Middaugh Launches Manga House

by Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 10/11/2004

The manga tsunami rolls on. Dallas Middaugh, director of Del Rey's manga publishing program, is starting Seven Seas Entertainment, a Los Angeles–based publishing venture specializing in original manga for the international market. The new company will publish four original manga titles simultaneously, in February 2005.

Middaugh is launching Seven Seas (www.gomanga.com) with Jason DeAngelis, an expert on Japanese culture and a translator for Del Rey Manga, Dark Horse and other manga publishers. Middaugh said he has a nonexclusive arrangement with Random House and his new company will not conflict with his work at Del Rey.

He emphasized that Seven Seas will publish original works, not the licensed English-language translations of Japanese titles—like those published by Del Rey and other manga publishers—that dominate the market. Nevertheless, the books will be published in the right-to-left format popularized by Japanese reprints. The books will be distributed by Diamond Book Distribution.