How A Manga Book Is Made

Good day everyone. I got to thinking just how is a manga book made? After searching I learned some rather interesting things about the processes behind the making of manga books. So for anyone who has ever wondered about what goes into the making of a manga book these are the steps and processes involved.

#1. The Meeting
The process of creating a new manga book always begins with a meeting. This meeting is held approximately 3 months (typically although time can vary) before the expected release date of the book, and is attended by the editor in charge of the manga, a sales team representative and a member of the Publication Planning Department. First, the editor presents his ideas for the book, along with a written proposal and a detailed draft (which indicates what will be printed on each page). Afterwards, they discuss strategies to make it even more successful. Based on their ideas, the future book will take shape.

These discussions can get pretty heated! I've listed some example down below.

“This catch phrase is too weak! We need stronger words and design to give this work impact!”
“That idea doesn’t suit this manga!”
“Data from similar works indicates this, so we should choose a design along those lines.”
“How about approaching our target audience in this way?”

It’s not only a question of design principles… you also have to take in account the latest trends and the feelings of the artist. You can only imagine the comments from everyone at these meetings.

#2. Circulate the Confirmation Sheet
After the meeting, a confirmation sheet is usually circulated to inform the top brass of the decisions made during a meeting, and to obtain their permission to proceed. So the plan for the book is attached, and shown to the managers, directors and the company president to get their approval.

To be specific, the confirmation sheet contains: The slogan, details about the author, the target audience, the cost price/selling price, the proposed number of volumes to be printed, and any other details.

The tricky part is the cost price and selling price! Naturally, comics cost money to make. Printing expenses, royalties to the artist, distribution expenses, storage expenses, sales team expenses… to name just a few examples of where the money goes. As such, careful calculations to come up with a selling price to recoup these expenses and turn a profit comes into play.

If one way is to calculate the production costs and add mark-up, another would be to first choose a selling price, and then work backwards to calculate how much one can afford to spend on production. In either case, they try to work out how they can “break-even” (those familiar with economics will be used to hearing this phrase!) When it comes to things like page quality and processing, one usually bows to the wishes of the editors and artists. However, there are other areas where it’s possible to save some money. Part of the job is to negotiate with the printers and designers to get a fair price.

In the publishing world, the sad reality is that if a series isn’t expected to turn a profit, it may never be published in book format. So there are publisher’s out there that pick and choose which series they publish as books. However, if the people involved didn’t have confidence in a series, they wouldn’t have published it a magazine to begin with. Each of the works that has made it a magazine has passed strict criteria, and survived numerous editorial meetings. As such, one usually releases book formats of such manga.

Note:
Royalties is the money paid to the artist as a fee to use their work. A manga artist’s two main sources of income are royalties (paid when their work is published) and genkouryou (money received for drawing manga for the magazine). Other income sources might include their contract fee, fees for the rights to use their characters etc.

In Japan, royalties are paid either at the time of printing, or when the books are actually sold. However, in either case, the amount paid to the artist is: selling price × % × number of books.

It depends on the circumstances, but usually new stock is ordered when 80-90% of the current stock is sold out. Most of the time, if the stock sold well in the first 2 weeks after the release, it is likely to get reprinted. If there’s a big initial response, the sales team will see that the book has potential and they’ll order new stock to be printed. If you want to support a manga artist, please buy their book as soon as possible after it’s released!

#3. Publishing the Book
Once permissions granted work can begin on the book itself.

First date for the manga in question is all gathered. That means taking the data from all the comics that were published in the magazine, and creating a draft for the book. This is then sent to the printers, and nyu-ko (Japanese for editors) process begins.

The submitted draft is printed on a proof sheet and returned. It’s then checked by the editor, the manga artist, and somebody from the Publication Planning Department, who’s in charge of this process. Additions or corrections are written in, and then it’s once again sent to the printers.

While this check is going on, their also busy designing the jacket, the frontispiece and the wraparound. This is actually the part that requires the most creativity.

They say that a majority of the time (I think were all a little guilty of this), people judge things based on their appearance. So if they don’t make eye-catching illustrations and clever slogans, then the buyers won’t even pick the book up. A temporary design by the editor is usually approved during the meeting, but this design is polished and improved right up until the book goes on sale a large portion of the time.

Note: Different coatings may be chosen for the Jacket (It's called the cover in Japanese) that covers the whole manga. It’s the number one thing that attracts a potential buyer, so it’s very carefully designed. Some of these coatings are PP coating, Glass PP, Varnish coating (leaves a bit of a rough texture), and Matte coating to name just a few.

#4. The Frontispiece
This is the illustration on the very first page, that you see when you first open the book.

If the artist is famous for their beautiful pictures, then it’s very important to include this. If the story is more important, then it’s not absolutely necessary. You get books both with and without frontispieces, depending on the direction that the editor and the artist want to go in.

#5. The Wraparound
The wraparound is a thin paper band that goes around the cover. It should contain a single summary of the books contents, and give someone a reason to buy the book.

You'll need to write something on the wraparound that really strikes the heart of the potential buyer, that will make them acknowledge the existence of the manga.

#6. Lastly The Cover
It goes with out saying, but the cover page is very important! There are lots of simple covers out there, but there are also playful manga that have humorous 4 panel comics on the front for instance.

After the editor sends the proof back, it will be corrected, and another proof sheet will be sent out. This time, it’s checked by the editor in charge, and final confirmation is given by someone from the Publication Planning Department. Once they’re sure that there are no problems with any of the text, pictures or information in the book, they OK the proof. Then it’s just a matter of waiting for the printing.

This process usually takes about two weeks, starting a month before the planned release date.

Working on the books outer appearance isn’t very exciting, but if it’s not done properly, then the readers might not even realize the book exists, and never get the chance to enjoy it. It’s an under-appreciated job, but very important nonetheless.

The proofreading is also very important. If even a single letter is incorrect, the meaning of a sentence can change completely. And a mistake in the title or the artist’s name is considered a fatal error in the publishing world. Magazines are usually thrown away after a few months, but people keep books for years, so a mistake will come back to haunt them. The Publication Planning Department works tirelessly to prevent mistakes, keep the editors and printers on schedule, and to support the manga that goes out into the world.

Note:
What makes a cover and jacket easy to spot? A “good” design, is one where the artist’s illustrations are put to good use, and a potential buyer can see any necessary information with just a glance. What I mean by this is that a title is placed near that top so that it isn’t hidden when it’s lined up next to other books in a bookstore. In convenience stores, magazines are usually displayed with the cover facing outwards, but if the title isn’t near the top, it might be covered up by another magazine on the rack.

A character is placed normally in the center, so that readers who know the manga/anime will be able to easily identify it. Talk about drawing you in. No pun intended.

They also try to catch the reader’s eye with catchphrases like “Anime Adaption Announced!” and other special news, or freebies.

Final Thoughts:
People don’t think much about it when they buy a book, but there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to prepare it. It’s thanks to all those people who take their work very seriously that we have manga.
Maybe next time you buy some manga, you’ll look at it a little differently.

I’m looking forward to any opinions or messages you may have! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this or learned anything new along the way!​

 

Hey thanks for that.... I'm trying to draw my own personal one. This has given Mii an idea of how it works. THANK YOU VLADNYX!

 

Your welcome as always @Kaede. I'm happy I was able to give you an idea on how some of the inner fabrics work.
Also @Mark Denn thanks for the like. I'll take it you liked it

 

Yeah a buddy and i been working on one for a few years now i read this and told him this is the route we should be taking for this