Amid the ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, very few industries have managed to come out unscathed to at least some degree. In terms of the manga and light novel publishing industry, they too are facing delays to their schedules going forward. Yen Press, the license holder of rights to a range of IPs including Sword Art Online, The Devil is a Part-Timer and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is the latest to announce changes to their ongoing process.
The big takeaway from the announcement made by Yen Press Publisher & Managing Director Kurt Hassler (full statement available below) is that they will forgo their September 2020 line-up. Furthermore, titles currently due for release between May and August inclusive may be postponed by a month or two. The extra (presently empty) month shall be used to publish select volumes from the May-Aug 2020 line-up, to reduce the burden distribution channels and retailers.
Full Statement
Dear readers and bookselling colleagues,
It goes without saying that these are challenging times for everyone. We are all forced to deal with the pandemic crisis in our own ways, and we hope and trust that everyone reading this is enduring with a sense of optimism that we will all come through this together and see brighter days ahead – brighter days that we know are just over the horizon.
Reaching that horizon is the tricky part, of course, and for the health and safety of our coworkers and the security of our collective businesses, we are all tasked with finding solutions to overcome the hurdles set in our path. Like others in our industry, the particular hurdles Yen Press now faces are shelter-from-home orders and widespread disruption throughout our distribution channels and among our retail partners.
First and foremost, I want to take a moment to publicly thank our staff for deftly managing the transition to telecommuting while our offices are temporarily closed. Similarly, I’d like to express our profound appreciation to the freelancers with whom we work — be they translators, letterers, proofreaders, or copyeditors — for continuing to lend their talents to the books we produce. Last, but certainly not least, our heartfelt thanks to all of the creators we have the pleasure of calling Yen authors and whose creative sparks offer us all some relief, particularly in trying times. Our sincerest gratitude.
As Yen Press eyes that aforementioned horizon, it is clear that we cannot proceed as if we are not experiencing unprecedented disruption to our business. We must remain as nimble as possible and respond to changing market conditions. With that in mind, we have evaluated our publishing schedule for the next several months and determined that our best course of action is to forego the solicitation of our September 2020 catalog, which we would normally be finalizing in the next week or so. Instead, we will be taking the books previously solicited for May – August and relisting those titles throughout the May – September period. This will help to reduce the burden on our production and distribution channels as well as our retail partners, all of whom are coping with their own challenges now and in the coming months. At the same time, it will maintain a steady stream of new books flowing into the market and into the hands of our readers at a rate more appropriate to the current circumstances.
Our revised publication schedule will be communicated to our publishing partners via metadata next week as well as posted to our website for interested fans.
Thank you, everyone, for your remarkable endurance — and just a reminder that reading is a great way to escape when the walls seem to be closing in!
Warmest regards,
Kurt Hassler
Publisher & Managing Director
Yen Press
