Digital Manga Inc., a California-based manga publisher specializing in the yaoi genre and digital delivery, will close Digital Manga Direct, its wholesale division. The move follows DMI’s announcement in November that it is suspending all of its print publication until June 2013, while continuing to offer digital editions of its publishing list.

Digital Manga Direct was launched by DMI to sell overstocked and returned items at a deep discounted rate to public, local libraries, conventions and local vendors. The suspension of print for six months was said to be done to allow the company to focus on building the digital program at emanga.com.

Retailers who wish to make a final purchase through Digital Manga Direct are advised to do so by February 28. Orders are first come, first serve, and subject to availability.

Despite its name, DMI has always published in print as well as digitally through its emanga.com website which offers DMI manga in a variety of digital formats for all major platforms including Apple, Android, Kindle Fire and Nook HD. The company also offers a variety of Japanese pop culture services and merchandise. Although the company originally focused on (and continues to publish) a wide variety of manga genres (including selected works by the acclaimed manga-ka Osamu Tezuka), DMI has come to be known for publishing yaoi, a manga genre primarily created by female manga creators that is focused on romantic relations between two men, as well as hentai, or explicit adult erotica.

In a statement released in November, Hikaru Sasahara, CEO of DMI, said DMI and its imprints (DMP, June Manga, DokiDoki and 801 Media) will go on “temporary hiatus” suspending all print publication for six months in order to “to coordinate our production schedule for 2013 and temporarily shift our focus to our digital publications.” At the time Sasahara said, “be advised that none of our licenses are cancelled, simply postponed,” and emphasized that, “We will be resuming the distribution of our print editions in June, 2013.”