CDJapan : Books Light Novel
Kadokawa Group Holdings, which owns main labels like Kadokawa Sneaker Books and Dengeki Books, has a 70% to 80% share of the market. In 2009, mild novels made ¥30.1 billion in sales, or about 20% of all sales of bunkobon-format paperback books in Japan.
Most mild novels are revealed by Japanese writers, with only a few exceptions. For instance, Yū Kamiya, creator of No Game No Life, is a Japanese-Brazilian writer who lives in Japan and publishes his novels through main Japanese publishing labels. There are at present many licensed English translations of Japanese mild novels available. These have usually been published within the physical dimensions of standard mass market paperbacks or similar to manga tankōbon, but starting in April 2007, Seven Seas Entertainment was the first English publisher to print gentle novels in their original Japanese Bunkobon format. Other English-language publishers that license mild novels are Tokyopop, Viz, DMP, Dark Horse, Yen Press and Del Rey Manga.
They are all clearly labeled as "gentle novels" and are published as low-priced paperbacks. For example, the price for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in Japan is ¥540 (including 5% tax), similar to the traditional price for trade paperbacks—gentle novels and basic literature—bought in Japan. In 2007 it was estimated (based on a web site funded by the Japanese government) that the marketplace for light novels was about ¥20 billion (US$170 million on the trade price on the time) and that about 30 million copies were published annually.
Light novels grew to become an necessary a part of the Japanese 2D culture within the late 2000s, with series corresponding to A Certain Magical Index promoting giant quantities of copies with each volume launch. The number of gentle novels sequence put out every year will increase, often illustrated by the most celebrated artists from pixiv and essentially light novel reviews the most successful works are adapted into manga, anime, video games and reside motion motion pictures. The narrative developed to please the brand new generations and have become totally illustrated with the favored type. Publishing companies are continuously looking for new talent with annual contests, many of which earn the winner a cash prize and publication of their novel.
The founder of Viz Media, Seiji Horibuchi, speculates that the US marketplace for gentle novels will expertise an identical improve in popularity as it has in the Japanese subculture as soon as it turns into recognized by the buyer viewers. Yen Press, the US publishing venture between Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group, is the most prolific writer of manga subsequent to Viz Media. They are additionally the biggest Western publisher of Light Novels, the Japanese designation for Young Adult novels.
