Manga bestseller list discontimued by NY Times

  The New York Times announced on Thursday that it is discontinuing several of its best sellers lists, including the list of manga best sellers. The notice was delivered today in the February 5 edition of the advance best sellers list, whose subscribers are typically professionals in the publishing industry.

The newspaper launched the graphic novel and manga best sellers lists in 2009 to coincide with the theatrical release ofWatchmen, based on the American comic book series of the same name. At the time, the Times declared in its announcement, "Comics have finally joined the mainstream."

In a statement made available to Publishers Weekly, the Times elaborated that although the lists are being discontinued, it will "continue to cover all of these genres of books in our news coverage (in print and online). The change allows us to devote more space and resources to our coverage beyond the bestseller lists."

Publishers Weekly reported earlier this month that unit sales of comics and graphic novels increased 12 percent in 2016 compared to the previous year. It was one of the few fiction subcategories which did not see a decline in sales last year.

News of the discontinuation has sparked discussion in the comics community on social media on how the success of a comic book can be communicated to the market in the future. According to Publishers Weekly, there is an effort to ask publishers to request the Times to reconsider its decision.

Source : MAL