In a current interview with Journal du Japon, Christel Hoolans, CEO of Dargaud, a French publishing home specialised in comics and manga, sheds gentle on the influence of costs on the recognition and gross sales of manga.

When requested in regards to the significance of awards, particularly within the context of manga, Hoolans emphasised that whereas Japanese awards such because the Manga Taisho are acknowledged and celebrated amongst followers, they don’t straight translate into elevated gross sales. Regardless of making a buzz on-line and capturing the eye of fanatics, the correlation between costs and gross sales stays elusive.

No matter their impact on gross sales, Christel acknowledged the significance of those awards and emphasised their function in attracting the eye of booksellers and journalists.

“…The most important followers certainly comply with the Japanese costs; they comprehend it. There could also be a buzz round them on the web, nevertheless it will not have an effect on gross sales in any method. We spotlight it on our web site or on our social media as a result of it’s an fascinating recognition, to draw the eye of booksellers and journalists… so we offer the data.

However there is no such thing as a influence. In any case, we had been by no means in a position to analyze it in an apparent method by noting, for instance, that “we now have doubled our gross sales because the value announcement.” That has by no means occurred earlier than.“

Umezawa Shun Darwin Jihen manga illustrates this level completely. Regardless of profitable the distinguished Manga Taisho Award and receiving vital acclaim, the manga has not but discovered a big viewers in France.

In response to her, the state of affairs shouldn’t be a lot completely different in France, the place main awards such because the Angoulême Worldwide Comics Pageant Prize (Fauve d’Or) might solely present a small gross sales increase for area of interest titles, however the general influence is negligible.

“…the influence is admittedly very weak, if not virtually zero, on gross sales, whether or not comics or manga… Effectively, for instance that if we take the instance of the Fauve d’Or, which is often awarded to a distinct segment title, we will assume 500 gross sales earlier than to 1,000 copies after, so we’ll double down, however ranging from a really low stage. And this solely works as a result of it’s the principal prize; the remainder has even much less impact.

However clearly it has an influence on the writer, on their writer, we get a whole lot of articles, we discuss their work… In fact it is nice to get an award, I am not saying it is ineffective, quite the opposite. It simply would not assist gross sales.“

Nevertheless, she emphasised the significance of awards within the skilled world, which give recognition and validation for authors and publishers.

“It is nice for the writer: for themselves, their profession, their CV, from that standpoint it is crucial.“

She then lamented the shortage of a French equal to the influential Prix Goncourt, which is understood to dramatically enhance ebook gross sales. Reflecting on previous experiences throughout the Media Participations group, Hoolans famous the transformative influence of receiving a Goncourt, typically rising gross sales tenfold.

However we now have nothing equal to the Goncourt. That’s really fairly annoying and we discuss it frequently amongst publishers but additionally on the SNEBD and so forth. as a result of the Goncourt has a multiplier impact on gross sales, whether or not it’s the youth Goncourt or the one on the whole literature.

We had been fortunate sufficient to obtain a Goncourt within the Media Participations group and I noticed the impact of the value and gross sales skyrocket, typically multiplied by 10. By means of literary comparability, the Prix Femina and the Prix Renaudot do not need the identical influence because the Goncourt.

Concluding the dialogue, Christel affirmed that whereas awards function commendable recognitions of inventive benefit and high quality work, their influence on gross sales stays restricted. However, they’re important throughout the skilled area and contribute to an writer’s profession trajectory and the popularity of his writer.

Supply: Japanese newspaper