News
Manga Anthology Sales Slumping in Japan
posted on by Garry Berryhill
Japan Times has reported on the slow contraction of manga anthology sales in their home country.
No publisher is immune from the recent downturn in sales. Even household names like Shonen Jump have felt the crunch, as SJ's sales slid from over 6 million copies per issue in the mid 90's to their current 3.2 million.
In the last year, sales declined 3.1%. This is the seventh consecutive year of sales decline, and there appears to be no end in sight.
Even as the anthologies suffer, tankobon collections of titles are holding steady. A slight gain in sales last year shows a growing movement of readers who bypass the weekly or monthly installments of titles in anthologies to purchase the tankobon of their favorite series.
Also giving publishers alarm is the Book-Off chain of bookstores, which allows for customers to sell back used books, which are then sold for deep discounts. Business practices in Japan keep retailers from providing discounts on new material, making this new chain hard to fight.
In the last year, sales declined 3.1%. This is the seventh consecutive year of sales decline, and there appears to be no end in sight.
Even as the anthologies suffer, tankobon collections of titles are holding steady. A slight gain in sales last year shows a growing movement of readers who bypass the weekly or monthly installments of titles in anthologies to purchase the tankobon of their favorite series.
Also giving publishers alarm is the Book-Off chain of bookstores, which allows for customers to sell back used books, which are then sold for deep discounts. Business practices in Japan keep retailers from providing discounts on new material, making this new chain hard to fight.
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