Seven Seas Launches "Light" Novels Line

by Calvin Reid, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 9/13/2006

American indie manga publisher Seven Seas Entertainment has plans to add a line of new illustrated "light novels"—licensed Japanese prose works sometimes based on manga or anime properties—to its publishing list beginning with the first of six titles in April 2007. "Light" novels are a recent form of commercial prose works popular in Japan and aimed at a market of young adult to older readers.

The books are small (about 4"x6") with 200 to 300 pages priced at $7.95 and heavily illustrated, featuring manga-style cover art, color page inserts and black and white illustrations throughout. Jason DeAngelis, Seven Seas publisher, said the company is taking care to retain the book's original Japanese format. He emphasized that while the line will appeal to manga fans, it "will not be limited to manga properties." The house publishes other prose works and DeAngelis said he intends to do some original prose publishing "down the line."

"Seven Seas is a content provider, not just a manga publisher," said DeAngelis. "We're always looking for interesting Asian content or new content from anywhere in the world."