Following up on yesterday’s reactions to Tokyopop’s online exclusives, here are two more and some further thoughts of mine. Dorian goes into more detail on why retailers make decisions to carry the manga they do and how this might start a declining spiral for the company: [Tokyopop has] always been a bit of a nuisance to deal with, from an ordering and budgeting angle. They put out too much at once, their section in Previews is a mess, and now […]

I was going to post a pointer to the ICV2 interview with Tokyopop about why they’re now selling certain series online only, but I left to get dinner and the blogverse sprung into action without me! Christopher Butcher (link no longer available) tosses off a quick burst of anger over Dragon Head being pulled from retail stores, promising more commentary to come. Dave Lartigue (link no longer available) expresses his displeasure to Tokyopop, pointing out Moving to web-exclusive removes this […]

Retailers will love this… as announced at the Tokyopop Otakon panel: Tokyopop will be moving several of its manga to online exclusives, which can only be ordered from Tokyopop.com. Currently scheduled titles for this exclusivity are Atomic King Daibogan, Neck and Neck (starting with volume 6), and The One. I’d love to hear more about what prompted this decision… That’s the final volume of Neck and Neck, and One completes with book 11, while book 10 is listed for order. […]

HarperCollins put out a press release today announcing that they would be handling Tokyopop’s bookstore sales and distribution as well as co-publishing adaptations of best-selling young adult novels. HarperCollins Publishers and TOKYOPOP today announced the companies will join forces in a unique co-publishing agreement to create a progressive new line of co-branded manga titles. The program will include several projects from bestselling author Meg Cabot, whose HarperCollins novels have sold more than six million copies to date. In addition, HarperCollins […]

As a followup on the rumors surrounding recent Tokyopop layoffs, Heidi MacDonald (link no longer available) posted word from their editorial director: We have not told any OEL creators to stop working on their projects as a result of Aaron’s departure. The projects that Aaron was supervising are being reassigned immediately to other TOKYOPOP editors who will provide continuity. Meanwhile, Lyle at Crocodile Caucus (link no longer available) has thoughts on OEL production schedules and marketing. The OEL titles are […]

You’ve probably already heard that Tokyopop laid off six? eight? people at the end of last week. (Reports conflict on the total.) Heidi pointed to a Publishers Weekly piece, which focused on the departure of the vice-president in charge of sales and marketing due to different forecasts on the future of the manga business. Mike Kiley, the editor-in-chief, was quoted as wanting to make changes to stay profitable in a maturing, more competitive market. An editor was also let go. […]