Wednesday, October 12, 2005
TOKYOPOP'S VALOIS ON GRAPHIC NOVELS
Warren Ellis's Engine forum has a thread on Tokyopop's "OEL manga" (via Fanboy Rampage) that turned into a discussion of Tokyopop's contracts with the creators of such manga, which a number of posters regard as exploitative. The whole thing is worth reading, but I was struck by this quote from Rob Valois, an editor at Tokyopop: "In the current market, very few OGNs make any real profit. A 'best selling' graphic novel sells nothing compered to a decent selling text novel. Breakeven is the best most GN publishers can hope for. The only way for a company like TP to sustain their business is the chance that a title or two will break and become a movie or a TV series or a line of fashionable accessories." To be sure, Valois has an ulterior motive: he's justifying Tokyopop's contracts. But if what he's saying is accurate, that's bad news for everyone (including me) who's been hoping that the bookstore market will be the salvation of indy comics.
Warren Ellis's Engine forum has a thread on Tokyopop's "OEL manga" (via Fanboy Rampage) that turned into a discussion of Tokyopop's contracts with the creators of such manga, which a number of posters regard as exploitative. The whole thing is worth reading, but I was struck by this quote from Rob Valois, an editor at Tokyopop: "In the current market, very few OGNs make any real profit. A 'best selling' graphic novel sells nothing compered to a decent selling text novel. Breakeven is the best most GN publishers can hope for. The only way for a company like TP to sustain their business is the chance that a title or two will break and become a movie or a TV series or a line of fashionable accessories." To be sure, Valois has an ulterior motive: he's justifying Tokyopop's contracts. But if what he's saying is accurate, that's bad news for everyone (including me) who's been hoping that the bookstore market will be the salvation of indy comics.
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