×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
New York Comic Con - State of the Manga Industry Panel




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:35 am Reply with quote
Good read, albeit there's not a lot within the article that hasn't been brought up before.

Just a couple typos: "develo" at the end of parapraph 1, and "audieences" at the end of line 1 paragraph 10.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2333
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:47 pm Reply with quote
A Waldenbooks store separated their books a bit similarly; books for older patrons were on top while the younger patrons got the bottom. However, the line separating them was always a little thin. Not to mention, the store's been shut down.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Richard J.



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:56 pm Reply with quote
I'm not surprised the biggest problem with titles for younger kids is the overly sensitive nature of ratings here. Personally, I wish the manga publishers would just throw caution to the wind and publish the titles with the same basic age rating here as they are in Japan. If anyone starts some controversy, it'll probably do more to raise sales than hurt them. (Remember all the anti-Pokemon and Harry Potter stuff? Didn't do a thing but make the series that much more well-known.)

Nice to see that the publishers are recognizing the need for series for older fans too though. Hook them while their young, keep them supplied for life! (And it wouldn't hurt to have something mom and dad might take notice of right?)

More should be done like Tokyopop did with Loveless. Online previews boost sales when they're limited special events like that. It's like running a contest, it makes people think "I've only got a limited time to do it so I'd better do it fast!"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Paploo



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 1875
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:07 pm Reply with quote
Tokyopop's All-Ages line of Original graphic novels [Cat&Mouse seems to be the most successful one] is pretty nice though small- and VIZ's Pokemon comics have come back under a good all-ages imprint as well...... it seems like the best idea is to continue to import series that are mild enough for kids, and continue to create original works more suited to the North American market.

Scholastic's gotten into graphic novels a lot lately with their own excellent line of graphic novels, such as the Baby Sitters Club, and the colour version of Bone which has been doing numbers that probably equal those of VIZ and TP's best selling series. There's also their Book Club which accounts for a lot of sales- Queenie Chan's the Dreaming had a scholastic exclusive reprint that was around 40000 copies- they've also done Book Club versions of Peach Fuzz, +Anima and other titles. Though getting the really young readers is a bit more of a challenge
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
redhandgrunt



Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Posts: 22
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:08 pm Reply with quote
My only problem with Del Ray is they're a little more expensive. They do good work and I like how they have editors notes explaining some of the changes they made from the original.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:09 am Reply with quote
Richard J. wrote:
I'm not surprised the biggest problem with titles for younger kids is the overly sensitive nature of ratings here. Personally, I wish the manga publishers would just throw caution to the wind and publish the titles with the same basic age rating here as they are in Japan. If anyone starts some controversy, it'll probably do more to raise sales than hurt them. (Remember all the anti-Pokemon and Harry Potter stuff? Didn't do a thing but make the series that much more well-known.)

Or it could backfire................. to bookshops' expense.

If there's bad controversy, people could avoid buying it in bookshops, boycott the bookshops that sell it then the shops can't pay rent, or even do physical damage at the bookshops, etc. That's why bookshops can't just throw caution to the wind: they have more to lose than just books or sales - they could lose the physical shop itself. Why sacrifice the whole bookshop at the expense of a few controversial products compared to, say, 95+% that won't destroy it?

So don't forget about the middlemen in these equations.** It's not just about the producers and the consumers - something has to bridge the product. The middlemen's opinions matter too, whether they'll support and stock your product in the first place, and then only if the potential return of investment much more outweighs the risk, like with Harry Potter (million$ of books vs religious nuts).

(** Of course, unless it's limited to direct online sales.)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group