Slayers Novels 7 and 8 are licensed! ^_^

[Blu_Moon]

Excellent news for you die-hard Slayers fans out there!

TOKYOPOP has licensed volumes 7 and 8 of the Slayers Manga Novels to complete the story arc! The books will be available to purchase directly from the TOKYOPOP website only—it will be an exclusive print-on-demand order—so those of you used to buying books in the bookstore will have to get some help to purchase your books online. Sorry, but this way, the cost of printing and shipping is covered on a case-by-case basis. (I just want to say right now, we probably will not license volumes 9-15, however, that means that the license is open to any other company that might wish to pick it up, so all hope is not lost. Again, if it ever comes back on TV, new blood to the fandom and a cross promotion opportunity just might make 9-15 possible, you never know. But for now, I can only say for certain that 7 and 8 will be done.)

This news JUST broke to me, so it will be a while before I can get it translated and rewritten and edited and printed. But as soon as I know specifics, you guys will!

I just want to give you guys a big pat on the back because it was your suggestion to complete the arc and your suggestion to do print-on-demand, and your openness to these new ideas that allowed us to try something totally different at TOKYOPOP. (We usually license things in threes, we usually don’t sell exclusively electronically, etc.) Thanks to your respectful comments and loyalty to your fandom, I was able to push for something a bit outside the lines. That is really rare and amazing.

On a personal note, I’d just like to say thank you to all the fans (especially the Slayer’s Challenge people) who wrote in with positive encouragement—and special thanks to those who wrote personal letters, not just form letters. I appreciate the time and energy you took to let me know how you felt. The Interns sorted all correspondence, and I read each and every one. We got almost 20 letters, about 7 emails, and lots of posts on the fourms. (While that didn’t really help to prove there was a large, cohesive fanbase, it certainly helped sustain my interest in the project while waiting these long months for the numbers to sort out and for the licensors to get back to us.)

To those who got angry, frustrated, or impatient, well . . . I totally understand why you got upset. All I can think to say is two things:

1.) I’m under a confidentiality clause. I’m never allowed to discuss things like marketing plans or sales numbers with the public. So it’s not that I’m ignoring you or your questions. I meant it when I said I was doing everything I could to at least complete the story arc. But the reality is, I can’t discuss things like advertisement budgets and sales sheets with you guys, I just can’t.

2.) I really understand what it’s like to be passionate about a story, but please remember something: If Slayers books don’t sell, Slayers gets cancelled. If, say, Fruits Basket books don’t sell, Fruits Basket gets cancelled. You can state that you’re boycotting Fruits Basket until Slayers continues, but all Sales and Marketing has that’s concrete to go on is that Fruits Basket numbers have gone down, so Fruits Basket print runs will go down to reflect that. You can see how that would just result in more hiatuses/cancellations, right? So rather than miss out on stuff you love—or a chance to go to your favorite conventions—a more effective way to get what you want is to simply state your interest, and then be prepared for a loooong wait.


Thankfully, the wait is almost over!

I hope now any negative feelings will be washed away in light of this good news, and I hope we can all get back to focusing on the really important thing: the elements that make Slayers great.


Again, when I have more news about when the books will be out, etc., you bet your Aunt Fanny I’ll post it. In the meantime, congratulations, Slayers fans! See? Dedication and patience do pay off! (I’m so excited to see what’s going to happen in 7 and 8!)

A big thanks to you guys again!

Stay tuned!

[Alexis]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!:d

[Klawzie]

That's wonderful news. >3

[kokorochan]

TOKYOPOP has licensed volumes 7 and 8 of the Slayers Manga Novels to complete the story arc!
-- YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! ^o^ that is a really big news!

The books will be available to purchase directly from the TOKYOPOP website only
-- auch, can TP send to Spain? *worry*

Thank you! Kara for the news and Thank you Tokyopop!!!! Yay yay <-- happppy

[ultra8]

Splendid news.

[Tara-hime]

That is wonderful news Kara! I was holding out hope to see at least these two volumes translated and I'm so glad it held out. With patience comes rewards right? Thank you for all the work you did to get us this far, I know this makes tons of us loyal Slayers fans extremely happy.

[Irkdesu]

I'm still trying to convince myself that this announcement exists. I've had such a great day today that it can't possibly be REAL. I must have eaten something strange and am now hallucinating.

In the case that it IS real, some word from the Slayers Challenge end. I was planning to send a PM to you or someone else about all this just ti explain our end of things after the big mess of that thread awhile back. I'll take the oppurtunity now, after this: thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. If this really is real [I'm serious, my day was so good thus far that I'm not sure this is POSSIBLE] then I am extremely grateful.

With that said, I want to clear up some things. Minerva's not here to help me with that since she's in a bad situation right now, and really can't get on the internet.

On our questions about advertising - what happened here was, we were asking questions as to why you couldn't advertise it on your website, in this section, at this place, etc. We kept getting replies that you weren't allowed to discuss sales numbers, and the problem here was: we didn't understand you were referring to us asking about advertising. We were trying to figure out WHEN we had asked about sales numbers and what the heck was with the huge reaction to the question. Basically, if you'd said, "I cannot answer your questions about advertising at all because I'm not allowed to," then we'd have understood more clearly. Basically, to us sales numbers = numbers about things you sold, not advertising info. Does that make sense? It was really very confusing at the time.

On the issues of boycotts - I will honestly say I was boycotting. Now, I will explain to you why. I did not think that boycotting would automatically = more Slayers numbers. You are right, the logic does not carry over on less Furuba selling = people are angry about Slayers. The reason I wasn't buying anything was because when I started to, I got sad, felt bad, started thinking that this manga could be a Slayers novel. I do not buy things that make me sad. nn; I thought it was a temporary thing at first, that I'd get over it after a month. I did not. I kept feeling discontent from the though of purchasing any Tokyopop products. I didn't like this because they were good products, and serieses *I* wanted to support. But I knew if I bought them, I wouldn't enjoy reading them. After awhile I realized I was subconsciously boycotting. And I wasn't going to make myself unhappy by buying your products, as excellent as they were. As it was, I had enough emotional problems at the time. [Stuck living out of state with no family around.]

I considered writing an email to someone at Tokyopop stating why I wasn't making certain purchases, to at least soften the blow? But I was too busy moving halfway across the country to do this. nn; I told others that if they felt they couldn't buy somethign from Tokyopop, to at least tell you guys why they weren't. Again, it wasn't something I did thinking "this will show them to give me my novels!" Buying them at the time would have made the reading experience go sour.

[This means I have a lot of serieses to catch up on now, at least. XD ]

I think a lot of our motivations in regards to Slayers Challenge, and things we intended to do, and the WAY we intended to do them, were really misinterpreted towards the end of things. I had feared that in the first place, really. I didn't want a campaign to feel like it was fighting AGAINST the company it was trying to convince to bring out a product again! I have seen fan campaigns go very bad. Really, the internet makes things very intense. If you read back on the thread before, imagine that every post we made with questions unanswered for awhile was, in real life, you asking a person a question, and they just ignore you. Silences on the internet feel pointed, even when they are not intended to be.

But in the end, we're working towards the same thing! nn; I'm extremely glad that the novels are coming back, and I hope for more in the future, if Slayers becomes successful again. If Slayers Challenge was able to help the comeback in any way at all, then the stress and the headaches over this all were worth it to me.

Anyways, I'll start spreading the word! This is extremely good news and I'm sure it'll brighten up a LOT of people. Minerva in particular could really use news like this right now.

Thank you very much for you and all of TokyoPop's hard work in getting these novels to us. I'm glad it worked out.

[Blu_Moon]

You're welcome. I'm very happy that we can at least keep going so that fans aren't left with a cliffhanger. This is just a wise practice to put into place with all our series--figure out if the story is episodic or serial and try and license complete arcs instead of just the regular triology pattern.

In regards to you guys wanting information about advertising: I'm not even sure I can say this much, but here goes:

Sales numbers = $ put behind advertising. Including advertising on our own site. To be frank, the logic behind this escapes me. Then again, I don't have a Marketing degree. It would seem obvious that if a product was dwindling in sales, it would get more marketing attention. That is not the practice set by The Powers That Be. Things that are hits get pushed harder; things that fizzle out get left behind. Now, Peter and I both kept bringing Slayers Novels up in meetings or casual conversations, but to the rest of the world, Slayers was on hiatus . . . and spending money to advertise something on hiatus wasn't gonna happen. Sometimes I felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall, unable to make anyone happy no matter what I tried. My patience got a little frayed, for which I apologize.

But when you ask me about advertising money, and I talk about sales numbers, I *am* answering your question, as far as I can. But I'm not sure it makes sense, even to me. I really, really cannot go further into this. I work within the parameters I'm given and trust that the rest is all for good reason. *shrug*

Glad I could do something for the Slayers bunch. Please extend my best wishes to Minerva--this never could have happened without passionate fans like her.

Yours, K

[Tasuki]

Wow, I had really started to think that I'd never get to read the end of this story arc, to see what actually happens! And then when I did read it... I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm so, so, SO happy that Tokyopop decided to liscense the last two novels in the story arc and I really hope that the sales do well enough to maybe encourage future novels (especially since novels 9-15 contain completely original story that hasn't been replicated in any of the anime/manga/etc so far). But in the meantime, I'm so greatful to you, Blu_Moon, for really thinking about us fans and pushing that extra mile. It makes me feel so fuzzy inside to know that people working in these companies really do care.

I wish I could place my order for the two books right now! I'll definitely be checking back often for any updates in the future!! ^_^

[renrenren]

the thing is, it makes sense to read the novel then the manga then watch the anime then watch the movie (if they make all these that is) but for most part people have to do these things in mixed order & sometimes end up disappointed because of the differences or the spoiler. so i personally just stick to reading mangas & watching animes & otherwise leave the novels & movies to novelists & actors. i don't know if i make sense.