Harlequin Set to Relaunch Manga Line In-House
This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on July 11, 2006 Sign up now!
by Kai-Ming Cha, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 7/11/2006
In its quest to reach beyond the conventional comics and manga market, romance publisher Harlequin is taking back its manga line. The manga adaptations of its romance novels were published by Dark Horse Comics and distributed through Diamond Comics Distribution. This fall, Harlequin will relaunch the line under a new imprint called Pink Ginger Blossom. The imprint will debut with four titles in September, followed by two titles in November and two in January. All books will feature the Harlequin Pink logo and retail at a competitive price point: $7.99 each.
Harlequin v-p of business development Mary Apthorp says that the decision to move the manga line in-house was the result of general excitement over the manga format. "The decision was made based on the potential of this field," says Apthorp. "This is a real opportunity to use our own sales force. We thought it would be best for this next round of titles if we do it ourselves."
Last year Harlequin, the largest publisher of romance novels, teamed up with Dark Horse, an established independent comics publisher with much experience in licensing and publishing manga, to introduce U.S. readers to Harlequin manga. Harlequin romance novels have a large presence in Japan, with many of the novels adapted to manga by Japanese artists. Approximately 250 of its novels have manga counterparts, giving Harlequin a large library to pull from.
"We built a great awareness [about the line] in the comics market," says Dark Horse publicist Jeremy Atkins of the past year. "But in the end, [Harlequin] owns the rights and we're just licensing from them. It's more beneficial for them if they do it [in house.]" At Dark Horse, Harlequin manga struggled to find its audience (see "Manga Still a Big Story at Dark Horse," March 28, PWCW). Former Dark Horse publicist Lee Dawson said that questions still remained about whether the manga editions can appeal to regular Harlequin readers.
To find their target audience, Harlequin has created focus groups, young women ages 12-15 and 16-18, who were given blind samples of popular manga titles and Harlequin titles. Harlequin executive v-p of new business development Pam Laycock said the focus groups revealed an in-between audience she calls "young potentials." "These 'young potentials' favored our books over the manga picked up by American manga publishers," Laycock says. "Harlequin manga is wonderful marriage of East meets West. We have Western stories that [these readers] can relate to and an Eastern art style that they find exotic."
To reach the "young potential" audience, Harlequin is concentrating on the book trade and mass merchandisers like Target and K-mart. Pink Ginger Blossom books will also be available for order on the Harlequin Web site (eharlequin.com). Laycock says the publisher's decision pull out of the direct market was based on its desire to target the "potential" manga reader.
Dark Horse will continue to translate and package the books. "They're going to keep working with Dark Horse," says Atkins. "We're an excellent resource. Dark Horse has a credibility that they wouldn't have been able to achieve on their own."
Well aware of that, Laycock says that all Pink Ginger Blossom books will carry the Dark Horse logo. "That connection is there," says Laycock. "And it's important to keep that connection. Anything that can help us build credibility in this space we want to make sure we do. And Dark Horse can help us do that."
Laycock remains enthusiastic about Harlequin's manga line-up. "This is a great opportunity to take the timeless romantic experience of Harlequin and bring it to a whole new generation of readers. The beauty of manga is that they can find it in a format that's relevant to them."
