You've written your magnum opus, the piece of interactive fiction you always wanted to create. Congratulations!

So...now what?

Now you distribute your game and tell people about it, that's what.

Granted, "distribute your game" can cover a lot of ground. How much work you put into doing so is up to you. Some of my games I've merely uploaded to the IF Archive and then announced their existence on rec.games.int-fiction. With others, I've gone all-out and made announcements in several places and uploads in several others.

But let's start with what should be your first step, regardless: upload your game to the IF Archive, the world's foremost repository of interactive fiction.

The IF Archive is an FTP site, so you'll need an FTP client. If you don't have one, or aren't sure what I mean by FTP, read the beginner's guide to FTP at FTPPlanet. Once you've done that, download and install an FTP client for your operating system.

Once you have a working FTP client, point it at ftp://ftp.ifarchive.org/incoming, the directory where uploads to the IF Archive go. Be sure to upload your game in binary mode! When you're done uploading your game, you'll need to send mail to David Kinder and me telling us the names of the files you uploaded and what they are.

A word about the files you upload. If you're using a language which creates platform-independent files, such as TADS or Inform, consider also creating and uploading Windows- and Mac-specific versions of your games, especially if you're planning on adding your game to other software archives. If you mainly intend for your game to be played by more knowledgeable players, though, you don't need to bother.

Once you have uploaded your game, you're ready to announce its existence to the world. Do so on the Usenet newsgroup rec.games.int-fiction. It is usual to put "[Announce]" at the beginning of your message's subject line. Also mention that your game will shortly be available from the IF Archive in the /ifarchive/unprocessed/ directory, and what directory it will be moved to, if you know.

In your announcement, give some detail about your game. If you want, you can talk about the game's genre, or theme, or merely give some of the opening text. You want to get people interested in it, but don't over- or undersell it in doing so. "This is the best game ever!" is not likely to be taken well; neither is "This is my first game I hope it's okay and you like it."

As an example, here's the announcement I made for Common Ground, edited slightly.