Bonus Premium content wish list

Jon Mitchell

I don't want to derail any of the ongoing threads, so I'm starting a new topic.
I believe that it is safe to say that JNC licenses all that they feasibly can for premium bonuses, the most common are:

bonus short stories that might have been exclusive to certain outlets in Japan
hi-res/ textless illustrations

Less common is JNC original content:

JNC produced glossaries/ notes
Author or translator Q&A

"bonus" content seen in the Rokojouma kickstarter:

audio cd's (not sure how this'll work, mp4 w/ subtitles? or translated scripts?)
physical bonuses: bookmarks, slipcases, posters etc.

what is on your wish list? I think that most members appreciate the bonuses so far- the short stories and illustrations I believe are popular. My purpose of this thread is to have a place to voice suggestions, maybe so the folks at JNC can gauge demand- so add a post with what you'd like to see. Just more of the same? More of something that is less common? printables? something entirely new?

Jon Mitchell

I throw out as my first bonus suggestion:

annotated version/edition of an existing volume - mark it up w/ footnotes, end-notes whatever, less localization, leave in honorifics - have a "clean" volume and make the annotated edition a bonus

Serah

A side note right at the beginning: there is another topic with a poll, which I assume is mentioned here as one of the ongoing threads. I am clarifying this right at the start, since some might not know. That is because I have let it put - thanks again @Rahul-Balaggan - in the members only section, so the feedback would not be diluted by feedback of users who cannot buy premium ebooks due the weird limitation "for members only".

@Jon-Mitchell is so quick... I did not even have time to say what I wish for before his second post appeared... I like very much the suggestions of the second post, though. I hope that will not be a "niche" sort of wish...

My wishes for premium editions boni: all the boni you can also get in Japan. I am not interested in additionally produced content for the West, except helpful notes as you can see with the manga Final Fantasy Lost Stranger. I could share more of my opinion about editor's column and so on - but etiquette forbids to start something so early, with me not having any intention to "hijack" this new topic for the single day left me haunting the forums.

I am very much looking forward of what the rest of the community think and would put on their wish list.

Aruseus493

Few things I'd want.

Clean Illustrations as a default. - Right now, we get clean illustrations when there might not be any other premium bonus content available. But I'd like to see them included just for everything they can. Sometimes I come across color illustrations that I really like and would love to use as my phone wallpaper or something but can't cause I can't get a clean version.
More Glossaries - Especially for characters in some series like Isekai Smartphone which has like a hundred side-characters at this point. It'd be useful to have some glossary at the end of the volume or something which lists just all the characters, when they were introduced, and what their relationship is. Cause there's pretty much always a side character I gotta go look back up cause I can't remember them.
More Maps - I'm a huge nerd. I love fantasy maps that show the world. It would be good to get them more often whether it be something commissioned or something that itself wasn't actually originally in a volume. I know the author of Grimgar has a world map he made via excel which we don't have a translated version of.
More of the Bonus Illustrations - Some series get a bunch each volume. It'd be nice to get them more often in the premium editions. Even the Drama CD Covers would be nice while we wait for the kickstarter that may eventually give us the Arifureta Drama CDs subbed.

Travis Butler

I like visual content, but I prefer story content. So while clean illustrations and bonus illustrations are nice, and I'd like to see them when feasible, if I had to choose I'd pick bonus stories and glossaries over illustrations.

So...

Bonus stories as first priority.
Translations of drama CD and similar content as second priority.
Glossaries, annotations, etc. as third priority. Though if you take feasibility into consideration, I'd probably bump this up to second; I'm guessing it's easier to produce glossaries and annotations than to get the rights to drama CDs. I do like Jon Mitchell's idea of 'mainstream' and 'annotated for otakus' versions, but I'm not sure how much work that would be to produce and whether it'd be worth it.
Author/translator interviews are also cool, though not sure how often they can come up with a good interesting discussion.
Maps... when available, that could be cool, though I wonder how often such things exist without already being included in the book (a la Realist Hero).
Clean illustrations and bonus illustrations are nice, but further down the priority list.
Promotional materials? I know some anime DVDs included trailers for movies/OAVs/series; do similar things exist for LN's? Are there equivalents to the feature articles on upcoming anime in Megami magazine?

Serah

"clean illustrations" - unless the cover arts are provided by the original publishers, it should be a default thing that JNC gets the clean stuff one way or another, or not?

What is the deal in making that a default extra content? Standardising things.

I am baffled by the world map made with excel - never ever did it cross my mind to see a map made with excel...

Qeh

@serah said in Bonus Premium content wish list:

"clean illustrations" - unless the cover arts are provided by the original publishers, it should be a default thing that JNC gets the clean stuff one way or another, or not?

What is the deal in making that a default extra content? Standardising things.

It's probably a rights issue. Like this:

"The publisher holds the rights to the images and if the publisher doesn't allow JNC to release the clean version to the customers it won't happen."

So it's probably a case by case issue.

Also japan has special laws for intellectual properties (don't know if thats the right way to call it). The author of a work has more rights than in many other countries which could also be a factor.

@topic
I really enjoy the short stories of some series as they show some interesting things about background characters.

I also like the notes of outbrake company. It's not so easy to get all the references made in the books. Especially if they are lost in translation.

Rahul Balaggan

@serah

Fun Fact: When J-Novel Club released the V1 premium edition of Amagi Brilliant Park it contained text-less illustrations, then like a few days later Kadokawa said they don't want that and they had to re-release the premium edition with no text-less images.

In Hindsight that was very un-fun

Serah

@rahul-balaggan and that is how transparency with information gives away the real value behind such things.

I wonder, if at that time JNC used the forced update on amazon, or if the customers who pre-ordered and bought it right away still got to keep the version with clean illustrations.

Rahul Balaggan

@serah That was only for premium editions, so Amazon purchases were not affected.

And yes anyone who downloaded it the first day got to keep it but it was less then 10 users I believe

Serah

@rahul-balaggan right. "Premium Edition" aka JNC sales exclusive. I tend to mix it up, since recently a bunch more of titles were released as premiums, despite not having any bonus contents. Made me confused what makes them "premium" compared to "normal".

@rahul-balaggan said in Bonus Premium content wish list:

And yes anyone who downloaded it the first day got to keep it but it was less then 10 users I believe

Again, such information makes you appreciate JNC more and more.

Jon Mitchell

I'm sure there are pro's and con's for each type of bonus content, for example:

bonus short stories and illustrations need to be licensed, and may have an additional cost or restrictions
JNC created content requires staff obligations/hours for content creation (and might not line up with expertise on hand, or resource availability i.e. translators gotta translate, not annotate??)
maps might not exist (and would quality of in house art be 'up to snuff'?)
software/coding licensing costs (in addition to the licensing costs of the content) might make promotional materials (even print at home versions) too expensive?
*does JNC have the expertise (or license) to create derivative works? (audio cd's, audiobooks, digital manga w/ audio, whatever)

Travis Butler

@jon-mitchell Yup, always trade-offs. :)

I'm not sure where 'software/coding' comes into play with promotional materials, though; I'm thinking of straight translations of things like print ads/magazine articles. The kind of thing that can be distributed as part of a standard ePub. Trying to reproduce Japanese publisher's website banner ads strikes me as a road to madness. ^^;;

Interesting question about whether JNC has the ability (technically and legally) to produce 'multimedia' works (as opposed to 'standard ePub') - particularly as part of standard production, instead of one-off things like the Rokujouma kickstarter. I suspect it's not feasible as a regular production item, as opposed to one-offs... at least without a major expansion of JNC as a company, and that ain't easy.

My thoughts on 'drama CDs' is much simpler - an official translation of the script, maaaaybe with an included digital copy of the audio. Honestly, I'd prefer that to a subtitled MP4; I can read it at my own pace and without needing to hook up headphones in public.

paulnamida

@serah at the very least they are DRM-free and cost less if you're premium member.

Serah

@paulnamida I do not mind DRM, and the pricing on amazon turned out more than often cheaper than the 6 USD + exchange fees. Bonus short stories is the only incentive I see in "premium" ebooks so far ~

Jon Mitchell

@travis-butler said in Bonus Premium content wish list:

'software/coding' comes into play with promotional materials

if I'm going to create a "print at home" bookmark - I might need to make it a 'use once" .pdf (like a coupon)
that needs adobe license and maybe something else. What about content creation of posters (photoshop?)

Travis Butler

@jon-mitchell Ahhh. Makes more sense now. Frankly, I’d rather see them stay from that kind of ‘print once’ content anyway; seems like the kind of thing where it’d be a hassle all around.

Paul Nebeling

@Jon-Mitchell @Travis-Butler I will break out the horns and pitchfork and point out that what you describe sounds an awful lot like DRM. Let's not open that particular box, Pandora.

Travis Butler

@paul-nebeling Yup. It really doesn't fit with their policies otherwise. Which is why I called it 'a hassle all around'. ^^;;

Timmaaah

Bonus stories is always the best bonus.
Bonus images are also good.

It would be good to get audio CDs, even just an adaption of the transcript would be good.

For me, I just wish that the translator notes on the series that do have them (eg. Outbreak Company) would have the notes linked to the sentence that the note is about. If you could just quickly select the note, and then go back to the appropriate line in the book, that would be great.
At the moment I don't even bother using them because they are at the end of the book and by that point I won't remember much of what they were talking about at the time.
It's too much effort and too time consuming to be constantly scrolling back and forth from the page you are on to the Translator Notes and back while on a phone.
It's fine for physical like in SNAFU since I usually keep my bookmark in the translator notes and just keep track of what page the next note is for. It's not really possible to do this with a digital book.