers and turn off the Wii in favor of this game, and this morning my 12-year-old added it to his list of items to pack for Thanksgiving in NY. Nicely done!"



"Played 4 rounds with the brand new decks last night. Taught 2 new people. Much laughter and, stuttering, and madcap action was had by all. Congratulations on a magnificent game! I can't wait to play more and share this with as many of my friends as possible. "


"Andrew -- we got the games and WE LOVE THEM. We'll be playing Anomia all throughout Thanksgiving and they are at the top of the list for Christmas presents. Thank you!"


"All the teenagers who played the game at the launch party are raving about Anomia today! To quote one status "Anomia. best game ever"
Just a few things some of us discovered last night:
1. Ralph Nader is a famous tennis player
2. cook book: "Julia's Guide to Cooking"
3. Another famous Tennis Player: Chevin Gerard
4. Celebrity: Liv Ryan, Liv Ryan!!!!
5. Game Show: "The Deal is Right"
6. Famous talk show host: Sammy Davis Junior
7. Ocean: Antarctic
8. Muppet: Hermit the Frog
9. Condiment: "KETCHUP!" "That's not a condiment!"
10. Currency: "Pesos! But how do you say that in english!!" "


"Rave reviews from rural Anomia craziness! I gave my sister her copy early and she had 9 people in NH playing last night "everybody loved it and are wondering where to get the game" - I've pointed them to the site of course, but wanted to let you know! we've already got 2 game nights planned for holidaze next week;)"


"Fun! Fun fun fun! First Anomia session with my brother's family. Wound up (being us) in a heated discussion about card-flipping etiquette. I agree with the need for a children's version, and the variants sound sweet. Fantastic core mechanism. Never thought that we'd be so entertained pointing at each other and saying: "Uh...uh...uh..." Well done, I'm doing all I can to promote it. Congratulations!"


Thanks for the feedback everyone!  Keep it coming!
 

First off, I need to extend a big thank you to some of the kids who live on my street.  They were a HUGE help in getting ALL the games into the house! Thank you Naomi, Elizabeth and Benjamin, I couldn't have done it without you!

It's official, I have a tracking number!  My first order of Anomia  has left he manufacturer and is en route to Anomia Press headquarters! According to the tracking info, the games will arrive sometime tomorrow.  I suppose it's time to clear out some room in the attic!

I was shocked to see that my order weighs 2,349 pounds!  Yes, that's over 1 ton of good times coming my way, and eventually coming your way!

Been very busy this week with preparing to ship out the 500+ games I have already sold.  I must say the USPS is amazingly helpful and seem to be very excited to get the business from my small business...kudos to them.  

More as it happens!

Cheers
a