J-Novel meaning for Tags
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I would like to know what "On Hiatus" and "Complete" means in terms of J-Novel. After all, I know what it means per the dictionary. Just, I'll take two novels as example.
"The Holy Knight's Dark Road" is leased when I filter the Series search by "Complete" light novels. However, the last book printed is certainly not written as a last book would have been, and a search of the Internet as best I can does not list the book series a completed. That is a good example of a usage of the tags that seems unclear to me. When the publisher's website doesn't list the series as "completed," should I start listing it to all the polls and surveys for what I would like to see picked up?
"Altina Sword Princess" is another book where I couldn't find any information to match the tag. I wanted to see if I could find out why it was on hiatus. Author illness? Poor sales (I hope not)? Author being pulled onto another project? Reasons undisclosed? Now, I'll be the first to admit, since I don't read Japanese and have to rely on Google search and Google translate that I could VERY EASILY miss the notices. So, I ask so I know if I need to search harder or does it only apply to J-Novel releases?
D
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from my experience (club member since pretty early in JNC's inception)
- light novels (and series) don't always have a neat beginning/middle/ end the way that Western literature often does - many are more episodic or at least 'story arc' in nature - something like Lord of the Rings, where the plot progresses to a tidy ending through half a million words and three novels is uncommon. In Japanese light novels are written more like a typical (western) television season; I mean what is the 'end' of the original Star Trek? it's often :'the story continues'
- JNC licenses novels one at a time (or a few at a time) not a series at a time, and if a series is current when JNC gets the rights, it may be unknown how many volumes there will be :3 or 30? who knows - the author is still writing them, how well will volume 5 sell? if not well there might not be a volume 6 etc. but JNC got the rights for volume 1 when volume 2 hit the shelves in Japan - we're along for the ride.
- so (at least some of the time) a 'complete' series - is a series that JNC has the rights for most/all of the books in the series because it is an older series or the series had an 'ending' in Japan and JNC didn't have rights before the last book came out in print - therefore knowing how many volumes are in print (i.e. Slayers or Full Metal Panic) the author isn't writing any more volumes in the series - it either had a satisfying 'end' (Fake Fake Princess, Lazy DM, or SOAP!) was cancelled by the publisher (or the author moved on to other things, so the ending might be rushed, much worldbuilding and plot maybe unresolved ; (i.eBluesteel Blasphemer, Infinite Stratos)
- a subset of series that are complete are orphans. They are 'complete' in the sense that, as far as we know, the author isn't going to write any more volumes, yet the story arc isn't complete (we are 'left hanging') i.e. Gear Drive
- series on hiatus: either JNC or the author has paused - maybe they went on to other projects but announced they planned to come back to continue an older series (announced or not) or series not announced as 'cancelled' by a publisher but has a long gap between volumes; Mixed Bathing and Walking My Second Path in Life , are both examples of series that were on hiatus for a number of years. This should not be confused with the standard break between volumes of a week/few weeks for the translation/editing teams to finish/begin new projects etc. (Bookworm is the notable exception where the teams translating don't seem to take breaks) Knowing which series are ongoing (and just on hiatus) vs orphaned (but not yet announced as such)is challenging- When is the next volume of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord?
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@Farmerdad said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
"Altina Sword Princess" is another book where I couldn't find any information to match the tag. I wanted to see if I could find out why it was on hiatus. Author illness? Poor sales (I hope not)? Author being pulled onto another project? Reasons undisclosed?
This particular series we know from prior posts on the forum from people who saw tweets from the author that the author has another light novel project they are also working on ("How Not to Summon a Demon Lord") which they were working on a story arc and attempting to finish that arc before returning to work on Altina, but going back to Altina is in the plans,, so Altina is just on hiatus until they catch up to where they wanted to get with How Not to Summon.
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Regarding Original Publishers (both in Japan and elsewhere):
Publishers don't always say they've dropped a series.
They also don't always say that a series is complete.
Or that the author has shifted to other activities for who knows how long.
Sometimes you can track down something from the author clarifying the situation.Altina the Sword Princess and How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord are written by the same individual. In both cases JNC is caught up with the Japanese publication. Word from the author is that neither has been dropped.
The author has other works as well, these are just the ones that JNC has licensed.
iirc, word from the author is that they are focusing on Altina next, as the last volume was published in 2018, while the last volume of Demon Lord was released in 2021.
That said, they released an entirely new work in September of 2022.
Their entry in the Japanese Wikipedia, last updated 2022/08/19, lists both Altina and Demon Lord as still being published, while other works are listed as "complete" or "unfinished".The Holy Knight's Dark Road appears to be a slightly different story.
It was an early work of the author.
They've been writing a lot of other stuff since which have gotten LN licenses in Japan.
It sure as heck looks abandoned... but it's been less than three years since the last volume in Japan, and other authors have picked up stuff after longer than that. Remember, Altina was last added to in 2018...
Baring official word, however, all JNC would be able to say is "caught up with the Japanese publisher."As @Jon-Mitchell mentions, sometimes stuff just never gets completed, and the last volume released doesn't tie stuff up neatly.
The publishing industry is uncertain.
Creative thought is not guaranteed.
Inspiration for a given story can dry up, leaving the author hanging, unable to proceed.
Publishers can determine that past sales don't justify continuing a publication.
The author can have another idea show up and seize the steering wheel and kick the previous idea under the wheels despite the author and publisher and readers still thinking there's more to it.As a publisher, J-Novel needs to be a bit more careful about listing the status of items in the country of origin; they don't want to piss off the folks they are in negations with.
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@Jon-Mitchell @Geezer-Weasalopes @pcj
I want to thank you all for taking the time to respond. I wanted to reply back to each of you and since there was overlap, I figured one message was best.
I am also a fan of Branden Sanderson and GRRM (which I think I'll die before the last book is ever written), so I'm familiar with authors going silent on a series for one reason or another only to come back years later to drop another book. I've also been trying to follow manga, anime, and light novels for most of my life (I have grandchildren). So I've experienced "rushed endings" and "sudden stops." One of my memorable instances was Kaze no Stigma which stopped due to author's death. In fact, I have this stupid irrational fear that an author has passed away and we just don't know about it in the English world ::self eye roll::
So, how I go about researching this, is by first checking a JP ebook supplier such as ebooksjapan or bookwalker's japanese site. Actually, I usually start with bookwalker because I can get the kanji title that I can then cut-n-paste into other places. I can't read the sites but I know enough through covers to find the right series, and I can recognize the "complete" tags that they use. That will often tell me how far behind the English publisher is, if they are. That usually tells me what I want to know.
When I feel the need to dig a little deeper, like The Holy Knight's Dark Road not being listed as complete by those sites listed completed complete by J-Novel, I try to search deeper. Usually by going to Twitter next. Twitter is harder for me as I can only use Chrome with auto-google-translate on. It's very easy for me to miss stuff. I'll search on the author's name and on the series title. Sometime I'll get a hit, sometimes I won't. Holy Night gave me tweets that seemed to have ended with an announcement when the last published novel was released. Next I'll go to the publisher's website but that almost never returned anything that I could use. In fact, I don't think I've ever gotten anything from the publisher's website that I didn't already know from the ebook store or twitter. Finally, I'll just do a general Google search.
@Jon-Mitchell You are so right in that it's hard to know when a series is on hiatus vs. orphaned (and I'll add vs. when the English publisher dropped the translating/licensing), and that is exactly what I'm trying to do. I don't want to spin my wheels always checking on/hoping for a volume that'll never come. It would help to know if "hiatus" by my English publishers meant the JP author or the translating team taking the hiatus and if "completed" means J-Novel knows something about Holy Knight that the JP ebook stores aren't talking about.
D
P.S. Ok, this is mostly a soapbox post and a wish for J-Novel to be more clear in their tags for an OCD guy like me.
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@Farmerdad said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
P.S. Ok, this is mostly a soapbox post and a wish for J-Novel to be more clear in their tags for an OCD guy like me.
That’s fair… but if you want them to be more clear, it’s also fair to ask how.
As I see it, the problem is that the situation is complicated and hard to capture in a simple set of tags. Do you want to create a new set of tags covering every possible state? What would you want to call a tag for “there hasn’t been a release in years and the author has not said the series is still going, but the publisher hasn’t officially canceled it”? Or do you just want a few new tags like “Canceled” and “Unofficial Hiatus”?
...Cats are the proof of a higher purpose to the universe.
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@Travis-Butler I think the clearest solution would probably be a generic set along the lines of in progress (being translated) / caught up (not officially complete, but all published material is translated) / complete (the series is officially over, and all material has been translated), possibly with 'on hiatus' for times when there's a delay not related to the source material running out.
Tags for the specific reasons why no more material is available seem like something of a rabbit hole we're better off not going down.
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@Travis-Butler Ok, so you're wonder what I would have done as a designer, right? As long as the powers-that-be don't take offense, I can actually do that. Some of my words might not be appropriate for legal/license reasons. Sort of like J-Novel won't comment on license statuses, especially potential, for legal/contract/negotiation reasons.
- On Going - Series for which J-Novel has licenses for volumes to translate without regard to status in JP. Basically, readers and fans of this series can expect to see more English volumes. This could include series where J-Novel has caught up to JP releases but has a reasonable expectation of continuing to translate the next new volume.
- Completed - Series which are officially finished in JP and fully translated into English. In an ideal, "everybody's friends" world, this would include series where J-Novel translated a run of volumes but didn't finish (maybe the publisher decided to move translations in-house)
- Dropped - Series Which J-Novel will not continue translating for any reason (not to be disclosed) regardless of status in JP. There is either material available or expected to be published but probably not by J-Novel. The reader might be able to find new volumes from some other publisher.
Those three are the easiest and, I feel, the most important to be used in a defined way. It really tells the reader what to look forward to or what to stop looking for. The rest can be broken down a few different ways. Depending on how helpful J-Novel wants to be to the reader as a service and how much time/effort/money it takes to get the necessary information.
- Delayed - Reserved for series that are on hold or delayed for any reason, officially or unofficially.
I would probably end it here with these tags. We keep the two tags but define as noted and make sure the series listed match the requirements. Change hiatus to delayed and, again, make sure the series so tagged match. Finally, we add dropped. I don't know if there are any series like that, but having the tag will at least let the reader know that no series in delayed or completed are there because J-Novel has "completed" as much translation as they are going to do.
- Hiatus - If J-Novel wants to be more helpful, they could separate official and unofficial delays with this tag for official delays. That would at least tell the reader if they should watch the publisher's website for news that the series has come off hiatus or the author's twitter to find out why it might be delayed.
Another possible division would be Hiatus for delays in JP and Delayed for hiatus at J-Novel (like, say, the translation team needs a longer than normal rest).
I can see a few possible holes as I sit and think about it but I would take this to the my team to start the discussion if I were the developer.
[Edited after posting for grammar and clarity issues]
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@Farmerdad said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
@Travis-Butler Ok, so you're wonder what I would have done as a designer, right? As long as the powers-that-be don't take offense, I can actually do that. Some of my words might not be appropriate for legal/license reasons. Sort of like J-Novel won't comment on license statuses, especially potential, for legal/contract/negotiation reasons.
Thanks for giving some actual specifics to discuss. Unfortunately, from what JNC's said publicly, most of it just... isn't going to work.
- On Going - Series for which J-Novel has licenses for volumes to translate without regard to status in JP.
This is going to be a bit nitpicky, and I may be reading more into this than what you mean; if so, I apologize. It looks like what you're asking for is a guaranteed release, and that just isn't possible.
As @Jon-Mitchell said above, JNC licenses series by individual volume. There are no series where JNC "has licenses for volumes to translate without regard to status in JP". This has come up many many times regarding various series, to the point where they put together a standard response. Whenever there's a longer than expected gap between volume releases, someone inevitably asks when the next volume is coming out, at which point a staff member will have to explain that volumes are licensed individually and point to the response. Given the amount of hassle involved, I'm going to read between the lines and speculate that this kind of whole-series-license isn't something the JP publishers are willing to grant.
So what you're asking for here is essentially meaningless; JNC can't say "Yes, we have already licensed everything that is available or will be available," because that kind of license doesn't happen.
Basically, readers and fans of this series can expect to see more English volumes.
On the flip side, what you're asking for here is effectively something JNC has always stated. The founder has said multiple times that if they start a series, they'll do their best to finish it, finish meaning 'release everything that was available from the JP publisher.' The only case I'm aware of where JNC has not done this is NewLife+, where the JP publisher canceled the series, refused to license any volumes beyond what JNC had already translated, and apparently asked JNC to remove those already translated volumes.
So again, this is mostly meaningless; if a series hasn't been outright canceled by the JP publisher, you can expect JNC to work to release everything that is available and any new volumes that are released.
Given all this, the best definition I can come up with for Ongoing is something along the lines of "JNC is working to release all existing volumes until we're caught up with the JP publisher, if we're caught up we think there will probably be future volumes, and if more come out we will continue to work to release them."
- Completed - Series which are officially finished in JP and fully translated into English. In an ideal, "everybody's friends" world, this would include series where J-Novel translated a run of volumes but didn't finish (maybe the publisher decided to move translations in-house)
Seems pretty reasonable, although I'd also note something to the effect that 'officially finished in JP' can include series canceled by the publisher that never had an actual story conclusion. Aside from Gear Drive mentioned above, a couple of other series I liked that got a fair bit of discussion at the time are Prince Herscherik and Deathbound Duke's Daughter.
- Dropped - Series Which J-Novel will not continue translating for any reason (not to be disclosed) regardless of status in JP. There is either material available or expected to be published but probably not by J-Novel. The reader might be able to find new volumes from some other publisher.
As noted above, this is something JNC has stated they work to avoid, and the record supports them on this. As I said, NewLife+ is the only series that might be considered an exception; but the reader was not able to find new volumes from any other publisher, and the JP publisher canceled the series outright. So this tag is pretty much useless.
- Delayed - Reserved for series that are on hold or delayed for any reason, officially or unofficially.
I really don't like changing Hiatus to Delayed because Delayed implies that there will be more to come. The point of Hiatus is that they don't know what's going on; all they do know for sure is that there hasn't been a volume released for some time, but the series hasn't been officially ended by the author/publisher. I realize that may be frustrating, and that frustration is what seems to be driving you, but giving false hope is worse than frustration. If they don't know, they don't know, and they shouldn't say anything else.
If they actually do know that something is actually, really, coming and is only delayed, then Delayed could work as an additional tag; but that opens up a whole can of worms about how sure they are, what happens if they're wrong, etc. etc.
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Just jumping in to say that this is indeed a weird topic, and while it would be nice for everyone if terms could be defined more clearly, circumstances don't really allow it.
As many users have already touched on, publishing and licensing are both complicated, and oftentimes the information our readers are looking for isn't actually something that J-Novel Club can provide, but rather something about a work-in-progress at a Japanese publisher instead. As you might imagine, while we do have a working relationship with publishers, this isn't information they will typically share with us even if we ask, and if they ever do, it's on the condition that we cannot make it public.
To specifically address one point:
"The Holy Knight's Dark Road" is leased when I filter the Series search by "Complete" light novels. However, the last book printed is certainly not written as a last book would have been, and a search of the Internet as best I can does not list the book series a completed. That is a good example of a usage of the tags that seems unclear to me. When the publisher's website doesn't list the series as "completed," should I start listing it to all the polls and surveys for what I would like to see picked up?
As of right now, Cross Infinite World is the only English publisher that might go after content that isn't available in book form. Otherwise, even if you don't find any conclusive evidence that the series is really "finished," no publisher, J-Novel Club inclusive, will consider a suggestion in any polls or surveys for this series seriously because there is no more content to license. You may disagree with the accuracy of "Complete" versus "Hiatus" or some other term, but the fact remains that there is nothing out there to get.
We're not privy to any information beyond what's available publicly, and we simply use our best judgment to decide if a series should be labeled "on hiatus" or "complete." Sometimes we're caught off guard by sudden new volumes of a series we thought had been long completed for years (such as White Cat or Endo & Kobayashi), and sometimes a series that's clearly unfinished simply doesn't get another volume even though the author says in the afterword that it's coming (Me, A Genius?). All we can do is our best, and ask that you trust that we aren't trying to make this difficult.
Whoever said nothing's impossible never tried slamming a revolving door.
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@myskaros
I suppose you could say that the tags mean "the status of the story, to the best of our knowledge, which is not perfect." -
I don't think that tags can be added that add meaningful information (and doesn't jiggle the elbows of folks trying to do their work/ negotiate for licenses etc.) - the exception would be "complete" : where all the volumes published in Japan are already translated by JNC.
in the description of the series might be info like "ongoing series spanning dozens of volumes" (Rokojouma) or "Three volume series completed in 2021" (SOAP) but what is added by making that a tag?
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@Travis-Butler said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
Thanks for giving some actual specifics to discuss. Unfortunately, from what JNC's said publicly, most of it just... isn't going to work.
Meh, life is often just a series of wishes, anyway.
- On Going - Series for which J-Novel has licenses for volumes to translate without regard to status in JP.
This is going to be a bit nitpicky, and I may be reading more into this than what you
Very nitpicky because, if I'm reading your final summation of this "tag", it is very close to what I intended. I readily admit that I do not know everything about the JP Light Novel Publishing business. I would have to do a lot more research than I'm willing to, to prove (or fail to prove) my point. When I wrote that, i was thinking of a case of Series X which is published to volume 8 and volume 8 is the final volume. However, market research indicates that the English market would like this series. English publishers really only license one volume at a time? I imagined English publishers opting for all 8. In my version, the English volumes are "ongoing" even though the series is "Complete" in JP. Anyway, that's just for clarification of what I was thinking. If the publisher doesn't know if they'll even be allowed the rest of the completed novels, there's no way this tag would be meaningful.Seems pretty reasonable, although I'd also note something to the effect that 'officially finished in JP' can include series canceled by the publisher that never had an actual story conclusion.
Agreed. Sometimes, that's the hardest fact to find as a non-JP reader.- Dropped - Series Which J-Novel will not continue translating for any reason (not to be disclosed) regardless of status in JP. There is either material available or expected to be published but probably not by J-Novel. The reader might be able to find new volumes from some other publisher.
As noted above, this is something JNC has stated they work to avoid, and the record supports them on this. As I said, NewLife+ is the only series that might be considered an exception; but the reader was not able to find new volumes from any other publisher, and the JP publisher canceled the series outright. So this tag is pretty much useless.
I really don't like changing Hiatus to Delayed because Delayed implies that
Two weeks later, I can't really remember why I chose delayed over hiatus. I think it was because my first pass was thinking about the source of the hiatus (JP publisher/author side vs J-Novel/translation team side) and later decided that maybe it didn't matter. I think. Either way, it was more the idea then the actual tag. One of the problems I have with website is that I don't know what J-Novel means when they're using their tags.
Anyway, those are just my reactions to the post. I've given up on my suggestion... I just have trouble "dropping" something :/
D
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@myskaros said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
Just jumping in to say that this is indeed a weird topic,
I have to disagree. If I find the tags confusing, difficult, and basically useless, it is normal to say something. Well, either that or quietly go away. A segment of the population won't speak up but will complain (word of mouth) to people who won't openly judge what they have to say. I suppose I could have stayed quiet... but saying something isn't weird.
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@Jon-Mitchell said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
in the description of the series might be info like "ongoing series spanning dozens of volumes" (Rokojouma) or "Three volume series completed in 2021" (SOAP) but what is added by making that a tag?
Putting that info in the description would certainly help me and serve my purposes. <Devil's Advocate>The only reason to try to make a tag would be to use the filtering in the website.</Devil's Advocate> I only mentioned it as a tag in the original post was because that was how J-Novel is currently disseminating anything close to that information.
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@Farmerdad I meant weird in that the subject is surprisingly hard to pin down exactly, not weird for being brought up.
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@Farmerdad said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
@Travis-Butler said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
Thanks for giving some actual specifics to discuss. Unfortunately, from what JNC's said publicly, most of it just... isn't going to work.
Meh, life is often just a series of wishes, anyway.
- On Going - Series for which J-Novel has licenses for volumes to translate without regard to status in JP.
This is going to be a bit nitpicky, and I may be reading more into this than what you
Very nitpicky because, if I'm reading your final summation of this "tag", it is very close to what I intended. I readily admit that I do not know everything about the JP Light Novel Publishing business. I would have to do a lot more research than I'm willing to, to prove (or fail to prove) my point. When I wrote that, i was thinking of a case of Series X which is published to volume 8 and volume 8 is the final volume. However, market research indicates that the English market would like this series.
Yeah, the 'nitpicky' part is that legally/contractually, JNC does not have the rights to all released parts of any series they publish, which is the literal interpretation I got from your wording. From a practical standpoint, they have a record of finishing every series it was possible for them to finish - although sometimes it has taken a very long time.
Unfortunately, the definition of 'finish', beyond 'released every volume the JP publisher allows them to have', isn't as clear-cut as some would like. :(
English publishers really only license one volume at a time? I imagined English publishers opting for all 8.
I can't speak for any other publishers, since I haven't seen any of them discuss their operations to the degree that JNC does. What I can say is that:
- JNC repeatedly states, to the point where it's in that FAQ I pointed to, that release of a new volume can be delayed because of negotiations with the publisher; it just came up again today, with Peddler in Another World.
- Other publishers experience similar delays, from what I've seen.
In my version, the English volumes are "ongoing" even though the series is "Complete" in JP. Anyway, that's just for clarification of what I was thinking. If the publisher doesn't know if they'll even be allowed the rest of the completed novels, there's no way this tag would be meaningful.
Like I said, from a practical standpoint, JNC finishes the series it starts. So in the most basic sense, 'Ongoing' means 'JNC thinks there's still volumes to come'. But then they have to clarify with 'either there are volumes we need to catch up on, or we're caught up and the JP publisher hasn't said the series is over.' Then they have to cover what expectations you might have when the JP publisher hasn't made any clear signals about whether there are future volumes in the works. And they'd probably have to add some kind of disclaimer for legal reasons, along the lines of 'we'll do our best, but no guarantees.' The more you try to nail down the meaning, the more complicated it gets - there aren't any simple answers.
Seems pretty reasonable, although I'd also note something to the effect that 'officially finished in JP' can include series canceled by the publisher that never had an actual story conclusion.
Agreed. Sometimes, that's the hardest fact to find as a non-JP reader.
Yup. And we had that statement from @myskaros earlier that JNC usually doesn't have any better idea than the non-JP reader.
I'm reminded of a quote from Bujold's The Hallowed Hunt:
Ingrey smiled grimly at this. “It was lately suggested to me, by a man with longer experience of the gods than I can rightly imagine, that the reason the gods do not show our paths more plainly is that They do not know either. I haven’t decided if I find this reassuring or the reverse. It does hint they do not torment us solely for Their amusement, at least.”
Oswin tapped a hand on the railing. “Hallana and I have argued this point—the foresight of the gods. They are the gods. They must know if anyone does.”
“Perhaps no one does,” said Ingrey easily.
The expression on Oswin’s face was that of a man forced to swallow a vile-tasting medicine of dubious value.
I really don't like changing Hiatus to Delayed because Delayed implies that
Two weeks later, I can't really remember why I chose delayed over hiatus. I think it was because my first pass was thinking about the source of the hiatus (JP publisher/author side vs J-Novel/translation team side) and later decided that maybe it didn't matter. I think. Either way, it was more the idea then the actual tag. One of the problems I have with website is that I don't know what J-Novel means when they're using their tags.
I tend to be something of an epistemologist, as a software developer. Both as a programmer because computers are very literal-minded; and when talking with users in the design and debugging stages, because the wrong term can (and has) led users to expect the software to do one thing when it's actually doing something else. More than once, I've spent an hour debating terminology with a manager so that we could find the term that would make the most sense to the most users. So I often get nitpicky about the proper word. (It's also why I often get nitpicky about pinning down all the implications of a particular statement.)
As for the source of a delay... hm. @myskaros already talked about the problems involved with saying anything about delays in production, so it sounds pretty clear that they probably won't say anything. So the main time this tag would come into play is when there hasn't been any word from the original publisher - either of a new release, or that the series has been canceled.
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@Travis-Butler said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
I tend to be something of an epistemologist, as a software developer. Both as a programmer because computers are very literal-minded; and when talking with users in the design and debugging stages, because the wrong term can (and has) led users to expect the software to do one thing when it's actually doing something else. More than once, I've spent an hour debating terminology with a manager so that we could find the term that would make the most sense to the most users.
It's just those debates that lead me to leave the industry after 25 years. Now I get to debate terminology in things medical -- with bigger legal and moral implications :/. Don't know if that was the right decision.
Anyway, I consider this issue closed. I put in my 2 cents. The powers-that-be can take my intent under advisement or not. I still find the current setup useless as an end user, but it's not much different than any other situation with published translations so I'll manage.
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I'll chime in simply to add that marking something as completed is really kind of useless because - as has been pointed out in several examples already - addition books suddenly getting added is actually not at all uncommon. That said, some way to show the difference between there being 20 volumes in Japan and 15 so far with J-Novel vs 3 in Japan and 3 with J-Novel would be nice.
So, from a tag perspective you'd have
15 of 20 licensed and released - Ongoing
3 of 3 licensed and released - Current/Caught Up
15 of 20 licensed and released but no more will ever be licensed because of circumstances - Dropped
15 of 20 licensed and released but the 16th volume either hasn't been licensed or the team is busy with other stuff - Hiatus
A good example of that last one would actually have been when Holy Knight's Dark Road was being released... it shared the same team as Tearmoon Princess so the schedule was one volume of Tearmoon, one of Dark Road, then back to Tearmoon, etc. Whichever one was being released would for been Ongoing while the other would have been Hiatus . Now it's only Tearmoon, it would remain Ongoing and Dark Road would be Caught Up
Solves the problem of not knowing if there is any more released in Japan, doesn't require guessing if there will be any more, and still gives the ability for J-Novel to show the difference between one they aren't working on right now vs one they don't plan to ever work on again.
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@xdrfiredogx said in J-Novel meaning for Tags:
15 of 20 licensed and released - Ongoing
[...]
15 of 20 licensed and released but the 16th volume either hasn't been licensed or the team is busy with other stuff - Hiatus
I'm not sure if there should be a distinction between these two as the effective differences from a user facing perspective should effectively be nil.
Suppose, in an extreme, J-Novel changes their translation model such that the entire volume is fully translated and edited before starting weekly prepub serialization. Additionally, they also start inserting a random 2-to-12-week delay between volumes based on rolling a pair of dice. At that point, the only real difference between the two is whether or not a prepub is active.
A good example of that last one would actually have been when Holy Knight's Dark Road was being released... it shared the same team as Tearmoon Princess so the schedule was one volume of Tearmoon, one of Dark Road, then back to Tearmoon, etc. Whichever one was being released would for been Ongoing while the other would have been Hiatus . Now it's only Tearmoon, it would remain Ongoing and Dark Road would be Caught Up
It honestly doesn't seem like Hiatus is really communicating much more than is already being communicated. If someone randomly checks out Tearmoon while it's on Hiatus, all they really get is that there's no new content right now. They'd have to go elsewhere (e.g., forums) to find out why Tearmoon is listed on Hiatus. There'd be little difference from listing Tearmoon as Ongoing and people posting on the forums asking where is future Tearmoon. If someone really only cared if there's new content, that can be trivially inferred by there not being prepub and no upcoming release date.
Another side to managing the tag is knowing when something switches between Ongoing and Hiatus. A super conservative world where the tag effectively means there's an upcoming volume release doesn't add anything new. A very loose use of the Hiatus tag that can switch before even licensing contracts are signed also doesn't really communicate anything. And in the broad in-between, Hiatus doesn't appear to meaningfully differentiate itself from Ongoing.
I do agree the first three tags do meaningfully communicate something (Ongoing/Caught Up/Dropped). Ongoing/Caught Up reflect what the state of the series is relative to JP. Dropped communicates J-Novel's intention of no longer publishing the series, compared to their FAQ's stated intention of maintained publishing of the series. Otherwise, I think being able to search/filter the list by series that have an incomplete prepub and/or pending ebook publishing should cover what you're defining as the Hiatus tag.
