One-Page Leaflets

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I have been writing and printing one-page leaflets. Above is a template; basically you fold the page into eighths, and cut along the dotted line; then you can re-fold and staple the page into a small booklet. I learned this from DIY/indie TTRPG hobbyists, but found it very useful for its info density relative to cost in pages and ink. On average, if I use 7 out of 8 pages for actual text content, I can fit ~790 words per pamphlet or a little over 100 words per page (eighth), using a 10-pt font. It's a challenge to write complex ideas in such short spaces, especially when you assign each page to one topic, but it's also a good exercise to make sure you're writing clearly and concisely. These are more like elevator pitches than anything else.

In comparison, for digest booklets I can fit ~360 words per page using 12-pt font (since 10-pt font would feel too small for a page of that size). This means I can fit up to either 3,600 or 5,000 words per booklet depending on whether I want a total of 3 or 4 sheets, with a front and back cover. This means a digest booklet is good to cover more ground, but you use much more paper and ink to do so. Either way, you're not writing something as long as a full book. Do you want something like a book chapter that takes 10–20 minutes to read, or a conversation starter that takes just over 1 minute to read (and maybe a little longer to digest)?

Comments

  1. Lux MaximaMay 1, 2024 at 3:26 AM

    The trouble of course is that the common nerd sees a compact space as a challenge to create the most inanely elegant (read: complicated) text conceivable. So while this could be used as a conversation starter because of it's funky material appearance, actually parsing the rules could be as fun as running Monopoly. To actually be a 1 minute read the rules simplicity should match the text length, at which point you can probably memorize it? On another note, what of randomizers? Pairing this with dice seems to defeat the purpose of a small self-contained TRPG, so maybe you can flip the leaflet itself and adjudicate an outcome based on how it lands... !

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