Is Tentai Books looking to outclass Sol Press for the slowest releases?
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I've been waiting for the release of "World Teacher" vol 2, only to find out that Tentai Books is still trying to get the license for it. I just don't see how this is a process that takes this long when JNC can get it done as fast as they do. I can maybe see it taking a little bit longer, but with as few titles as they have, this seems a little excessive, I think. Especially since its been almost a year since volume one's release.
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@lighthawk96 From what I've heard on their discord, World Teacher situation is kinda unique for them since they are contractually obligated to license volumes both in english and spanish, and spanish version doesn't sell at all. So they aren't "trying" to get it, they've flat out put it in hold untill other titles can pay for it (not that any other series from them have better release schedules as of now).
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@wellwisher - that might be "penny wise and pound foolish" since now I don't trust them to release additional volumes of any other series.
JNC has always released as much of a series as is available even if it doesn't sell well, so I trust them to not drop unprofitable titles. Now with Tentai I'll probably wait until volume 2 or 3 of a series is out before considering it.
Tentai might want to consider it a marketing expense, and hope that sales over time cover the cost.
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@wellwisher Does it have a different title in Spanish, or is the ES version not available in NA? Cause all I see when searching "World Teacher" on Amazon is the Tentai version, and a pirated version of the manga with stolen LN cover art free with Kindle Unlimited under the author "Adam Shervashidze." No Spanish version.
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@legitpancake Huh, now that's interesting. Probably gonna ask Alex about it tomorrow.
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@harmlessdave Yeah, it's kind of hard to trust their release schedule now since it's pretty much impossible to tell if the volumes they list are actually licensed and being worked on or if they've just stuck dates on there and they're still looking to license those volumes.
I was going to jump into World Teacher after vol 2 came out since I've really enjoyed the manga version, but I'm going to have to reassess things if they're not really interested in actually releasing this series.
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@jpwong - even more disappointing, it seems like they misleading us in their November update:
https://tentaibooks.com/en/tentai-books-update-on-current-series/
"World Teacher 2
Currently we’re under licensing process for this volume, and as soon as we can get our hands on it we’ll start the work on it. Sorry about the delay, but the issues behind it I can’t really talk about."If the truth was really "this series is on hold because of disappointing Spanish sales" or "volume 2 will only be released if we can re-negotiate the license" they should have been more honest about it. The update implies the license and release will happen, not that they might or might not ever happen.
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@harmlessdave said in Is Tentai Books looking to outclass Sol Press for the slowest releases?:
"volume 2 will only be released if we can re-negotiate the license"
They mentioned that they can't renegotiate the license to drop spanish version. So they're pretty much waiting for other titles to generate enough money to pay for it. And noone in their right mind will talk about financial side of things in public places. "Sorry about the delay, but the issues behind it I can’t really talk about." is more than enough of a public statement for this situation.
@LegitPancake I've found the listing for print version. For some reason it only showed up in search for "Tentai Books".
https://www.amazon.com/dp/8412354621/
Dunno why there isn't a digital. I tried asking, but it really feels it is something they don't want to talk about yet, and I don't want to be a total dick and harass them about it. -
Yeah, I don't mind if they don't want to list the specific reasons, no one's going to discuss negotiations and stuff generally speaking, I'm more miffed they stuck a release date for volume 2 on their calendar like 6 months in advance and then we find out they don't actually even have the license for the volume when we hit that date. I'm not sure I can think of any other licensor that would essentially announce something they don't have yet. I guess I'll put it down to being a misstep from a newish company that's still trying to establish itself.
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@jpwong said in Is Tentai Books looking to outclass Sol Press for the slowest releases?:
I'm not sure I can think of any other licensor that would essentially announce something they don't have yet.
Seven Seas has a habit of announcing release dates for volumes that are not out yet even in Japan. For example, print version of Arifureta vol.12 is scheduled for July 26, 2022.
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@wellwisher - I understand them not telling us why, but the November update fails to tell us that it is on indefinite hold. A person reading that update would assume they will have the license soon, I know I did.
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Yeah. I'm just very disappointed in the entire situation. Thought one of my favorite titles was good to go on tgectranslation front, but now it's looking like that isn't the case.
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Not to give advice where its not solicited, but if they are waiting for sales of other titles to generate enough cash to pay for a license to another volume, that's real bad, because it's not the license cost that's high, it's the translation cost IMO.
Unless their deals with overlap are vastly different than ours, the majority of costs is in localization, not licensing fees.
Maybe they pay their translators using some kind of revenue sharing contract or something (we did something partially like that when JNC first started), but even then, that's what loans are for. If you are confident you'll get the revenue in a few months, then get some short term small business loans... $10000 should be enough for a book or two... -
That's interesting insight into the industry in general. I don't think it's any surprise that the TL is the biggest expense given how much work we know JNC staff have mentioned they have to do for some series. It does perhaps allude to some unsettling possibilities about Tentai's business model if we assume that the tidbit from their discord actually holds any truth though. I'd kind of hate for them to go under the way Sol Press seemingly has, though World Teacher is probably their only license that I'm interested in right now.
@wellwisher said in Is Tentai Books looking to outclass Sol Press for the slowest releases?:
Seven Seas has a habit of announcing release dates for volumes that are not out yet even in Japan. For example, print version of Arifureta vol.12 is scheduled for July 26, 2022.
Well it's not really a big deal for them to do that if they've negotiated the volume in advance of the Japanese release, and I suppose even if they haven't, it's probably unlikely that they'd suddenly get cold feet after releasing 10+ volumes in the series. I suppose for a print release on an established series the bigger challenge might be getting the books to market for the release date given all the supply chain logistics issues we're seeing right now.
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@jpwong That one is a sublicense from us and I can guarantee they don't have the rights because we don't have rights for books which aren't even announced in Japan yet!
They just automatically put them on their calendar for some reason I don't understand. Just ignore the date, it'll almost certainly be changed.
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@admin
It does definitely beg the question as to what they are doing. They announced some new titles some time back, but some of their initial titles"WT" for example, seem to have for whatever reason gotten shelved. It's definitely a conundrum. And sad. -
@wellwisher said in Is Tentai Books looking to outclass Sol Press for the slowest releases?:
For example, print version of Arifureta vol.12 is scheduled for July 26, 2022.
Even worse they used to have it scheduled for 2021-06-22.
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The way some publishers mess readers around is one of the reasons I tend to stick to JNC series for the most part. Might not be great for those trying to break into the sector and I might be missing out on some great stories, but I only have finite time to read LNs so I'd rather go with a company with a good track record for delivering books and communication with its customers.
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I don't think it's fair to compare the two, or taint Tentai's name by lumping them in with Sol. I don't have skin in the game- I just really dislike SOL
- Tentai is a relatively new business (from what I can tell started 04/2020 +/-) operating almost entirely during a global pandemic.
- They are trying a new/different business model (Spanish and English TL's of LN's both in print and electronic)
- They actually communicate: if something is delayed they actually let you know - they might not share all the details as to why but if they are negotiating a deal, or a deal went pear-shaped, that isn't something they'd be expected to share (consumers are not entitled to knowledge of internal business workings/how they make the sausage)
- They have a release calendar, and a high % of releases are on time (or customers were advised of delays, and they delivered on the revised dates
- Tentai has four series in regular production, one hung up (World Teacher) and three more "coming soon" - in the first 18 months of being in business- this far outpaces SOL's output--ever.
They'll figure out a way to make World Teacher work, or it'll be their first failure. A bump in the road by comparison
Sol on the other hand, had been in business more than twice as long, LIED to customers about releases and progress of titles due to be released (next month, really!) They did not post (real) projections of future releases. They (allegedly) cheated on their taxes, (allegedly) failed to pay their translators (and/or paid late, and/or paid below the market rates) and even though have for all intents and purposes been out of business for months and failed to even communicate that they are out of business. They seem to have all of the smarmy/shady business practices of stereotypical phonography producers in the 80's.
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i thought Sol Press got closed why they haven't put out books in awhile. last time i looked their website was down. took a look around and found out they weren't paying taxes or something.
