How does Del Rey Manga differ from other publishers? By being a class act, according to PW Comics Week.
Consider their treatment of two upcoming releases, Basilisk and Suzuka. These are mature titles, not kid stuff, and Del Rey plans to avoid problems by, quite simply, treating them differently than its other manga. The books will be bigger and more expensive ($13.95), and they will be shrinkwrapped. Manga editor Dallas Middaugh explains:
“We want to make it clear that these books are not one of our standard [teen] books. An increase in trim size makes it obvious.” He also said shrinkwrapping the titles, despite the risk of hurting sales, is necessary. “These books are for older teens. They should not be in the hands of a 12-year-old. We want to provide a way for retailers to sell books responsibly.”
Absolutely. That is exactly the right way to handle mature titles. Don’t, for God’s sake, make them look like kid books and shelve them next to Hikaru no Go. That just pisses off the parents and confuses your target market. Adults can afford to pay a bit more for (presumably) higher quality, and the bigger pages might actually make for an easier read for those of us north of forty, not that the publisher would ever admit that. This makes much more sense than bowdlerizing *cough*TenTen*cough* books that are clearly written for mature audiences.
(Optional but interesting reading: Rivkah’s discussion, and the comments that follow, on shelving manga in bookstores.)
Del Rey’s production values also seem to be a bit higher. There are different models for selling manga, and while I certainly enjoy Viz’s pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap approach, I think there’s a solid market for good quality manga, well produced. I see Del Rey and Go!Comi aligning themselves to serve those readers, and it makes me happy.
And, unlike Viz, Del Rey has a decent website, with a search engine that can actually find a title.
BONUS OMAKE BLOG ADDENDUM: My husband put me on to a bit of interesting Del Rey history. Del Rey is a Random House imprint that was started by Lester del Rey and his fourth wife, Judy-Lynn, at Ballantine Books in 1975. Lester started out writing sci-fi for pulp magazines in the “golden age” of the 1930s and 40s, then went on to edit pulps himself, while still churning out books with titles like “Rocket from Infinity” and “The Runaway Robot.” He also wrote a slew of children’s and YA novels under various pseudonyms. In the mid-70s Ballantine hired Judy-Lynn (who was a big sci-fi fan and con attendee) to revitalize their sci-fi line, and she brought Lester in as an editor. Their books did so well that Ballantine gave the Del Reys their own imprint. So with a lineage like that, you’d expect Del Rey Manga to do well.
Hmm. Del Rey is already more expensive than Tokyopop and Viz. I buy enough manga that having to pay another $3+ for a mature Del Rey title on top of that would probably mean that I wouldn’t buy it. I’m in Canada and a title like Tsubasa is already $16.95 in a bookstore (but slightly less in the comic stores). I like the titles they pick, I just think they charge too much. :)