Aloha_Shooter
05-01-2016, 21:30
Just venting on the fershlugginer FSA types. One of the Kickstarters I'm participating in is printing a limited edition localized (i.e., English language) version of one of the best mangas of the 1980s, Kimagure Orange Road. Everything to do with this manga and the subsequent anime release has been hard to get in the US and most of it is worth more than retail years later specifically because it's so loved but so hard to get.
Anyway, the Kickstarter had a weird strategy. The publisher is combining 3 volumes of the original manga into each omnibus book for a total of 6 omnibuses. He made volume 1 his first goal and each subsequent volume a stretch goal. I don't understand why he structured it that way, I would have told him to set his goal at publishing the whole series and then make special rewards the stretch goals (like fancier covers, special art, etc.). Or perhaps say he was going to run a KS for volume 1 then another KS for volume 2, etc. What ended up happening for half of the KS was that people held off pledging because a lot of them weren't sure the whole set would get published and no one wants to be stuck with half the story.
EDIT: The author of KOR got the publisher commit to publishing all 6 omnibuses and offer a tier to preorder all 6 at one shot instead of ordering volume 1, order volume 2 after meeting the first stretch goal and then ordering additional volumes as additional stretch goals were met. That immediately boosted the KS by $15-18K in the first 24-36 hours. Not too bad for a KS when the original goal for Volume 1 was about $35K and the $120K was the end goal to get all 6 volumes. The KS is now sitting at nearly $110K with 8 days left ...
From the start, the publisher said he was only going to print enough extra copies to cover potential damage and missing shipments. What extras he might end up with would be available in his online store, nowhere else.
Enter whiny millenials. Why isn't the publisher printing extra copies so they can buy volume 1 now and get the other volumes if they decide they like volume 1? Why aren't the prints going to be available on Amazon or their favorite discount online store? Why does it cost extra to mail to Canada, the UK or Australia? Why can't the publisher print a ton of extra copies so they can be sure to order them when cash flow isn't so tight?
Gee Junior, you think your cash flow is tight? Try paying for and sitting on printed inventory while a bunch of self-entitled brats decide whether to forego their daily Starbucks or joints in order to buy some books? Now, granted, each omnibus is $30 ($170 total if you commit to buying all six immediately) but that's really like $10 each for each Japanese volume. I don't know which generation I detest more, the Flower Children or millennials ...
I wish someone would invent the damned Shipstone from Heinlein's novels so I could get the heck off this planet and into a frontier culture where whiners die (usually from their own ineptitude, not because of someone else's malice).
I know, I know, probably scores a 4 out of 10 on the rant scale but typing this out probably reduced my BP by 10-20 points ...
[Coffee]
Anyway, the Kickstarter had a weird strategy. The publisher is combining 3 volumes of the original manga into each omnibus book for a total of 6 omnibuses. He made volume 1 his first goal and each subsequent volume a stretch goal. I don't understand why he structured it that way, I would have told him to set his goal at publishing the whole series and then make special rewards the stretch goals (like fancier covers, special art, etc.). Or perhaps say he was going to run a KS for volume 1 then another KS for volume 2, etc. What ended up happening for half of the KS was that people held off pledging because a lot of them weren't sure the whole set would get published and no one wants to be stuck with half the story.
EDIT: The author of KOR got the publisher commit to publishing all 6 omnibuses and offer a tier to preorder all 6 at one shot instead of ordering volume 1, order volume 2 after meeting the first stretch goal and then ordering additional volumes as additional stretch goals were met. That immediately boosted the KS by $15-18K in the first 24-36 hours. Not too bad for a KS when the original goal for Volume 1 was about $35K and the $120K was the end goal to get all 6 volumes. The KS is now sitting at nearly $110K with 8 days left ...
From the start, the publisher said he was only going to print enough extra copies to cover potential damage and missing shipments. What extras he might end up with would be available in his online store, nowhere else.
Enter whiny millenials. Why isn't the publisher printing extra copies so they can buy volume 1 now and get the other volumes if they decide they like volume 1? Why aren't the prints going to be available on Amazon or their favorite discount online store? Why does it cost extra to mail to Canada, the UK or Australia? Why can't the publisher print a ton of extra copies so they can be sure to order them when cash flow isn't so tight?
Gee Junior, you think your cash flow is tight? Try paying for and sitting on printed inventory while a bunch of self-entitled brats decide whether to forego their daily Starbucks or joints in order to buy some books? Now, granted, each omnibus is $30 ($170 total if you commit to buying all six immediately) but that's really like $10 each for each Japanese volume. I don't know which generation I detest more, the Flower Children or millennials ...
I wish someone would invent the damned Shipstone from Heinlein's novels so I could get the heck off this planet and into a frontier culture where whiners die (usually from their own ineptitude, not because of someone else's malice).
I know, I know, probably scores a 4 out of 10 on the rant scale but typing this out probably reduced my BP by 10-20 points ...
[Coffee]