Publishers and Scanlation History

[Furgeson]

Yes. We do have a history.
I spent a fucking hour reading about where we came from, how corrupted we are, and how amazing Lacialle-sama is.
Not cool. Really not good for my self esteem. 
See here: http://insidescanlation.com/index.html
Special Interest: Talk
However, I did appreciate the following quote, and reading some interviews:

From this article: "Three years ago, Steve Kleckner, vice president of sales and distribution for TokyoPop, remembers that when he asked a bookstore owner to show him to the "manga," he was directed to a rack of cookbooks. "I had to explain that I wasn't Italian and I didn't mean 'mangia,'" he says with a laugh. "Then he pointed me toward the science-fiction-paperback racks, and there they were -- right next to the porno." In your honest opinion, do you feel scanlation has played some kind of role in helping promoting manga and bringing it from an obscure hobby into the mainstream, especially in the early-2000s?

Marco Pavia: Of course scanlation has played a role in brining manga to the mainstream. Even though manga sales have been flat or have declined in recent times, I don't think that means there are fewer people reading manga—it just means that there are fewer people buying manga.

I actually enjoyed reading some of the information about how the Publishers view our shady work.
Any thoughts? ^__^

[icewing]

hm.........i see....History.

tokyopop has all the american or european artists. basically, non-japanese artists. oh. and Peach Pit.

i don't like any of those companies cuz i hate the art xD

[Koyue]

amazing. you show a deep interest.

the only thing i didn't like about tokyopop-most of the manga had the worst art I've EVER seen.

[tinnako]

I was really sad to find that Tokyopop went bust, because they played a big part in getting manga out there into normal bookshops where girls like my young self could find and buy them and support the industry they love.

I did like how they encouraged Western artists who were manga inspired and wanted to write manga comics, because that's an awesome thing to do. Yep, not all of them looked ' like manga', but manga remains very diverse. And true, they didn't always pick the most decent titles (why would anyone pick up Peach Pit? Dears was really boring, sexist and overall not great, not even the art), but at least the industry picked up a fair few series. I'm quite sad that with a lot of companies gone, there will be many fewer releases in English, and less chances for us fans to own series we love in a language we understand (and support the industry). I just hope enough people buy the stuff that is being put out to keep at least some companies in business. I think part of it was also due to Japanese companies realising they could do releases in other languages themselves and cutting out the middle man. As long as the product is good, that's OK by me, too.

Art style is a personal thing, so I would never disrespect anyone for being put off a series 'because of the art'. Hey, I've been put off a fair few because I just couldn't stand to look at them. most manhua and a lot of BL stories have that effect on me. Really stretched anatomy or something just ...can't... stand... it!   

About your link: I forgot such an interesting site existed. I think it's a great resource, and hope that if the industry has learned anything, they will look at how successful groups operate and what can be learned from the community to make them more successful.

[Dompaka]

This site is a great motivation for me.