Oh, the mysteries of the Diamond Shipping List. To read it, it seems like there’s not much reason for me to rush off to the comic shop. (And to look at the Amazon links on the NCRL site, I’m shocked to discover that the list isn’t work-safe. “Doctor, I’m Too Big”? Mercy.) But checking the handy list of what’s showing up locally sent out via e-mail by the shop I use, I see that it’s actually a heavy-ish week for me.
Those Digital Manga books that were delayed until December? Some of them are here, including the second volume of Antique Bakery and the first of Dost Thou Know, the yaoi title about (snicker) swordsmen. (No, I’ll never stop giggling over that, because I’m eight years old.)
While looking for the press release on the delay, I notice that DMP has licensed its first yuri title, Mikiyo Tsuda’s Day of Revolution.
The strange West Virginia time warp will result in the arrival of The Dreaming a week after it showed up everywhere else. And speaking of delays, the second issue of Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle arrives. I know I read the first one, but I have no memory of it. The second issue also features a second artist, and I was thinking that could have been kind of an interesting idea if it had been planned. Since one of the themes is celebrity (I think), they could have used the changing illustrators to make some comment about image and reinvention. Maybe I’ll just pretend that’s what they’re doing.
Oh, and while it’s not really my thing, Viz releases the 37th issue of Shonen Jump, celebrating the anthology’s third anniversary with the fattest… issue… EVER. There’s also a big sneak peek at a new comedy-science fiction title called Gin Tama, which features “a wacky samurai, his unfortunate sidekick, and an indestructible teenage girl.” Stir thoroughly, then sell.
At Love Manga, David Taylor does a fine run-down of the manga-related material in the latest PW Comics Week. I’m particularly interested in the piece on Powell’s City of Books and their evolving approach to selling manga:
“’We would polybag everything,’ Donaghy says. This helped to prevent damaged books, but it also prevented potential buyers from getting a feel for what those titles were like. A few years ago, a sales rep at Viz promised to replace any Viz title ruined by an overzealous browser if Powell’s would agree to stop the shrinkwrapping. Surprisingly, sales increased dramatically. The arrangement with Viz is no longer in effect, but Powell’s eventually decided make all the manga browsable. ‘The sales this generates more than makes up for any books that we’ve
lost,’ says Donaghy.”
This is fascinating to me for a couple of reasons. It suggests browsing can increase the likelihood of purchase, and it shows a major publisher working directly with an independent store.
It’s a great story, but some dust-covered synapse in my brain fired up to remind me of a social psychology lecture from college about repeatable results, different experimental conditions, and anecdotal evidence. I’m sure there are plenty of contradictory examples out there of stores whose manga sales were either unaffected by or went up after deciding to polybag books. Sometimes my brain is a real killjoy. Still, I’m very much in the pro-browsing camp, if only for purely selfish reasons.
And speaking of Love Manga, the Advent Contest continues to bring holiday joy to all.