Thread by @debaoki

At #ProjectAnime19 listening to @dallasmiddaugh ‘s presentation on the manga publishing trends in n.america #AX2019

Here’s @dallasmiddaugh ‘s chart showing the sales growth of manga since 2002. Manga enjoyed “geometric growth” until 2007. Recovery only began again in 2013, partly thanks to Attack on Titan manga/anime

“In 2013, the US economy improved + Attack on Titan anime aired, and this created a rising tide that helped rise all other boats/the general manga publishing biz.” - D. Middaugh @ #ProjectAnime19

"In 2012, @KodanshaUSA ordered a 10,000 copy run of Attack on Titan vol 1. I told Barnes & Noble that it would be huge. they ordered 6,000 copies, and in all of 2012, the Attack on Titan manga didn't sell. Then in 2013, the anime debuted." - D. Middaugh #ProjectAnime19

"After the Attack on Titan anime started airing in April 2013, those initial 10,000 copies of vol. 1 sold. I ordered another 10,000 copies. In 3 weeks, those were gone. I printed another 20,000 thinking it would last 6 months. Those were gone in 6 weeks." - D. Middaugh

"We printed 50,000 copies of Attack on Titan vol. 1, then finally opted to print 100,000 copies, thinking, 'there's no way this sales momentum will last.' 1 week later, Loot Crate bought 89,000 copies." - D. Middaugh @ #ProjectAnime19

The success of the Attack on Titan manga "brought a new wave of readers in. While Attack on Titan is no longer a top seller, but this, along with the growth in the availability of anime has led to growth of manga sales over the past 6 years." - D, Middaugh. (but still below 2008)

General 2018 graphic novel N. America sales trends, as reported by @dallasmiddaugh from his manga biz white paper at #ProjectAnime19 - All print sales is up 1.8%, g. novel units sold up 11.6%, manga unit sales up 8.2%

The growth of graphic novel sales in N. America is largely thanks to "juvenile/kids graphic novels" - Unit sales are up 54.35% largely thanks to bestsellers like Dog Man and Raina Telgemeier's books. - fr. @dallasmiddaugh's white paper on manga project-anime.org/wp-content/upl…

Meanwhile, adult g. novels (a.k.a. everything else) unit sales are down 6.37%. in the comic shop channels/ Diamond g. novels, unit sales are down 2.17% in 2018. "DC did not have a good year, while Marvel & Image are flat/slightly up. Manga = 25% of the g. novel sales in 2018

.@dallasmiddaugh 's g.novel sales figures come from Diamond Comics sales charts + Bookscan, which tracks only print, only captures 75% of US market & doesn't include Diamond's top 500 sales charts. There are no reliable sources for digital manga sales or Scholastic Book fairs

While there are no reliable sources for digital comics/manga sales in N. America, most publishers estimate that digital manga sales represent 10-15% of total sales. Compare this to JP, where over 50% of manga sales are via digital platforms. - D. Middaugh @ #ProjectAnime19

While digital = 10-15% of manga sales, online piracy continues to grow. Sites like M*ngaR*ck have seen significant growth in the past years, "which is very frustrating to watch" - D. Middaugh. "They do everything they can to try to make themselves look legit."

What drives manga sales? "Anime is a big driver -- it can propel an already popular manga to greater heights." - examples: My Hero Academia for @VIZMedia , Ancient Magus' Bride for @gomanga - D. Middaugh @ #ProjectAnime19

When you look at the top 50 list of manga sold in 2018, shonen manga is the most popular and dominant genre.

1st non-shonen title is Uzumaki fr. @VIZMedia at #26. 1st josei is My Lesbian Experience w/ Loneliness at #70. 1st shojo is at #100 with Orange, fr. @gomanga

Looking @ top 50 graphic novels sold in 2018 by units, manga enters the chart at #28 with My Hero Academia fr, @shonenjump. The first 14 titles on the bestseller list are ALL kids comics. The top 6 together = 1.5 million copies sold. After #10, each sell 60-70K each

"When you look at manga sales by units sold, @vizmedia has controlled the market in N. America for the last 15 years. The top 50 is mostly VIZ titles, with the 1st non-VIZ title being Fairy Tail fr. @KodanshaUSA at #40, Berserk fr. @DarkHorseComics at #45." -D. Middaugh

As far as top 50 manga sold in 2018 by gross sales ($), keep in mind that the title at #1, Pokemon Adventures Red & Blue box set fr. @VIZMedia cost $40. the Akira box set fr. @KodanshaUSA was $150. MHA #1 $9.99 sells 30,000 copies to = 2000 Akira box sets sold

fr. @dallasmiddaugh's manga publishing white paper, the top manga publishers in N. America ranked by revenue:

1. @VIZMedia
2. @yenpress
3. @KodanshaUSA
4. Seven Seas / @gomanga
5. @darkhorse
6. @Vertical_Comics
7. Udon Entertainment @UdonEnt
8. @tokyopop
9. @1peacebooks

"by units sold in 2018, @vizmedia manga = over 1/2 of all manga sold in N. America. @YenPress follows at 16.58%, @KodanshaUSA at 13.82% & @gomanga at 11.55%. stays the same when you look at gross sales" - D. Middaugh @ #projectanime19

For industry watchers, here's a look at which Japanese publishers license content to N. American publishers. Aside from @KodanshaUSA, who only publishes Kodansha manga, every other publisher works w/ a variety of JP companies. fr. @dmiddaugh's manga publishing whitepaper

Now a look at the N. American manga publishers - how many books they released in 2018, # of unique titles in their catalog, their top selling series, highest grossing titles, and overall look at their business. fr. the #ProjectAnime19 manga whitepaper: project-anime.org

2018 overview of @VIZMedia - Top sellers: My Hero Academia, Legend of Zelda, Tokyo Ghoul, RWBY, Dragon Ball Super. 292 books released, 2091 unique titles in catalog

Top 10% of their list = 61% of their total gross sales, w/ MHA = 12% of their manga sold in 2018. #ProjectAnime19

2018 overview of @yenpress - Top sellers: Black Butler, Goblin Slayer, Fruits Basket, Wolf Children, Angels of Death. Published 929 unique titles, Top 10% of list = 35% of income "Yen is publishing a LOT of books. They're spending a lot of $ to make $." - D. Middaugh

2018 overview of @KodanshaUSA - Top sellers: Fairy Tail, Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan, Wotakoi, Seven Deadly Sins. 154 manga released in 2018, 755 unique titles in catalog, with top 10% of list = 48% of gross sales in 2018. Attack on Titan = 70 titles = 17.3% of revenue

2018 overview of Seven Seas / @gomanga - Top sellers: Ancient Magus' Bride, My Lesbian Experience..., Made in Abyss, Orange, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. top grossing title: Devil Man. 285 books released in '18. Ancient Magus' Bride = 8.3% of sales, less reliant on single series

2018 overview of @DarkHorseComics manga - Top seller: Berserk, which = 51.9% of total revenue fr. manga. "for any other publisher, it would be dangerous to rely so heavily on a single series, but DH publishers more than manga." Other top sellers: Mob Psycho 100, Danganronpa

2018 overview of @Vertical_Comics - Top sellers: Chi's Sweet Home, Nichijou, Devil's Line, Dissolving Classroom, Mobile Suit Gundam. Chi = 22.9% of total revenue in 2018 "it's now an evergreen title for Vertical." 46 titles released in 2018. top 10% of list = 78% of gross sales

As for the rest of the manga publishers, @udonent, @tokyopop and @1PeaceBooks have their standout titles, plus there are a lot of new players in the market, including @denpa_books @SolPressUSA @jnovelclub, Media-Do Int'l & now @SquareEnix manga/books entering the market in 2019

"As for anime driving manga sales in US, there's no guarantee that an anime will drive sales for the manga." - D. Middaugh - If the anime tanks / doesn't catch fire with fans in N. America, then the manga also doesn't get a sales boost too.

"Publishing manga is inherently a risky undertaking. In most contracts, once you pickup a manga, you're basically committing to publishing the entire series. If the manga doesn't sell well, you're still on the hook to publish the whole thing, even if you lose money on each vol."

Why is it difficult for manga to be released at the same time as the anime? Largely because of the time diff between when publishers learn of an anime coming to US (sometimes as little as a month) & 9 month min lead time required for bookstores to order/stock books.

"in the case of Erased, it took a year for the manga to be available fr. @yenpress after the anime aired on @crunchyroll." - D. Middaugh. "It's now late July, publishers are talking abt what they'll release at end of 2020."

"One of the key flaws of the US manga publishing biz is that we're required to make decisions about what we'll publish many months in advance of release. Bookstores require that you tell them 9 months in advance what you're going to publish. The system is broken." - D.Middaugh

"Digital publishing (of manga) is a solution to the time requirements imposed by bookstores, but unlike Japan, where 50% of the manga sold is digital, US it's only 10-15%. publishing in digital means you potentially miss 90% of readers." - D. Middaugh.

There are some examples when a publisher can sync up release of the manga with the release of the anime. @KodanshaUSA did this with Land of the Lustrous -- but that was likely helped along by coordination across various divisions of Kodansha in US/JP.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for the "State of the US Manga Market" whitepaper presented by @dallasmiddaugh at #ProjectAnime19. You can read the entire report here: project-anime.org/wp-content/upl…