Forum - View topicAre manga sales up or down? Opinions? Looking for resources.
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truanifan678
 Posts: 73 |
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I'm trying to find out a good answer for somebody, but having trouble finding facts, articles, and information in general to back up anything. I'm pretty much going off hearsay which I don't like doing.
I thought sales were recently doing a little better. It seemed to me that thanks to digital manga (SJ Alpha, eManga, other official digital reading sites) that sales (digital & print) were doing better and that manga fans, albeit not a great increase, were buying more. Could I be under the wrong impression? Anybody have articles on the subject? What are some good sites for rummaging out an answer? I'm willing to eat my opinion that things were a bit better manga sales-wise. I'm just looking for some good resources and opinions. I found articles on comics in general, but I'm wondering about manga specifically. Not spandex heroes or other genres of American comics. Thank you to any who reply! m( _ _ )m |
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richfam
Posts: 34 Location: Lindsborg, KS |
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Check out the recent interview with Vertical Inc. marketing manager Ed Chavez here:
animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2012-09-28 You won't get any hard numbers, of course, but there is some straight talk about the current market for manga. There have been other ANNCasts devoted to manga and/or manga industry insiders that might also be worth checking out: animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/ |
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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I can't listen to a podcast right now, but has Verticle indicated they might be offering digital content any time in the near future?
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lys
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 1017 Location: mitten-state |
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There's this, though it only focuses on the first couple months(?) of this year, and on comic shop sales, to the exclusion of bookstores/digital. Here's a more recent article about sales from ICv2...
Comic Book Resources has pretty interesting, in-depth reports of comic and manga sales annually: this article has the most recent report (from Feb 2012, covering sales for 2011) and links to past years. We'll have to wait a couple months to see 2012's sales, though. ANN has news articles for some weekly/monthly? booksales rankings based on BookScan's figures (rather than the seemingly arbitrary NYTimes bestsellers...). But I assume (maybe wrongly) that digital sales aren't included. Really, I have no idea who might be counting/collecting those figures from various publishers. Hope some of that helps a little! |
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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I'm working on an annual industry analysis (started on Friday which I announced on my personal twitter feed), which I have done for the last three years. Should have all the data compiled and scrutinized by the end of the year. #2
It's for business use but I can do generalizations...eventually. Poke me if you want to follow up.
Also, does ANN post bookscan info? I thought it was only NYTimes "rankings". Generally people get in trouble for sharing BookScan info. I was told by Nielsen to take that down and thus I shut down my personal blog three years ago. Publishers Weekly tried for a few weeks and then removed them. Also in the manga world, while BookScan provides around 55% of sales, it doesn't include Diamond sales (20-35%) or International Canadian (5-20%) and library sales (2-5%). Definitely doesn't include digital sales (2-10%). #1 (#1 differences in %'s is based on the publisher.) (#2 Drawn & Quarterly is not included as they are a Canadian firm and a huge chunk of their sales might be domestic in Canada.) Oh by the way... DISCLOSURE: Vertical has been up 30% from this time last year based on our 2013 and 2012 fiscal years (Fiscal '13 began July 2012). Last edited by Vertical_Ed on Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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Many of our novels are being converted right now to digital. Koji Suzuki's EDGE will have its eBook go on sale next week. (apple, kindle, nook, kobo, sony...) Tezuka Pro already has all of our Tezuka translations on their Tezuka Magazine app for Apple and Android. We will have some more of our manga online next year. Twin Spica, 7 Billion Needles and more will debut hopefully in the Spring. We are trying to clear things with eBook services as our books are generally adult so some vendors - apple and amazon - have had double-standards regarding nudity and sexuality. |
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誤称
Posts: 549 |
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Hey Ed, as a LN fan I'm always interested in hearing news about novels! Are the sales for these mirroring the manga numbers? Should I be holding out hope that more novels make it over the ocean any time soon?
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Vertical_Ed
Company Representative
Posts: 278 Location: New York, NY |
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Could you extrapolate? LN numbers for Vertical? Or LN numbers in general? And mirroring manga how? LN numbers were always small and they continue to be small. So what exactly do you want to know? Personally, I'd expect a few LN series ever so often. But until there is a paradigm shift, specifically in translation fees (the most expensive factor in LN production), I don't see an LN boom ever occurring. (note: it costs 5X to 10X, depending on the publisher, to translate a novel relative to translating a manga also takes 2X to 4X time to edit.) |
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truanifan678
Posts: 73 |
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You're responses are always so detailed. It's perfect! I didn't know Diamond had 20-35% of manga sales. Whenever I go to a local comic shop or call one they always seem so put-offish about manga. Almost like manga's a heresy against comics. In the comic book realm I only know about local shops and maybe one or or two online comic stores. Question open to all: Does manga sell better through the internet? Are the popularity of manga sales through "brick and mortar" stores also regional?
It's good to hear you guys are doing well! I like how Vertical releases all kinds of books and not just manga or just novels. Out of curiosity, and forgive me if I'm getting to nosy, but what type of book sells better for Vertical? I know Vertical releases all kinds of books— cooks books, manga, novels, etc. What gets more attention? Is it the same as what sells better? @richfam Thanks for the link tot he podcast! @Lys Thanks for the links to the articles I'll have to watch ICv2 for more information. |
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Mr Adventure
Posts: 1598 |
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Interesting. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm not really a fan of subscription based access, or being required to be online to read. But it's good to know its available.
This bugs me to no end. Comixology regularly releases US comic content that is violent, sexually changed, and some nudity. But the manga distributors are left flapping in the wind. Apple needs to get its head out of its... You know. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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That sucks. One of the local comic book shops in Ottawa had enough success with manga and anime that they opened a whole separate store for it! Of course, being Canadian and Diamond means that these figures are doubly unavailable  But I would at least say from experience that the manga sections seem to be remaining at the same size they were before, so the Canadian sales are still probably at least where they were last year. Pretty sure Comics/Graphic Novel sections are actually getting bigger.
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誤称
Posts: 549 |
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Thanks, you answered my inadequately clear question perfectly. Sorry about that, it was late at night! 
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phia_one
Posts: 1661 Location: Pennsylvania |
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I'm wondering this myself. Ever since I discovered Rightstuf, I haven't bought manga from a regular store for at least five years or so. I save money using Rightsuf (usually $2-$5 per book depending on the publisher), not to mention that the manga selection at the few Barnes and Noble stores near me are pretty lacking. Sorry that this really isn't an answer to your question. 
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lys
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 1017 Location: mitten-state |
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Searching ANN for "BookScan" brings up a handful of articles. The first one I clicked (from this past May) did have actual numbers... but others, like the most recent one posted today, simply give a summary of where manga volumes ranked in the top 20. My thanks too, Ed, for always being around to enlighten us about these mysteries of publishing :) |
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truanifan678
Posts: 73 |
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Online stores also get all my business. I haven't bought a book from a bookstore in forever. Of course my biggest reason is unrelated to great deals and sales and I shouldn't get into them (it gets lengthy), but RighStuf's sales are something to be amazed at. They get 90% of my manga and anime business. ;) |
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