Why Manga Publishing Is Dying!

Great article, with many interesting points. I certainly embody at least one of them, spending much more money on such merchandise now than I did as a kid, and for the very reason mentioned--as a working adult, I have the money to spend. And it's also true that my tastes have changed as I've aged, although I do make some purchases based on nostalgia.

Personally, though, I was glad to see Borders fall--such large mega-retailers as Borders and Barnes&Noble monopolize the publishing industry through their own purchasing power. What they carry gets marketed--and so, written--while other ideas are ignored or abandoned. The Wall Street Journal only recently had an article about the resurgence in self-publishing because of shrinking outlets available to traditional publishing ventures (page D1, 09 December, 2011), and even Wired has recently addressed the issue (focusing mainly on e-publishing). I have a friend who self-publishes dojinshi/graphic novels through Lulu, and she's quite happy with the ease of the process (Meaghan Beninati's Grim Reaper School: read it, love it, send her money and tell her to buy me beer!). Meaghan also serializes her work online, a process mentioned in the article.

Just one quick, stupid question: Does anyone besides me think that maybe one reason for the decline in popularity of comics/manga is that people now have interactive games small enough to be carried about on their person? Comics and manga were both designed as quick, easy, and portable entertainment--just as were gameboys and such. And unlike comics/manga, games offer the chance to participate in--or actually determine--the outcome. Just a societal change I'm old enough to have watched happen. . .and did.