Yaoi Press will be unveiling a new product that will appeal to Yuri fans at Otakon. We are at booths 217-219.
I would like to be less cryptic about this, however I need to have a photo of the item in order to do a proper press release. The items are being delivered directly to our Virginia staff right before the show. I won't have the chance to get a photo until after Otakon.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Google Book Search Significant Sales Driver
On Rocket Bomber there's a weekly list ranking sales for the top 500 manga. I trust this ranking to be accurate despite knowing nothing about the author because: A. verifying the accuracy is impossible due to my limited time, and B. assuming that it's accurate grants me a free database of useful information.
Yaoi Press usually has at least one title in the top 500. This week Yaoi Hentai Vol. 2 is #380, down from 349 last week.
I didn't understand why a title published over two years ago had consistently higher online sales than all our newer titles. It's true that the words 'Yaoi' and more importantly 'Hentai' are in the title, thereby making the series pop up on numerous searches, however, why doesn't this drive sales of Yaoi Hentai 3, or 1, or 4?
I've traced the answer to Google Book Search. If you search for the word 'hentai,' Yaoi Hentai 2 is the first title that comes up. I had an old assistant of mine get Yaoi Press in this program around the end of 2006. All our titles printed prior to November 2006 are in the program. I looked at this week's report from Google:
Top Books (2008-07-13 ~ 2008-07-19)
Top 5 Books by Book View Book Visits
Winter Demon Volume 1 24
Yaoi Hentai Volume 2 225
Stallion 17
Saihoshi The Guardian 11
Desire of the Gods 7
When you view a Yaoi Press title through their system you're given three links to buy the book. The first is Yaoi Press, then Amazon.com, then Barnes&Noble.com.
I've had the rest of our titles sent to Google for inclusion. It's nice to see a program that was free to participate in driving online sales. It's also nice to see that having the word 'hentai' in a book title is finally paying the search engine dividends I had hoped for when the series was first named. Perhaps instead of 'Happy Yaoi Yum Yum,' our new hentai series should have been called 'iPhone TMZ Viagra.'
Yaoi Press usually has at least one title in the top 500. This week Yaoi Hentai Vol. 2 is #380, down from 349 last week.
I didn't understand why a title published over two years ago had consistently higher online sales than all our newer titles. It's true that the words 'Yaoi' and more importantly 'Hentai' are in the title, thereby making the series pop up on numerous searches, however, why doesn't this drive sales of Yaoi Hentai 3, or 1, or 4?
I've traced the answer to Google Book Search. If you search for the word 'hentai,' Yaoi Hentai 2 is the first title that comes up. I had an old assistant of mine get Yaoi Press in this program around the end of 2006. All our titles printed prior to November 2006 are in the program. I looked at this week's report from Google:
Top Books (2008-07-13 ~ 2008-07-19)
Top 5 Books by Book View Book Visits
Winter Demon Volume 1 24
Yaoi Hentai Volume 2 225
Stallion 17
Saihoshi The Guardian 11
Desire of the Gods 7
When you view a Yaoi Press title through their system you're given three links to buy the book. The first is Yaoi Press, then Amazon.com, then Barnes&Noble.com.
I've had the rest of our titles sent to Google for inclusion. It's nice to see a program that was free to participate in driving online sales. It's also nice to see that having the word 'hentai' in a book title is finally paying the search engine dividends I had hoped for when the series was first named. Perhaps instead of 'Happy Yaoi Yum Yum,' our new hentai series should have been called 'iPhone TMZ Viagra.'
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Youka Nitta - Too Severely Punished
Youka Nitta traced photographs from magazines to incorporate in her manga works. This crime caused a disaster for her publisher. They presumably had to pull her works from stores, said works being phone-book manga filled with the manga of other creators, and scramble to replace her slot in future anthologies. They were left open to severe legal action from the plagiarized magazines.
There is no doubt that Nitta-sensei deserves some of the heartache she's now going through. This was a costly crime that warrants more than a slap on the wrist.
By no stretch of the imagination does Nitta-sensei deserve to have her career ended over this incident.
First, from a strict monetary point of view, a talent like her has made more money for her publisher than this incident has or will cost them, and her future works would continue to make money for them regardless of this incident.
Second, no matter how much American and Japanese fans love a juicy controversy, no matter their passion in witnessing her shame, they will continue to buy her works. Nitta-sensei is one of the best BL mangaka working today. Her art work is phenomenal. Her storytelling breaks the mold of so many cookie-cutter BL manga being translated from Japan. She didn't say she was bigger than Jesus. No fan is making a bonfire out of her books.
I don't know if it was her publisher who pushed her into ending her career, or if she performed career seppuku out of her own sense of guilt, but it shouldn't matter. Fans should endeavor to make her feel just as guilty for abandoning them. The response I'm seeing more than any other is disappointment over the fact we won't see anymore Embracing Love. The series was available for relicense as of a certain date, and may have already been licensed by the same company who licensed Finder Series. We were going to have our crown jewels of yaoi readily available once again. We've been robbed not due to Nitta-sensei's crime, but her drastic decision following it.
An apology was warranted. A temporary withdrawal from the business was warranted. Permanently ending the career of such a shining star is far too great a punishment. From this publisher's perspective Nitta-sensei should have withdrawn for a certain period of time, then returned with a new project preambled with her continued apology over her past crime, and a desire to make a fresh start. Her current publisher should give her a second chance, if they haven't already offered her one. She can make financial amends to them by virtue of her talent.
I may be naive with regards to Japanese culture. What I'm suggesting may be impossible. I hope this isn't the case. However, I know such a talented woman with such a large following can always find a publisher for her work.
There is no doubt that Nitta-sensei deserves some of the heartache she's now going through. This was a costly crime that warrants more than a slap on the wrist.
By no stretch of the imagination does Nitta-sensei deserve to have her career ended over this incident.
First, from a strict monetary point of view, a talent like her has made more money for her publisher than this incident has or will cost them, and her future works would continue to make money for them regardless of this incident.
Second, no matter how much American and Japanese fans love a juicy controversy, no matter their passion in witnessing her shame, they will continue to buy her works. Nitta-sensei is one of the best BL mangaka working today. Her art work is phenomenal. Her storytelling breaks the mold of so many cookie-cutter BL manga being translated from Japan. She didn't say she was bigger than Jesus. No fan is making a bonfire out of her books.
I don't know if it was her publisher who pushed her into ending her career, or if she performed career seppuku out of her own sense of guilt, but it shouldn't matter. Fans should endeavor to make her feel just as guilty for abandoning them. The response I'm seeing more than any other is disappointment over the fact we won't see anymore Embracing Love. The series was available for relicense as of a certain date, and may have already been licensed by the same company who licensed Finder Series. We were going to have our crown jewels of yaoi readily available once again. We've been robbed not due to Nitta-sensei's crime, but her drastic decision following it.
An apology was warranted. A temporary withdrawal from the business was warranted. Permanently ending the career of such a shining star is far too great a punishment. From this publisher's perspective Nitta-sensei should have withdrawn for a certain period of time, then returned with a new project preambled with her continued apology over her past crime, and a desire to make a fresh start. Her current publisher should give her a second chance, if they haven't already offered her one. She can make financial amends to them by virtue of her talent.
I may be naive with regards to Japanese culture. What I'm suggesting may be impossible. I hope this isn't the case. However, I know such a talented woman with such a large following can always find a publisher for her work.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Bits and Blogs
Here are some recent reviews of Yaoi Press Books:
http://www.kuri-ousity.com/?p=415
http://www.kuri-ousity.com/?p=424
http://www.comicbitsonline.com/
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Girls Want Flowers, Boys Want Swords
There are several bloggers lamenting the lack of sophistication of manga buyers in the USA. We're not seeing sales outside of the Shounen and Shoujo genres, which are two areas readers eventually grow out of.
Of course, with BL I find readers from jr. high to retirement homes. The eroticism satisfies a drive that doesn't dissipate all that much with age. That said, how many 30 year olds continue reading works like Card Captor Sakura? The thought is that older readers leave manga for other forms of entertainment, never discovering the thought-provoking works that would satisfy their intellectual growth.
I see something happening here that I've noticed before. Younger people are being attracted to the gender-specific manga and anime 'candy' because this candy is no longer available in other mediums.
It stems from the change in North American children cartoons. They've stopped targeting a specific gender for their audience. Shows like 'Strawberry Shortcake' got replaced by 'Fairly Odd Parents,' 'GI Joe' got bumped for 'Courage the Cowardly Dog.'
I'm convinced this shift has the goal of preventing children from being pigeon-holed into societal roles that might stifle them. Boys shouldn't have to be macho, and girls shouldn't have to be dainty, etc. This is well-meaning enough, but the fact is: Girls want flowers, and boys want swords.
The cartoons from Canada and the US weren't meeting their needs. Japanese anime was. The cartoons for girls are flowery and poofy enough to make any modern child psychologist block them from the TV set. The boy shows are a bit less macho than the ones from my generation, but still has the hero(s) kicking ass and taking names.
Anime that separated the genders is indeed the gateway to manga. I believe the North American manga boom correlates with the 'gender-neutral' cartoon trend. Although I did read the Ranma floppies from Viz when I was a girl, it wasn't because my girly needs weren't already being met by cartoons like Jem and Rainbow Brite. (Ranma and Donna Barr's 'Desert Peach' comic was the closest thing to yaoi I could find in the 1980s, actually).
This doesn't change the pessimistic outlook for future manga. I just feel it should be noted. If it weren't for the shounen and shoujo candy consumers there wouldn't be any manga-boom at all. Also, so long as our cartoon makers keep with their current agenda there will always be a need for gender-specific fiction. The decline in sales will be seen in the stagnating population growth. Fewer new kids to replace the ones that grow out of the stuff, but still--an audience.
Of course, with BL I find readers from jr. high to retirement homes. The eroticism satisfies a drive that doesn't dissipate all that much with age. That said, how many 30 year olds continue reading works like Card Captor Sakura? The thought is that older readers leave manga for other forms of entertainment, never discovering the thought-provoking works that would satisfy their intellectual growth.
I see something happening here that I've noticed before. Younger people are being attracted to the gender-specific manga and anime 'candy' because this candy is no longer available in other mediums.
It stems from the change in North American children cartoons. They've stopped targeting a specific gender for their audience. Shows like 'Strawberry Shortcake' got replaced by 'Fairly Odd Parents,' 'GI Joe' got bumped for 'Courage the Cowardly Dog.'
I'm convinced this shift has the goal of preventing children from being pigeon-holed into societal roles that might stifle them. Boys shouldn't have to be macho, and girls shouldn't have to be dainty, etc. This is well-meaning enough, but the fact is: Girls want flowers, and boys want swords.
The cartoons from Canada and the US weren't meeting their needs. Japanese anime was. The cartoons for girls are flowery and poofy enough to make any modern child psychologist block them from the TV set. The boy shows are a bit less macho than the ones from my generation, but still has the hero(s) kicking ass and taking names.
Anime that separated the genders is indeed the gateway to manga. I believe the North American manga boom correlates with the 'gender-neutral' cartoon trend. Although I did read the Ranma floppies from Viz when I was a girl, it wasn't because my girly needs weren't already being met by cartoons like Jem and Rainbow Brite. (Ranma and Donna Barr's 'Desert Peach' comic was the closest thing to yaoi I could find in the 1980s, actually).
This doesn't change the pessimistic outlook for future manga. I just feel it should be noted. If it weren't for the shounen and shoujo candy consumers there wouldn't be any manga-boom at all. Also, so long as our cartoon makers keep with their current agenda there will always be a need for gender-specific fiction. The decline in sales will be seen in the stagnating population growth. Fewer new kids to replace the ones that grow out of the stuff, but still--an audience.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Winter Demon Cosplayers at AX
Barbara and Claudia of Le Peruggine have been in the USA for a week and a half doing a convention tour with me. They're the artists of Yaoi Press' Winter Demon series and the creators of Cain. I told them Winter Demon had a large following here. They met fans one after the other throughout Yaoi Jamboree and Anime Expo (including some from Germany). Then, at Anime Expo, these two walked up:
That was so fantastic for us.
That was so fantastic for us.
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