Interview with some answers

[lore]

Deb Aoki at About.com is such a sensible person. When the Viewfinder license was announced, she shot off some questions to Michelle Mauk, Graphic Designer and Marketing Manager at DMP. In addition to answers to Deb's questions, there are also comments to fans from DMP's Editor in Chief, Fred Lui.

http://manga.about.com/b/2010/03/15/digital-manga-reveals-more-about-new-yaoi-license-the-finder-series.htm

To boil it down, the June imprint was chosen for its wider distribution, as suspected. Also, the book will MSRP at $13.95 in B6 size, which I believe is standard takubon size. We should have volumes 1 and 2 by the end of the year. DMP will be treating this book very specially, even on the June imprint, which I believe is their address toward censorship. Also, keep an eye on the website for the series, it will have some cool stuff eventually. The license was very costly to DMP, but it was the book most fans requested from DMP, so they went for it in the name of their fans. The editor in chief asks fans to support the book.

It's a great article, so despite my synopsis, I hope you go read it for yourself and then thank Deb for providing it to us.

[machigai]

thanks for the link!

I don't think the "treating it special" part is necessarily about censorship/alterations... they don't really address this issue in the interview.

volumes 1-2 by the end of this year... I was kind of hoping for more

[lore]

More??? It's March and we'll be getting Volume 1 this summer and Volume 2 I would guess close to Yaoi Con in the fall. That's a very quick turn-around in publishing, especially for books that need to be translated and re-lettered.

I mean, I don't blame you for wanting more, but really, two books in 9 months is pretty good for a small publisher like DMP.

[Ruby_Alexandrine]

By reading Fred Lui's comments, I was not surprised that the licensing of Viewfinder was expensive. Perhaps far more expensive than their other licenses.

[yaoi_pariah]

I like how they're doing a mini-site in order to drive fans toward the title. I've seen this done successfully with gay comics publisher Class Comics, and also saw it implemented by St Kosen for promotion of their yaoi-novel series at Yaoi Prose.

[2old4yaoi]

Thanks for the link to the interview Lore! It is enlightening. Actually, depending on how the review & comparison goes for vol 1, DMP might not see the return on their investment yet until their volume 2 is officially out. This is because anyone can still get the BB's copy of Viewfinder vol 1 close to MSRP on some online retailers. I got my new copy at about $15 from Alibris just a few months ago. I will still buy June's copy of volume 1 though. It is definitely vol 2 onwards that are very hard to get & whose sales will give DMP its much hoped for profit. I just hope DMP put this into considerations when doing their forecast.

Is Ayane Yamano going to be DMP's guest of honor at 2010 yaoicon? If so, will they let us get our June's copies of Viewfinders signed for free if we attend? I am not sure how these events work

[mo2468]

Yamane is the Guest of Honor of the convention, not of DMP. DMP has yet to announce its industry guest. I bet you for sure that you will be able to get her to sign your manga at the con, though. She's going to be very popular, though, so get in line early!

[Sev]

I'm delighted that DMP have got the rights and intend to publish it! It's brilliant! I can't wait! I've loved to see 4 and 5 publish in english too. Roll on DMP

[reader17]

I have to agree with 2old4yaoi with the returns. I already have vol 1 and 2 of the Finder Series from BB. I really want Vol 3. But I understand vol 1 and 2 must be published first. I am still debating if I should pick up vol 1 just to see the differences between BB and June copies.

I know it is only 13.95 but since I buy all of June's other titles the amount adds up. So as it gets closer to release time I will make my decision then on whether to get vol 1 or not. (Especially since it is a series and knowing me I will want all of the volumes to look the same).

Even if I don't purchase vol 1 and vol 2 now, I want June to know I will definitely be buying all volumes that come after volume 2. Wishing that I could pre-order them now

[Shroud]

I have my pre-order in. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!