Rivkah, author of Steady Beat, published by Tokyopop, comments on their recent announcement of changes. Honestly, I’m happy this happened. I was expecting bankruptcy by November 2007. Instead, for perhaps the first time ever, Tokyopop has made the right move by cutting back on how much spagetti they throw at the wall to see what sticks. I don’t doubt the turmoil will take several months to settle down and many of us creators will be cut, but from a business […]

Josei manga is manga aimed at women, a female audience older than the girls who read shojo. And women are always the last group targeted in comics. (It usually goes young men -> older men -> kids (boys and girls) -> women. Some of the core male audience stays with it as they age, and then everyone starts worrying about where new young readers will come from. Targeting the adult female is an afterthought, but when that happens, it indicates […]

I was dismayed when I noticed in the latest Previews that Steady Beat Book 3 was listed as “cancelled by publisher”, because I have very much enjoyed the previous volumes. Then I saw that the author was having discussions with her publisher over whether the series should end with book 3 (Tokyopop’s choice) or 4 (her preference). Uh oh. (That thread also has some interesting lessons about art as a profession and speculation about the publisher’s decision-making.) So I emailed […]