Hi all!

Remember when I wrote that nice long review of AX 2019. Here are the notes:

Japan’s Amazing Manga Magazine

• Japan’s top publishers are Shueisha, Shugakukan, and Kodansha.
• In Japan, manga/anime is fully integrated into media. For this reason, you can find manga regularly implemented in advertising as well as non-manga covers/images appearing in manga magazines from Japan.
• Why is Japan’s comic industry so mainstream? Lots of theories are out there but the most likely reason is price. In Japan, manga magazines include 36 different manga chapters/issues would be printed, bound together, and sold as a single big magazine for $7.00. In North America, each of these 36 comic chapters/issues would be printed, bound, and sold as a separate comic book for $140.00 (close to $4 each, if not more). Cost limits readership.

OTHER NOTES:

• Gutters are the spaces between panels.
• Shoujo is a demographic NOT a genre.
• Manga magazines are a sampler.
• Anthologies of manga are rare.

Content Creation 101 with Sachie

• Ask yourself before starting: 1. Am I making what I like? 2. Do I enjoy making it? 3. Do my viewers enjoy it? 4. Do I like the platform I am using?

• Create, keep to, and post a schedule of releases for your followers. It lets people know what to expect and when. Stay consistent too – are you a weekly poster? A daily one? One a month?
• Network: Find those that also create who are at the same level as you.
• Discoverability: Find what is trending content in your genre (ex. if you are an anime/manga blogger–know the release dates of latest animes and manga you plan to cover and schedule posts around their releases).
• Recognize what followers want from which platform. FaceBook? Short stories. Instagram? Pictures. Snap-chat? Stories.
• Brands want to connect with people that are honest and who connect with their followers. Prepare a media kit that measures your analytics.
• Final Note: * Start creating! Grow as you go and keep creating! *

Anime News Network Panel

• Columns: Editors start the column and writers take it over.
• Read a lot, write a lot, and things will come.

(I forgot to type up the page above. Sorry.–In my defense, I got food poisoning, so please forgive me.)

These are the notes I took from the Koma-Wari: Composition and Panel Layouts for Comics Panel. You can also read more about the panel and speaker here, at Japan House LA’s website. Definitely a highlight of the convention!

(PS, If you saw this same post go up a minute ago–I accidentally pasted an old recommendation post I had drafted to the bottom and had to delete!)