10.30.2007

...So, an idea has occurred to me.

I... don't even know how practical it is. In fact I am pretty sure that it's not practical.
But, a few days ago an idea occurred to me.
I thought, "I would like to own a publishing house that translates Japanese light novels (young adult novels, generally fairly short--LABB and Kino both fall into this category) into English."

Now, it's an interesting idea, but I'm a little frustrated with it. It's so impractical! The idea of me starting a business... And this isn't even a simple home business like, "Oh, I have some cute screen-printed T-shirts. Buy them!"
Oh, no, it's nothing like that.
I'd have to acquire the publishing rights. (Requires money & interaction)
Translate it.
Have it printed. (Requires... well, something, and I don't even know what)
Market it. (Again... I have no idea how to do this. I do know that it would require money)

It's nearly impossible that it could all be done by one person; certainly I would have to spend a while struggling before it took off, IF it took off. But Seven Seas has dropped its novel line (to my great frustration--I wanted to read Boogiepop at Dawn!), Viz shows signs of not being very confident in novels (at least, this thought is recorded in my head. I forget if it was only caused by LABB, which would now make the thought invalid, or not), and Tokyopop... well you saw my issue with Tokyopop in the last entry. -_-
But in my mind... In my mind, I'm thinking, "Maybe they're marketing them wrong."
See, here's the thing. I hate saying this because it makes me sound like that evil man, but maybe the "manga crowd" that they generally market to doesn't really read as many novels. I mean, especially if they just got into manga because it was right next to the comics, or because they got into it through anime.
So if I didn't place the emphasis on them being Japanese novels... But then I risk over-localization which would cause me to explode in a fit of self-loathing.


Sigh.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ehhh? When did Seven Seas say they were dropping their novel line? That's news to me, since they announced a bunch of new stuff at Anime Expo...

WallofIllusion said...

...Hmm... Well, I was remembering it incorrectly. They do have a lot more titles licensced than last time I checked the site, but everything that isn't out already says the release date is "TBA." All I really remember is that further Boogiepop releases depended on the success of other novel series...
I suppose all I really know is that Boogiepop is delayed until... sometime. Sorry for the misinformation. ><
Ah... in the forums it says the release is scheduled for 2008. That'll teach me to make unresearched statements. o.o

Anonymous said...

Oh, whew, I thought I'd missed something big. Thanks for the response :)