The Tokyopop publishing group at the Otakon 07 panel.
© Tokyopop

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Tokyopop Downsizing Manga in U.K

Tokyopop has been squeezed by increasing competition in the manga market in both the US and UK, with year-to-date UK sales dropping by 4.1% by volume in the year to 19th April despite a 40.2% rise in the UK graphic novels market over the same period.

Andrew Whelan, who has replaced Dennis McGuirk as UK sales and marketing manager, said: “We are now sharing space and market share more than ever before. In the past, we have had 80–90% of the market; now it’s about 50/50.”

McGuirk, who spearheaded Tokyopop’s advance into the UK market, left the publisher last month after four years in the role.  “He wanted a fresh challenge,” Whelan said. He added that he was looking at cutting Tokyopop’s UK output back to 20 titles a month from 25, as the US looks to halve its current 500-a-year output.

“If you keep churning out stuff, eventually you reach saturation point, [so] in a way not printing as much is a good option. But we are only going to drop series that don’t sell. Essentially, we only do the best of the best.”