Acquisitions Speculation - General
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@terrence yay and no at the same time. I’ll have to wait months for 2-3 volumes. JNC spoils us too much.
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@hyferzftw said in New Acquisitions Speculation General [9 NEW AQUISITIONS ANNOUNCED (5 MANGA, 4 LNs) 1 LN Unconfirmed!]:
@terrence yay and no at the same time. I’ll have to wait months for 2-3 volumes. JNC spoils us too much.
Yeah, I'm kind of in that boat, but they've been licensing a lot of stuff I didn't expect anyone else to grab lately, so I'm fine with more.
I'm half expecting Rascal Does not dream of Bunny Gal for Yen, since there's a fever pitch for it in comments sections (it's the new "Classroom of the Elite" in terms of interest based on an anime). That one we know could already be a JNC title in an alternate dimension though if they had a physical distribution guarantee earlier in their life.
But who knows. I just hope it's not an adaptation of an anime.
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I don't think we're as spoiled anymore since Seven Seas has kind of proven that they can do a rapid Digital First release schedule with Abilities Average. The series started English publication part way into last year and ended the year with 5 volumes released digitally.
At this point, Yen Press is becoming the odd one out by not trying out the digital first approach.
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@aruseus493 I don’t even think “digital first” is necessary, just a quick turnaround between volumes. Killing Slimes for 300 Years only has seven or so volumes out in Japan; but they’re releasing four volumes per year, and Yen is only doing three, so they’re falling behind despite being relatively close to caught up with the source material.
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@aruseus493 I didn't notice that Sevens Sea was going that fast with "Make my ability average" digital release, i hope they will do the same for "Mushoku Tensei" and "Classeroon of the elite" once they start.
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@hamsterexastris If I’m not mistaken, I think that part of the reason that they are so slow with the releases may be in fact due to the contracts that they have with the Japanese publishers. I have heard from several sources that some of the publication companies in Japan stipulate that an English release can not happen until 6 months have passed from the announced release date. Meaning that while they are releasing around 4 volumes a year in Japan, we can only get 2-3 releases of the same series here in the English-speaking world. I think that they do this to make sure that the source material stays ahead of any English releases that have been licensed.
So JNC has a pretty good thing going in that the publishing companies that they work with don’t hold them to this stringent release schedule and allow them to post the translations as they are happening weekly. I like this format because it keeps me interested in the series that I am reading so I don’t have time to get bored or lose interest in the series that I’m following with JNC.
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@lighthawk96 said in New Acquisitions Speculation General [9 NEW AQUISITIONS ANNOUNCED (5 MANGA, 4 LNs) 1 LN Unconfirmed!]:
I have heard from several sources that some of the publication companies in Japan stipulate that an English release can not happen until 6 months have passed from the announced release date.
I'm not sure what those sources are but the 6 months part between the initial announcement and the first release is only because when you do a physical release, your books should be registered with the retailers 6 months before the release. Hence if you don't properly announce them, they will simply be spoiled by the listings, it's not a "Japanese conspiracy".
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@lighthawk96 That... doesn't make sense. Not disputing that in some cases they're required to stay a certain amount behind; but that wouldn't impact the inter-volume pace like you're suggesting.
Japanese release +6 months 2017-01-13 2017-07-13 2017-04-14 2017-10-14 2017-07-14 2018-01-14 2017-10-12 2018-04-12 2018-01-15 2018-07-15 2018-04-12 2018-10-12 2018-07-13 2019-01-13 Even with a six-month-lag rule, you could still release the books three months apart in English. And after that first year, the number of volumes per calendar year would sync up.
Instead, in the case of Slimes (I keep using it as my example because it's the the only YP series I'm caught up on 🙂), they're letting that gap increase. They started off 15 months behind Japan; it'll be 20 months behind by the end of 2019.
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@hamsterexastris Yeah, wasn't saying that particulare rule was set in stone for everything. That was mainly just one cercumstance that I am aware of. Not all release schedules follow this format. It was more like a for instance type of thing.
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The reason digital first is "necessary" is because physical takes more time to produce and release. YP's 4 month release pace is pretty fast considering they're doing the entire translation process and release both physical and digital. There's also the matter of something like 6 month advance notice distributors are supposed to be told before a volume is printed. Digital first avoids a lot of those distribution issues which lets the release time be much closer to the translation time.
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@aruseus493 Umm... I think you're confusing "time between Japanese release of volume X and English release of volume X" and "time between English release of volume X and English release of volume X+1". Yes, digital-first does let you decrease that first interval, and that gap only being four months would be laudable. It has nothing to do with the second interval, which is the one that I'm saying is too long for Yen Press.
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@hamsterexastris I'm not confusing them. The second again is based off the needs for physical print. That whole process isn't slow. A lot more goes into print books than digital which is why digital releases are bundled with physical rather than releasing digital first. If Yen Press did digital first like J-NC and SS, then we could see them catching up on a lot more series at a faster rate. Like I mentioned earlier, Seven Seas has started doing Digital First with Abilities Average and the release rate is astounding. I'm saying Yen Press can theoretically mimic that if they were to do digital first.
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I am just wondering.
You, guys, always complain about release rate but are you, guys, even able to keep up with all the series you're following or just interested? (Either your reading pace or financially)
Like one of the reasons that Rokujouma has troubles (or at least, one many people mentioned is sheer number of volumes and their rate)What's the use of increasing the rate if it will trip people up and make people more reluctant to continue as volumes pile on them?
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@bloodygaikotsu
I'm not one to typically complain about a consistent 4 month release rate. But I can easily keep up with pretty much everything I'm reading. (I read around 3 LN volumes a week on average.) -
@aruseus493 said in New Acquisitions Speculation General [9 NEW AQUISITIONS ANNOUNCED (5 MANGA, 4 LNs) 1 LN Unconfirmed!]:
(I read around 3 LN volumes a week on average.)
I read 2-4 books (LN and non-LN + I don't know how many manga volumes) per week depending on the length and many other factors, but I still have a growing backlog even with some shipments getting late like I still don't have my Katanagatari...(Well, I am also from 3rd world country with currency that weaned a lot lately so...there's this issue too).
Well, I usually only read at lectures break, on my ride home or to uni as well anyways.
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@aruseus493 Seven Seas is putting out 5 print books in a year for Abilities Average, the same number they're releasing digitally. If what you're saying is true, then they wouldn't be able to print books as fast as they can release them digitally. And yet... they are.
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@bloodygaikotsu I read 2-3 a week but I also take probably 4 months off a year as I find my interest naturally wanes a little. Then when I come back, so many new volumes! I’m not really up to date on anything these days, but that never bothers me. I don’t feel the need to be caught up, I just like having good stuff to read when I want to read it and in the past few years, I’ve never felt that there’s a lack of good light novels (other Japanese fiction I feel a lack with at times). However you’ll never hear me complain about release rate, except if it’s Sol Press - simply because they have been crazy slow on their first two titles and don’t seem to have the infrastructure to do justice to an ongoing series. Hope I’m proven wrong though as I like Funa enough to want to read at least the first few volumes of all her series.
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@hamsterexastris They don't have to worry about the translation, editing, or proofreading since they already did that for the digital release (ostensibly). The only factors left are printing, distribution, and retail. The fewer steps there are in the process, the less buffer time you need to add for potential problems, which means your timeline per iteration is much shorter.
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@bloodygaikotsu I can read a volume per day depending on my work schedule. For example I read spider LN v1-4 in like 6 days or so. Read newest slime LN which I think is 4 (even started a jnc thread discussion for it) in a day. When something is so interesting to read like spider LN I can binge read it fast. Of course I don’t do this for all series. As for some I take breaks like (weeks,months,years) before I decide to go back and finish reading it or catch up to the recent volume to come out. So I think my complaints can be backed up with the pain of waiting for translation. One day I’ll learn to read Japanese and won’t have to wait anymore (hopefully). It just sucks that sometimes it’s months I have to wait for a translation. I don’t like reading fan translation either as it usually involves different links that don’t lead anywhere or just bad translation. When there is an option to pay for something I want in the best quality possible I’ll gladly pay for it. I’m just inpatient is all.
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@bloodygaikotsu Personaly i can keep up with the release rate, if i'm really interest in a serie i can read something like 3 book a day, i'm not as good with physical realease tho, those kind of pile since their not as easy to read.
I prefer when the gap between vol is low or even better JNC prepub system. Financialy that an other story, but well eating less and cooking more is good for your heath they say, so i just cut on the food budget.But i can see where you're going, it's true that most person probably don't read as much or slower, but most people probably also read less series simultaneously so having a release rate of a vol each 2 month is probably better since you let enough time for even the slowest of reader to finish the last vol before the new one is out, but you also keep the wait short enough to keep people interested. But it's true that having people falling too much behind can also be a problem.
