Eroica letter writing campaign
I've been researching all the suggestions people made of possible new publishers for Eroica. After much digging around, I finally concluded that June Manga was probably our best bet; it was one of the few that doesn't seem to be cutting back and that deals with gay material. Plus they have a lot of titles, which I think bodes well.
Their contact information is here. I believe the first email address on the page is the one we need to write to; the others are about specific things like trouble with the website or employment seeking.
There is also a snail mail address, but I think that this company is net-savvy enough not to be backward enough to prefer that you kill trees to contact them. They even do emanga.
Some guidelines to follow in writing them:
* Put the words "From Eroica With Love" in the subject header. After they get a few messages they'll figure out that fans want them to take up this title and it'll save them time if they can just tot up the number of emails about it without having to slog through reading every one. We'll be saving them time and trouble, which will hopefully make them feel more favorable towards us.
* Tell them a bit about why this is a great title and they should publish it. Talk about how it's a classic, about the slashiness, the quality of the art, the loyalty of its Western fans for years before CMX came along. Any specific information you happen to have about its popularity (i.e. Japanese tourism to Bonn, Germany increased because of this series) is good.
* PLEASE DON'T TALK ABOUT FAN TRANSLATIONS. We don't want to draw attention to that, especially since it might make them conclude that we've already got the series through that and won't buy their version. Okay, they're in the manga business and have to be aware of scanlations, but no need to bring it up, right?
* Mentioning that CMX didn't market their manga titles very well might be a good move, so they won't conclude that the series was taken up and didn't sell. Try not to bash CMX or DC when you do this, just point out that they didn't put much effort into promoting their manga lines and probably didn't have June's much more sophisticated knowledge about the manga market!
* Say that you'll buy it. Money's what they're after here.
* ETA: cassieingaben made the excellent suggestion that, if you are one of the many fen for whom Eroica was a gateway drug that led you to read and buy other manga, let them know this! "Eroica made me discover manga big time, and now I am a manga addict--I especially like your XXX series", as she put it. It was my first manga, certainly.
* Finally, after you've sent June Manga your politely worded and heartfelt request that they take up Eroica, promote this campaign! On whatever relevant mls or comms you're on, on your own LJ, on message boards. This is our only hope of getting the rest of our favorite title in English, so please, pimp it!
Their contact information is here. I believe the first email address on the page is the one we need to write to; the others are about specific things like trouble with the website or employment seeking.
There is also a snail mail address, but I think that this company is net-savvy enough not to be backward enough to prefer that you kill trees to contact them. They even do emanga.
Some guidelines to follow in writing them:
* Put the words "From Eroica With Love" in the subject header. After they get a few messages they'll figure out that fans want them to take up this title and it'll save them time if they can just tot up the number of emails about it without having to slog through reading every one. We'll be saving them time and trouble, which will hopefully make them feel more favorable towards us.
* Tell them a bit about why this is a great title and they should publish it. Talk about how it's a classic, about the slashiness, the quality of the art, the loyalty of its Western fans for years before CMX came along. Any specific information you happen to have about its popularity (i.e. Japanese tourism to Bonn, Germany increased because of this series) is good.
* PLEASE DON'T TALK ABOUT FAN TRANSLATIONS. We don't want to draw attention to that, especially since it might make them conclude that we've already got the series through that and won't buy their version. Okay, they're in the manga business and have to be aware of scanlations, but no need to bring it up, right?
* Mentioning that CMX didn't market their manga titles very well might be a good move, so they won't conclude that the series was taken up and didn't sell. Try not to bash CMX or DC when you do this, just point out that they didn't put much effort into promoting their manga lines and probably didn't have June's much more sophisticated knowledge about the manga market!
* Say that you'll buy it. Money's what they're after here.
* ETA: cassieingaben made the excellent suggestion that, if you are one of the many fen for whom Eroica was a gateway drug that led you to read and buy other manga, let them know this! "Eroica made me discover manga big time, and now I am a manga addict--I especially like your XXX series", as she put it. It was my first manga, certainly.
* Finally, after you've sent June Manga your politely worded and heartfelt request that they take up Eroica, promote this campaign! On whatever relevant mls or comms you're on, on your own LJ, on message boards. This is our only hope of getting the rest of our favorite title in English, so please, pimp it!