Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!

[Silver Sugar Duchess]

I really would like to know, what the extra content(s) for the first volume of Tearmoon Empire would be?
A silly wish of mine would be outfit sketches for Mia.xD Her main dress is just so incredible cute and pretty!!! Character sketches or extra illustrations would be awesome too! But I would be already happy, if there would be bonus stories included.^^

[Rahul Balaggan]

@clarabelle
Typically we don’t find out bonus content info till after the premium edition becomes available.

Within 24 hours of the premium edition becoming available the list here on the first page will be updated and I will post within the tearmoon discussion thread.

(I say 24 hours but it usually when I wake up as they release premium editions when I am asleep)

[Silver Sugar Duchess]

@rahul-balaggan Wasn‘t there a case, where we could vote for what extras we could get in some novel?

[Rahul Balaggan]

@clarabelle

There has never been an official J-Novel Club voting system for what specific premium content a specific series (or any series for that matter) will or will not receive.

In the past users have made polls where other users could indicate what premium content they enjoy seeing in premium editions, perhaps you are thinking of those?

At the end of it the premium content in the premium editions will depend on a few factors:

• were there any Bonus Short Stories written for the series? (In Japan)
• were there any bonus illustrations for this series? (In Japan)
• Would this book require a glossary due to all the unique key terms?
• should we have our translation team do a Q&A?

Also for the Bonus material made for the series in Japan, it also becomes will we be able to license that bonus content to distribute here.

And so on.

[Serah]

The conversation between you two - namely @Clarabelle and @Rahul-Balaggan - is quite interesting. I would be inclined to make a new topic if it was not just for today.

While on the one hand, that JNC might include the community and ask them beforehand what they would like is unlikely to happen, yet some super interesting incentive for being a premium member as stated in my opinion thread.

On the other hand the prospect of bonus contents - it sounds weird that JNC rather say nothing instead of telling us more, about what the Japanese version have and do not have. Like @Rahul-Balaggan said - it depends on factors like whether the original publications have those kind of stuff, or the stuff is commissioned afterwards as an extra. Yet that is already a good point - if JNC already knows there is such stuff - why not sharing the knowledge and prospects beforehand without making promises?

The insight of how the community perceive and share their interest for possible bonus content gives an extra free leverage for future negotiations with the mentioned original publisher party~

The other topic, which is soon inaccessible for me, also mentions somewhat about little knowledge of the staff created by JNC. Making my feedback for previews and such more important - that put aside - I checked said content and I was honestly unsatisfied by JNC produced content like Q&A, Editor's Column and Glossaries - especially if you compare them to bonus short stories. The JNC produced content feels so... bland and uninteresting, with little to no passion (sorry dear editors, I know you tried your best - but the columns I read so far sound all like "I have been asked to do this, but I truly do not know what the readers would enjoy to get out of this little text of mine").

Yeah, I guess you have there plenty to keep interesting talks with the forums going. 😉

@Clarabelle I already have been looking for fanart - yet unlike anime and manga stuff there is always little to none fanart to be found - at least with Western sources. And it is harder to commission such art - hence finding first an artist who know the story and would paint an artwork for fair price...

[Rahul Balaggan]

@serah said in Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!:

On the other hand the prospect of bonus contents - it sounds weird that JNC rather say nothing instead of telling us more, about what the Japanese version have and do not have. Like @Rahul-Balaggan said - it depends on factors like whether the original publications have those kind of stuff, or the stuff is commissioned afterwards as an extra. Yet that is already a good point - if JNC already knows there is such stuff - why not sharing the knowledge and prospects beforehand without making promises?

Correct me if I am wrong, but are you saying the J-Novel Club should just let readers know that in Japan this volume of XXX came with a bonus story if you bought from Y store, and a differbey bonus story if you bought from Z store, and an exclusive image if you bought from K store?

[Serah]

@rahul-balaggan correct. Just imagine how great it is if JNC manages to negotiate it, being able to offer all the bonus contents without the customer having to buy multiple books.

I know it happened before and it definitely let my appreciation for JNC grow.

[Travis Butler]

@serah said in Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!:

@rahul-balaggan correct. Just imagine how great it is if JNC manages to negotiate it, being able to offer all the bonus contents without the customer having to buy multiple books.

I know it happened before and it definitely let my appreciation for JNC grow.

And if JNC can’t license it, it will breed resentment and anger from fans with a sense of entitlement - it doesn’t matter what exclusive agreements the original publisher might have made, whether JNC could afford it, it doesn’t matter if licensing it was feasible at all - they want it, and will complain if they don’t get it. I can’t see why any company would willingly put themselves into that position.

[Serah]

@travis-butler said in Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!:

@serah said in Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!:

@rahul-balaggan correct. Just imagine how great it is if JNC manages to negotiate it, being able to offer all the bonus contents without the customer having to buy multiple books.

I know it happened before and it definitely let my appreciation for JNC grow.

And if JNC can’t license it, it will breed resentment and anger from fans with a sense of entitlement - it doesn’t matter what exclusive agreements the original publisher might have made, whether JNC could afford it, it doesn’t matter if licensing it was feasible at all - they want it, and will complain if they don’t get it. I can’t see why any company would willingly put themselves into that position.

As said: information does not equals promises. There is nothing bad about to tell the customer what can be awaited or what JNC is working for.

JNC definitely should not make promises they cannot keep. You need just one case of failure to destroy a publisher's credibility if you do that.

[Rahul Balaggan]

@serah I agree it is great, but that is what is currently happening.

If any of the Japanese publishers commissioned special content and have the right J-Novel Club is already actively going after everything they can get.

However coming and saying series XXX had these things available as store bonuses before they actually acquire the rights to that content seems like a bad choice.

In fact that already happened once, with Infinite Dendrogram, there was a massive bonus short story included in the BookWalker edition of one of the volumes and they actively tried to license it but BookWalker said no. So now we just sit here knowing that there was this amazing massive (page count) bonus short story that no one can get anymore. (As they are limited time exclusives they are as such not available forever, so that infinite Dendrogram story is gone with the wind)

[Serah]

@rahul-balaggan and still there is nothing bad about sharing the information. In fact the contrary is the case.

If there is information about what JNC aims for, and who is responsible for blocking it, it creates whole new leverages in favour for JNC to negotiate future contracts.

Putting even other publishers in a pickle when dealt correctly.

[Rahul Balaggan]

@serah

It sounds like you are saying J-Novel Club should throw Japanese publishers under the bus...

I really hope you aren’t saying that cause that will just make J-Novel Club earn the ire of Japanese publishers and partners, and then lose trust with them, it just seems like a lose lose situation

[Travis Butler]

@serah said in Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!:

@travis-butler said in Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!:

@serah said in Premium E-Book Bonus Contents List!:

@rahul-balaggan correct. Just imagine how great it is if JNC manages to negotiate it, being able to offer all the bonus contents without the customer having to buy multiple books.

I know it happened before and it definitely let my appreciation for JNC grow.

And if JNC can’t license it, it will breed resentment and anger from fans with a sense of entitlement - it doesn’t matter what exclusive agreements the original publisher might have made, whether JNC could afford it, it doesn’t matter if licensing it was feasible at all - they want it, and will complain if they don’t get it. I can’t see why any company would willingly put themselves into that position.

As said: information does not equals promises. There is nothing bad about to tell the customer what can be awaited or what JNC is working for.

Sorry; from what I have seen of fan behavior in the last 20 years, that is simply not true. Far too many fans will see it as a failed promise. And too many of the rest will still feel jealous and envious, and that makes people angry and resentful.

JNC definitely should not make promises they cannot keep. You need just one case of failure to destroy a publisher's credibility if you do that.

Yes. And that’s exactly why they need to stay away from something that too many fans will view as a failed promise.

From what I’ve seen, most fans do not know how the licensing process works. Look at the Licensing Suggestions topics - you see the same questions crop up over and over again. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that way too many fans think that if something exists, JNC should be able to license it. And that is simply not true.

[Serah]

@rahul-balaggan of course not. We do not want anyone to be hurt. That is why I said to put it correctly into use.

Taking your example as basis: having a leverage to prevent of such store exclusive deals is a good thing to make the bonus stories available to everyone while keeping the competition.

Just align it with the interest of the author and publishers. Which author is not in favour having their passionate stories shared with as many as possible? Making it easy to change a store exclusive thing which is originally work by the author a time limited thing.

There is a lot which JNC can gain with little to no cost, making it a win:win on a large scale even.

[Rahul Balaggan]

Overall i don't think we will ever reach any sort of understanding on this subject, and I myself have contributed greatly to veering this topic off course, as such we will just agree to disagree.

[Serah]

@rahul-balaggan agreed. 😊

[Raitoiro]

@clarabelle The best way to know what the bonus will likely be, is usually to go on the jp publisher site and see what store exclusive bonus exist. For Tearmoon it seems like there are short stories and maybe color illustrations, it's still just an assumption and the publisher may refuse to sell the bonus, but it at least tells you what's available and most likely to end up as a bonus.

[Aruseus493]

I know Overlap and Hobby Japan will typically do blog posts listing what all the different bonuses for their releases are. For example, here are the upcoming bonuses for Lazy Dungeon Master Volume 12 which comes out in a few days in Japan.

• Saint and Ichika SS
• Michiru's Work SS
• Niku Book Cover
• Niku & Gym Clothes SS
• Haku Wallscroll (Yukata Haku)
• Withdrawl Sid SS
• Rokuko Wallscroll (Featuring Loli+Adult Rokuko)
• Postcard

[hiroto]

The whole bonus thing is an interesting business custom. I wonder when did this all started.

In case of TO Books, publisher of Bookworm, they attach physical copy of bonus side story to:

• Print book purchased directly from TO Books online store
• Distributed at partner brick and mortar book stores

So, they seems to be strongly promoting print books with their bonus contents.

With Bookworm, they have published one compilation book of short stories gathering those past bonus stories and unpublished Web short stories.

[saskir]

@hiroto I assume it all started when they noticed that collectors get the same book 3-4 times to get all bonus contents.