(Besides the fact that Franklin Harris is now almost exclusively mangablogging, that is…)
The major chain bookstore where I work recently expanded its manga section fourfold. Literally. At least. Meanwhile, the non-manga graphic novels and trade paperbacks still take up the same measly bookshelf and a half.
But remember, everyone, 2004 is a good year to get out of the manga business!
(Aw, c’mon. I kid because I love.)
PS: Two interesting aspects of our ever-growing manga sales. First, kids who come in looking for the books always ask where the “Graphic Novels” are. By this they simply mean manga. Point them in the direction of the non-manga GNs and they simply haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.
Second, I’m not actually sure if this is company-wide or simply how our staffers have organized things, but the dividing line between what gets shelved with manga and what gets shelved with non-manga is simply one of format and size. In other words, the Marvel Age Spider-Man digests get shelved with manga, while larger collections of actual manga like Buddha and Nausicaa get shelved over with the non-manga books. To put it another way, books that are formatted like your average manga collection get shelved where buyers will actually see them; books that aren’t, don’t. Publishers, are you paying attention?