Webpage/landing page on JNC site "news" section

[Jon Mitchell]

I'd like 'news' about/from JNC to be posted on the JNC site somehow. Not just on discord/reddit/twitter whatever
I mean we have this forum thing and a website/homepage with a 'news' section and everything...

I understand that creating buzz on social media is good for business/promotion etc. but, I don't want to have to get my info that way.

[Rahul Balaggan]

Although it hasn’t always been like that lately anything news worthy at J-Novel Club and any upcoming news has made its way to the front page and on the forums news section.

@myskaros has been making detailed topics for new catchup titles, and after J-Novel Club wrapped up their recent announcements at AX19 also made a recap topic with all the new licenses and announcements, which was showcased on the main page and still has a topic in the news section.

If you are referring to “Discord Talk”, that is not anything I can call “news”, it’s casual talk that is all said off the cuff, and definitely does not deserve its own moment on the front page.

[Raitoiro]

More than news on annoucements and such, which have been better relayed lately, I think what we're really lacking right now is news on the series.
I think we need a section showing which series are being translated, have been completed, are on hiatus (for jp hiatus), are delayed (for JNC hiatus). With maybe a small bit of text when it's easily understable/can be reveal, like "licencing delay", " Translator already working on another project ", "Complex book format", ...
It would be useful for readers to know what's happening and it would also help moderators, who are likeky annoyed to constantly answering "When is X coming out?", "Is X still being translated ?" topics.

[myskaros]

@raitoiro I understand your perspective, but I hope you also understand that, most of the time, the exact reason is none of your business. It doesn't look good to blame a specific person or party for a delay. A Japanese publisher who sees it might not want to do business with us anymore. A translator probably doesn't want "the world at large" to know when they're on vacation or dealing with an emergency or swamped with other work (since most of them don't work exclusively with JNC). Revealing that kind of information can easily lead to harassment or just negativity being directed toward the "party at fault" because fans are sometimes impatient.

Sure, it can be obnoxious to see "when is X coming out?" questions, but it's better than seeing "why is X translator so slow/why haven't you replaced them yet?"

[Jon Mitchell]

@rahul-balaggan said in Webpage/landing page on JNC site "news" section:

upcoming news has made its way to the front page and on the forums news section.

I guess I'm not being clear on what I would like to see as 'news'

the news thread (and pretty much everything in the 'news section on the landing page) is...whatever is on catch up this month. Is that the only thing newsworthy?

we members can speculate about upcoming titles or try to decipher hints given about what will be revealed at a con, but if I'm not on twitter/discord/reddit ---I don't see those hints
I know I mentioned it somewhere before...but how about

which cons someone (from JNC) will be at? what panels? will JNC have a booth?
other events? book signings?
what other 'official' news about JNC's role in the industry etc.

heck this tidbit was on JULY's 'news" on the web page
"But that’s not all! Coming this fall, we’ll be launching a Kickstarter to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Invaders of the Rokujouma!? by raising money for a limited omnibus print run of the popular harem series! Stay tuned for more details in the coming months!"

and details WERE in the forums when the kickstarter was to launch - but not on the landing page?

[Raitoiro]

@myskaros Yeah I understand, and I completely agree. Translators being harassed, working in a negative environment, or jp publisher ending partnership; should be the biggest concern, by far.

That said, while it should stay a secondary concern, the way things currently are: where we just stop hearing about a licence one day, until someone go and ask what's happening; isn't good either.

Maybe a system with just 4 tags (complete/work in progress/caught on/delayed), and no explanations for why it's being delayed, would work.
With that, as readers we know that we will just have to wait a bit, but not who or what is responsable, so the stupidest of us can't go attack people and the jp publishers doesn't risk loosing face.

And maybe that system is also no good, but I do think that JNC should work on a secure way to informed readers on series status, because keeping customers in the dark is rarely a good thing, especially for a companiy which partially works on a membership system.

[Rahul Balaggan]

@jon-mitchell said in Webpage/landing page on JNC site "news" section:

upcoming news has made its way to the front page and on the forums news section.
the news thread (and pretty much everything in the 'news section on the landing page) is...whatever is on catch up this month. Is that the only thing newsworthy?

Pretty much, there isn’t a lot of “new” things going on every month, unless you want them to start making dedicated posts for new releases, as in any and every time a new book comes out, which seems unnecessary in my option, that kinda stuff is left to Twitter plus we have the release schedule on the page.

we members can speculate about upcoming titles or try to decipher hints given about what will be revealed at a con, but if I'm not on twitter/discord/reddit ---I don't see those hints

There really haven’t been any “hints” recently, Sam saying there will be a bucketload or truckload is not really a hint, and although people in the speculation post may disagree with me, saying that we’ve never heard of the new licenses before is definitely not a hint at all, it’s just the playful whims and musing of the man behind the curtain...

which cons someone (from JNC) will be at? what panels? will JNC have a booth?
other events? book signings?

They haven’t formally announced they will be attending AnimeNYC yet but more then likely that will be there last convention of the year, for any big conventions where they will have signings (only 1 so far that was AX) we did receive prior notice.

what other 'official' news about JNC's role in the industry etc.

Again outside of new ebooks being released and new physical editions there won’t be a lot of news, other then new licenses which are getting new posts.

heck this tidbit was on JULY's 'news" on the web page
"But that’s not all! Coming this fall, we’ll be launching a Kickstarter to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Invaders of the Rokujouma!? by raising money for a limited omnibus print run of the popular harem series! Stay tuned for more details in the coming months!"

and details WERE in the forums when the kickstarter was to launch - but not on the landing page?

No arguments here.

Edit: I was going to suggest a “monthly recap”, where they recap all the new prepubs launched and new ebooks that were released in a month, but I remembered they do have that at the bottom of the Monthly Catchups Announcements

[LegitPancake]

I do think a link to the KickStarter on the front page is particularly important. At least on the top carousel or something.