Are Axed Novels/Manga Worth Licensing?
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@Tahu said in Are Axed Novels/Manga Worth Licensing?:
@GeorgeMTO the webnovel is finished but not the hard novel
It's almost like this entire topic was focused on the light novels, because that's what gets licensed for translation.
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Hmm.
Seems like everyone is thinking about this as a consumer and not a publisher.
As a consumer, there's a case to be made for being able to read what is available even when it doesn't finish. There's several series here that I don't expect to ever get more of and I don't have any regrets about having started them.
But as a publisher, it's a terrible business model. Series that have been cancelled aren't likely to have any cross promotion to help build a sales base, so they probably aren't going to sell very well. Meanwhile, folks that haunt a publishers' forum probably have the sense to check and see what the status is in Japan but the average buyer coming from places like Amazon or Bookwalker wouldn't. From their perspective, J-Novel licensed this series that they have gotten hooked on, then cancelled it. That could very well leave them thinking that J-Novel does that all the time, making them hesitant to buy series they release in the future.
Like I said, it's a really bad idea.
Now, it's very different when a series gets cancelled in Japan after it's started releasing here. I'm just talking about going out and licensing series that have been confirmed to be cancelled before they are licensed.
Of course, some of these series end up continuing for free on novel sites, but rights in a case like that get very, very messy. The exception would be something in the author's contract with the Japanese publisher returning the rights to them and allowing them to "shop" it to be released by someone else. Even in that case, licensing directly from the writer has it's own set of headaches.
All that weighed against what would probably be fairly small sales.
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@Tahu DxD wasn't axed, but the author has health problems and last time I checked there was no info on if and when he'll be able to resume writing.
For Infinite Stratos the author posted on Twitter that he won't conclude the series because he doesn't have the leeway to work on something that won't bring money. -
@Lex said in Are Axed Novels/Manga Worth Licensing?:
@Tahu DxD wasn't axed, but the author has health problems and last time I checked there was no info on if and when he'll be able to resume writing.
For Infinite Stratos the author posted on Twitter that he won't conclude the series because he doesn't have the leeway to work on something that won't bring money.I personally think the same should apply to FUNA's titles - but they seem to handle it quite well with having multiple series at once.
It is sad, but I have read a lot of stories reaching a point where I just "put the series to peace" because the author has lost their pacing for one reason or another.
Those moments often collate with a series "going into hiatus" very soon - you can "feel" that something is wrong. Whether the author is running out of ideas or burnout by being pushing into a "kingsroad scenario" for publishing/marketing matters.
On that note I have high love and respect for the author of I Got Caught Up in a Hero Summons, but the Other World Was at Peace! They make an update almost daily - so there is always something to read. And they got the pacing right to keep things interesting and funny, making it one of the more worthwhile reading titles.
In comparison I am rather dissapointed with Farming Life in Another World and lung into a New World? Time to Lift the 200-Year Curse! Both made a very great impression at first, and while the concept was novel it was fun to read. But the longer it goes the pacing became more and more akward that it is no longer fun to read. Let's Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World does it much better in comparison, despite I am not fond of the manga style.
