Seven Seas to Publish Hassler's Kid's Book

by Calvin Reid, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 8/29/2006

When Seven Seas Entertainment CEO Jason DeAngelis publishes Kurt Hassler's new kid's picture book Diva v. Poe in October, he'll not only publish a notable children's author but he'll have easy access to a very experienced book publishing professional. When he's not writing, Hassler is the manga and graphic novel buyer for Borders Books and Music, credited with building the category into one of the chain's fastest growing sections.

Created with illustrator Spiro Dousias, Diva v. Poe is Hassler's second children's book. DeAngelis said he expects strong orders from Borders and he's in talks with B&N. Hassler's first book, Hannah and the Homonculus (Thomas Gale, 2001) was a Children's Book Sense pick and Borders Original Voices nominee. Seven Seas is an indie manga house known for its savvy use of the Web and DeAngelis is launching a flash animation trailer for Diva v. Poe at(http://www.gomanga.com/diva_v_poe/)on the Seven Seas Web site.

"I'd say nearly 100% of manga readers are on the Web. Print ads don't drive people to your site," said DeAngelis, who points out that Hassler is also a well-known manga author who writes under the name Segamu. The second volume of Sakora Refugees, Hassler's comic fantasy manga (created with artist Melissa Dejesus) is also due out in October from Tokyopop.

DeAngelis said Seven Seas has a full-time Flash animator and provides online previews, serialized webcomics and lively online message forums for each of its titles. But while Diva v. Poe will have a Web animation, the book won't have a message board in the Seven Seas online forum. "It's a children's book," noted DeAngelis, "the discussion in the forums would just confuse parents."