In the not so great news column, our printing quotes have jumped nearly 10%. I hate to say it, but now I’ll really have to consider printing overseas… augh. Printing is cheaper elsewhere, but I’ve always tried very hard to keep things at least in North America, but this doesn’t make it easy. Anyway, I guess this is a good time to address one issue we’ve been roundly criticised on, and rightly so… our price point.
$20 a book when the rest of the manga publishing world is selling them at $10? Yeah, it doesn’t look great on the surface. But the reality is, when we sell our books to distributors, we get only 40% of cover price. And once we figure in the printing cost, production, freight, and licensing/royalties fees… we’re making less than $2.00 on each book, when and if it sells out. And you wonder why there aren’t more ero manga publishers around.
A whopping 2 quids from books that are sold at 10 times that at retail… incredible, isn’t it? The main reason our margins are so abysmal is that we don’t enjoy the economies of scale the bigger publishers have… this is a reality all independent and niche publishers face. Secondly, our artists and Japanese licensors are our number one priorities; we offer terms above and beyond industry average. We even pay licensing fees before we receive a single page of manuscript. (Our freelance translator and other part time employees are next on our list of financial responsibilities. Me, I’m the last one to get paid, booo!)
Sure, if we lowered our cover prices to $10 or even $15, we’d have higher sales. But would the jump be enough to offset the lower pricing? Probably not. We aren’t carried by most comic shops, and you’ll never find our books on the shelves of chains. There are people who say that porn doesn’t need stores, because everything’s sold over the internet… but that’s just not true. Having a retail presence is still a very important ingredient for success for any book, and our sales potential is severely limited by the amount of exposure we get in the market.
I hope no one takes this as bellyaching… all things considered, we do fairly well. And the retailers who do carry our books, while few, are adamant in their support, and I’m very grateful for that. But I just wanted to touch upon this a bit because I feel it’s rather timely… Christmas shopping season has begun, and everyone’s looking for the best deals and cheapest prices. That’s all fine and good… bargain hunting is truly the greatest American pasttime… but don’t let that be your only guide. Prices may be great online, but do take time to visit a local retailer too… the people who own that store may be your neighbors. A hand-crafted toy may be a few dollars more expensive, but there is a real person, a real face behind it that you may one day meet. And sometimes, a quality product demands a fair premium. I certainly feel our books are worth their cover price… if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be publishing.
(BTW, did you know that, for the price of an Xbox 360, you can get every single issue of Comic AG and trade paperback on our website instead? Dare to be original, dare to be different… instead of electronics, give the gift of porn!)
+++
I don’t post about porn films here because, like General Madarame, I don’t own any live action porn (cue Twilight Zone music.) It’s just not my scene… but it is Robin Bougie’s. So much so that he publishes a comic/magazine called Cinema Sewer that despite being professionally published still captures all the qualities of the very best zines; it’s honest, witty, and filled with personal stories and raunchy anecdotes that are often more interesting than the actual movies he passionately covers. And now the artist, writer, and reviewer may soon add the title of porn film auteur to his resume list… Cinema Sewer is currently filming “The Cumming of Jizzus”, and you can read its production blog here. If not the single most brilliant porn concept ever in the history of man, it sure beats another generic pizza delivery boy cum lonely babysitter skin flick.
+++
I don’t know why I didn’t notice this before, but Akiba Angels, the moe culture website, has been looking for translators to work on games. Does this mean we’ll soon have another English eroge publisher? Which publisher will they be working with (there’s also the possibility they will be bringing out titles from independent/doujin studios)?
They’re also looking for voice actresses. If the quality of dubs for porn anime is any indication, I’ll have to answer that with a resounding NOOOOOO!
Akcoll99 points out a thread (thanks!) on Anime On DVD in which Seven Seas head editor Adam Arnold reveals that the name change to Nymphet was done at the request of the author. Perhaps a bit too obvious, but given what I’ve seen and read about the comic so far, it’s very fitting. (This kind of “lolita” character is quite common in humor manga, actually… much of which surrounds the awkwardness felt by those around the girl who is at the cusp of sexual awakening; becoming aware of her appeal, yet without full understanding or appreciation of it. As far as these kinds of manga go, age is really quite arbitrary.)
Recent Comments