Digital Manga recently announced through press release that its yaoi-publishing imprint, June Manga, that it would be releasing some of its yaoi titles for early print if they reached a payment window. This prerelease of soon-to-be-released June books could happen as much as a quarter (4 months) earlier than expected. Johanna at Comics Worth Reading wondered if Paypal is going to be a dealbreaker for the publisher’s book printing, but I have a few thoughts to the contrary.
Doujinshi (fan written manga) written here in the USA is often printed using the exact same methods that DMP has recently decided to act upon, and many other forms of publication do the same. Normally, this is due to a lack of funds to be able to pay the printer to print and bind your comic, role playing manual, or other written work. It’s a bit of a trust game here, because fans of the genre must be willing to advance their money now for a potential payoff that will occur later down the road. On the plus side, it looks as though DMP is going to charge less for the presold books than what you would spend at a regular bookstore.
Paypal shouldn’t be a problem for the publisher, because of the slippery words of the presale agreement. Content that could be bagged under the fund-transferring site’s terms of service (ie pornographic materials) is being sold by DMP, so unless they are careful, they could have those funds frozen. However, I think that with the current wording of the web-a-thon’s sales agreement DMP should be just fine.
Presales initially seem like the company may be weak, but in actuality, I am convinced that DMP is doing something very unique that also happens to be a strong business move. Yaoi is microniche, and by using a prepay web-a-thon, DMP can do something with the information they garner with their presales – what fans want, and what they’re willing to pay for. It comes as no surprise that DMP is looking for better ways to market and make money on their microniche titles. By liscensing and publishing manga that people are dedicated enough to purchase in advance, the June imprint can save money while looking like “the publisher that listens to fans.”
Fanhood is a very interesting thing. Fans are more often than not willing to support industry that takes the time to listen to their wants and needs and respond in a positive manner. DMP has seemed to have realized this, and is taking steps to get a better gauge on what its customers want.
Now, the whole program could flop, and it may take some time before DMP starts to understand the trends and responds accordingly. It also takes a long time for customers to get their material, although if a book doesn’t hit the total dollar value before its time is up, those who preordered will still get the manga a bit early. However, what some people seem to think is a gamble looks more like a solid business venture to me. Time will tell if it works out for DMP.
