Question about Finder on Amazon

[sunflower33]

Hi! There's a rumor being spread around LJ that we shouldn't buy Finder from Amazon because DMP and Yamane-sensei won't get paid if we do. This seems extremely silly to me, but since the person who seems to be the source over there says she was told this by DMP personnel, can you please officially either tell us if this is the case or put the rumor to rest? Thanks!

[mo2468]

That does sound pretty ridiculous. It might just be that whoever "heard" this was mistaking a different point that the "DMP personnel" was making. I do know that there is a difference in profit margin between what DMP gets for selling through Akadot and what they get by selling through a distributor, so perhaps the point was the money going "directly" to DMP (dunno how the original artist factors in here at all, considering the bulk of the money is paid through the licensing). This would affect other sellers (besides Amazon), though. It's a very interesting rumor, in any event, and I'd be curious to hear what DMP has to say to it.

[lore]

Hi! There's a rumor being spread around LJ that we shouldn't buy Finder from Amazon because DMP and Yamane-sensei won't get paid if we do.

There are definitely ways to maximize DMPs return on a VF sale. The very best way is the buy from Akadot, as that is DMP's online store. Any books bought there eliminates the "middle-man", which are the distributors.

Distributors like Diamond "buy" the books for a certain amount, then re-sell them to the various markets like comic book shops and bookstores. If a book costs $13.00, distributors usually sell to shops for half, so $7.50. Which means the distributor is buying the books from DMP for even less to make a profit - maybe $4.50 or less. If a book costs $3 to make, all costs being figured in, DMP doesn't make much money from selling to distributors. At Akadot, sales are all pure profit for them.

The other reason it might be better not to buy from Amazon is simply because Amazon doesn't get the books in for at least a month after Akadot does. Other sellers also seem to get their books in before Amazon. If you want to generate buzz for the book, strong sales right away would be the best way to do it, and Amazon doesn't even get in the game for a month.

As for the rumor, it might have been generated by this discussion on the Drama Queen site:
http://www.onedramaqueen.com/forum/view ... ?f=20&t=26

Because, yes, the quickest way to put money back in a publisher's coffers is to buy direct, and DMP has pretty much admitted that it spent more than it usually does for the VF license. Maybe someone thinks DMP is in need of a quick return on its investment.

Um, I hope this helps!

love, lore

[mo2468]

I think what DMP paid for the VF license is the key here. From what they've hinted at, this book cost them much more than their average license, so I bet they need a much higher return (and hopefully for them, initial return) than usual to break even. I could only speculate on what that "break-even" number might be, but for VF that number must be higher. However, that doesn't mean DMP is anywhere near in the same boat that DramaQueen has found themselves in. DMP has a much bigger catalogue of in-print titles than DQ and has been publishing with a continuous income stream for all of the last few years that DQ was not. DQ stated that they needed strong initial sales of The Summit volume 1, because they needed the money to print more books. I don't see DMP being in the same boat. If the initial sales of VF don't meet their expectations (or desires) I don't see them not being able to print more books. I'm sure they will be hit a bit financially because of it and down the road it will color their future publishing endeavors, and of course it will disappoint them greatly to go through all the work and risk of licensing this title because of overwhelming fan request only to have it underperform, but as far as their financial future, I don't see this as a "make or break" kind of situation.

In any event, I will be buying the book from Akadot, and right away myself. So that's one, for sure, direct sale.

[sawwie-chan]

I think a more likely explanation for this rumour would be what was written about the Aurora situation a while back.
Here

[sunflower33]

Thanks everyone for your answers. I knew the profit margin was different for the different shops. I was just wondering if there was some issue about Diamond or Amazon that we've not heard about but of which we should be aware. Hopefully DMP themselves will answer so I'll be able to address this on the Yamane LJ community with facts. Amazon is the only choice some people say they have, and they only want to buy if it will support Yamane-sensei. After she got burnt with BeBeautiful's vol 3, people are understandably cautious.

[ChibiKami]

A sale is a sale whether it is through Amazon or Akadot. Mangaka are not paid through the channel of retail-but through royalties on units sold-which can only be tracked through retail sites and distributors. So the best thing to do to support your favorite mangaka and publisher is to buy their books LEGALLY when they are available-and not share and distribute it illegally. (Already groups are sharing REVERSIBLE-a book we commissioned AND created to try to AVOID illegal piracy like that.)

But Amazon sales are all tracked through our distributor-so all sales made through Amazon are counted into the sales in general for the title-and they count. Amazon is an official retailer that stocks through our distributor, Diamond.

[sunflower33]

Thanks Chibi-kami. I've posted and let people know.

Unfortunately, there are always people who scan books like you've described. :( They aren't Yamane-sensei's fans, rather people who are looking for self-glorification. If they cared about her, they wouldn't do it. They won't be welcomed in any of the Yamane-based communities on LJ, and we're pretty vocal about that.

We stress legal purchasing of all of Sensei's titles on the community, and don't allow sharing of any scans of volumes or tankoubon, nor do we allow sharing of scanlations of a series in any language it's licensed in. We're promoting the sale Viewfinder because we want the books to sell as well as you do. :)

[lore]

After she got burnt with BeBeautiful's vol 3, people are understandably cautious.

What happened with BB 3? Was she never paid royalties on it? Ugh!

[mo2468]

After she got burnt with BeBeautiful's vol 3, people are understandably cautious.

What happened with BB 3? Was she never paid royalties on it? Ugh!

VF 3 was part of the Biblos bankruptcy debacle. CPM never renegotiated the licenses for any of their Biblos titles with Libre. I don't know the details of how this specifically impacted Yamane, though.