Forum - View topicNEWS: Yen Press Delays Manga, Novel Releases Through September
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LegitPancake
 Posts: 1311 Location: Texas, USA |
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In my opinion, this would have been Yen Press' perfect opportunity to release ebooks ahead of the physical books for those that are ready, as delaying the ebook for a physical distribution problem is very inefficient (not to mention most other publishers have started doing it already and it would benefit their customers in this time of pandemic and bookstores are closed). But nope, Yen Press still refuses to do it.
Not to mention, it's obvious YP has been having a distribution problem long before coronavirus, as a majority of their titles get delayed anywhere from a week to almost six months. Them coming out and blaming it on coronavirus just seems deceptive to me. |
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Ampharos
 Posts: 197 Location: New Jersey |
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This is gonna hurt 'em big time.
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Nutaris
Posts: 11 |
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Agreed. They were having some issues with delays going back over a year so using this as a reason halt everything including ebook releases is nonsense. |
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Ashen Phoenix
 Posts: 2953 |
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Keep everyone safe and I'll buy armfuls of books come September. Yen Press will always have my support.
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DavetheUsher
 Posts: 505 |
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Most companies refuse to do that, actually. One, because it's a huuuge middle finger to retail outlets, who provide the bulk of their sales, and two, digital is a stagnant and not very big market when it comes to books and comics. So you'd basically be burning bridges to appeal to a very small market. Not a good idea. Not many people like digital books. They only make up like 8% of the market. If you forced people to adopt to digital, they'd most likely just quit or go read scans instead. |
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njprogfan
 Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1233 Location: A River Named Toms |
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I will continue to support artists any which way I can, and if that means I have to wait for the physical book, (my preferred way to read) or read online, I will do so.
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AnimeCornerStore
Accredited Retailer
 Posts: 119 Location: Winchester, VA USA |
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Quite right on both counts. Digital is not the pollyanna profit center for manga the publishers hoped it would be, and retailers are very hostile to early e-content releases because it creates a situation where the publisher becomes a competitor. We don't like that. There is a ridiculous amount of that overlap in our business already. While it's a common problem in the industry, some publishers are extraordinarily disconnected from their retail partners. I had a newer publisher call me up not too long ago and commented that they saw we carry their manga releases and asked me if there was anything they could do to help us be more successful. I said sure, this, this, this, this, and this and we can do this, this, and this to help you. He said 'um, we'll have to look into that and get back to you, but you know we distribute our books thru XX partner'. I said thanks, that's obviously where we buy them from. This particular publisher had started all digital, and seeing the low market penetration there, was trying to wade into physical. I could tell he had no clue how or what sort of retail support his partners require or might want, but he still managed to pitch a Japanese company to get some licenses to translate and offer in the US market. It reminded me of the underwear gnomes. I haven't haven't heard from them since. I think it's foolish for publishers to delay releases right now. There are plenty of channels that are still, and will remain, open during this crisis. Geppi just basically deep sixed the entire comic book business, many of those shops probably never to reopen, and the manga publishers who have a much smaller distribution network should take heed. Customers are stuck at home, and they are buying. Publishers are doing us no favors giving us less to sell to support our businesses right now. |
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Sabruness
Posts: 90 |
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All this is.... head scratching.
Even with physical print volumes, people can still order from most retailers and get stuff delivered. companies in the chain still get their money, just less people coming directly into stores for a period. It kinda feels a little like reverse panic buying. By cutting supply, they'll have people buying less and spending their money elsewhere. I know a lot of games have seen huge uptake that have even caused server issues due to increased load. |
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LegitPancake
Posts: 1311 Location: Texas, USA |
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I was talking more light novels, of which digital sales are nearly 50% or more of the market share in the west. Other publishers do do digital first for light novels, including Seven Seas and J-Novel Club even as they have wide connections with bookstores for their physical books. Yea I know manga is a niche market for digital, and that's not what I was talking about. Yen Press is most known for the light novels that they are translating, and they are rather slow compared to the other publishers, so delaying both physical and digital books (not manga) makes everyone wait even longer, as many of the light novel series they translate are not being fan translated.
Once again my statement was geared towards light novels, which are well-established for being released early-ebook. Not manga. |
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partially
Posts: 702 Location: Oz |
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I am guessing that they have been greatly affected on the creation and production side in some way they aren't telling. Otherwise it is a bit head scratching. Halting production in a time when people are reading MORE, not less. Gives me time to catch up my backlog though. I just hope this isn't a sign the company isn't as healthy as it was. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13626 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Delaying print light novels or manga is understandable. However, e-book versions? That is screwy. The amount of time/money that is saved from publishing costs by making e-book version is a lot. |
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Gamen
Posts: 256 |
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Well, so far it's not as bad as it could be... of the ten books I had on Kindle pre-order most were only pushed back a month. Two were pushed back only a week (Death March and Strike the Blood) to the end of May, and one (Goblin Slayer) was pushed back two months but only into August.
I don't buy translated comics except a few for sentimental reasons and those only in print (and not from Amazon) so I don't have info on that. I wonder if they're actually going to release the books on those dates, or whether they're trying to game the system to avoid Amazon taking pre-order privileges away like they did when Hachette rebelled... |
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