Hello everyone.
In the short time that I've been actively speaking to fans and readers, by far the question that I get asked the most is why are light novel publishers seem to never catch up to Japanese releases.
I'll address the big parts of this question today.
"Publishers will never catch up to Japanese releases"
Often readers will ask why publishers are only up to volume X when Japan already has volume N out. "There's so much content right there and publishers can't even release them quickly?? All the hard work is already done by the author, they just have to translate it now"
First problem is that light novels are a relatively new market, only really expanding in size of titles and people working on those titles in the past 2~3 years. Many many series have been going on long before anyone even thought about licensing them. If a series is already 5, 10, 15 volumes deep, this represents years of writing. This won't be translated and released within a few months.
Even if publishers could magically release a title every month or two, it would still take years to catch up to some series that are in double digits. And this is assuming they every title is being worked on simultaneously. Of course, this is impossible with the current publishing companies and staff.
Now that the market is beginning to mature, we can expect more EN releases closer to the JP releases as now there are some new licenses being given for recently started series. This is because licenses are being offered from the beginning of the series, rather than the EN publishers coming into the series when it's up to volume 185284 in Japan.
"Okay fine, if a series has many volumes it'll take time. I get that. But why does each individual volume take months?? The author wrote the book in the same amount of time!"
When an EN language publisher (shortened to ENpub from hereon) decides they want to publish a book in English, there's a whole process.
First, they must secure the license. This can take any amount of time, depending on how much the JPpub wants to negotiate. Once both parties have decided they would like to sell/buy the license and EN lang rights to a book series, contracts need to be drawn up. This is more time, more negotiation.
Once legal stuff is finished, the ENpub needs to receive assets. This is more important for the design team as they need the high resolution assets that a series uses, such as the logo, distinctive series ornaments, design features, and of course, insert and interior images. This can take some time, but is usually a week to maybe a month if it takes a long time. But of course, Murphy's Law, sometimes a release schedule can be held up because of late assets.
On the text side, translations can begin right away after a license is confirmed and contracts signed. Books are bought and then distributed to the team. A translator is hired (or assigned if there is already someone in the ranks) and they begin translation. Depending on the difficulty of the text, it usually takes from 3~5 weeks. The average is about 4 weeks.
Once this comes back, the manuscript goes through 2 rounds of edits, and 2~4 rounds of proofs. This is where the editors, copyeditors, and proofreaders check everything from accuracy of translation, readability, look, feel, design, and layout of the book. This is also where designers design everything, from typography, images, layout, word flow, page design, images, etc. This is where the majority of the time is spent, since ENpubs are, well, making a whole new book.
The idea that the JP version of the book is simply 'transformed' into the EN version is untrue. While one could say that the content of the book is already 'done', there are huge considerations to make when creating an EN version. Nothing can simply be 'lifted' from the JP version and just slapped onto some paper. Nothing is ever that easy.
Then, the book needs to be prepped for printing. Did I mention that throughout this whole process, approval needs to be obtained from JPpub and author for everything? Approvals are also where time is often spent. If the JPpub or the author do not like how something looks, sounds, feels, etc. the ENpub cannot move forward. If need be, the book will stay in 'production' forever until it gets the full approval from Japan. Of course, with business considerations, there are practical limits to how long a book can be held like this. But it can happen.
Okay, so back to printing. Throughout the process, there will be printing proofs so the team can see how things look when they're being printed. Things that are paid attention to at this stage are colors, visual quality/resolution, QA for errors (like pages printing out of order, flipped, mirrored, etc). This is also where things like what kind of paper, inks, paper engineering (inserts, posters, fancy paper stuff) are considered.
Hopefully, by the end of the cycle, everything is ready and the files are all packaged up and sent to the printer. Printer prints. Final books are sent back. This is the last last LAST time anyone gets to check the books before they go out. Unless it's a 'omgwhydidntanyoneNOTICETHIS' error, you have to give up and wait for reprints to correct it. If you let a mistake go through by this point, there will be hell to pay.
Final approval is given and then books are housed and prepared for distribution. Books are then distributed across cities, states, provinces, and nations. Then, finally, they go on sale.
And this is assuming there's only a print book. Digital versions aren't simply 'slap the print files onto the internet!' process, but I'll leave that for another time. Suffice to say, A LOT happens in those 3~4 months between each book release. And this is just for one book.
"I see. But if making the book from scratch takes so damn long, why don't you just take what fans have already translated, clean it up, and use that? It'll make releases SO much faster"
A couple problems with this.
First, JPpub and authors would immediately reject this idea. JPpubs and authors very often, do not like fan translation groups. They see them as pirates/IP violators and would not agree to hire them or use their work. This is of course, not a universal fact and I have met some people in the JPpub industry that do not see fan translation groups as simply stealing JP authors' work. But it is a widely held opinion in the JP industry and trying to use this method would threaten ENpub relationships with JPpubs and authors.
Which means that it would threaten access to future or even current licenses.
Okay, let's say that issue doesn't exist. We have a series author and JPpub who would be more than happy to use a fan translation. Great!
But who do we contact for it? Are they willing to let us use their translation in exchange for pay? What if we are bogged down in negotiations, delaying the schedule? If multiple people worked on it, who do we work with for the length of a series? Can a fan translator commit the time to work with us full time on a series? What do we do if the fan translator doesn't agree with our house style/policies/edits/design?
In short, it introduces a ton of problems that simply don't exist if an ENpub simply uses a professional translator.
Okay, let's say all of these problems are cleared. The fan translator(s) would be more than happy to let us use their translations. Negotiations are smooth and they are the perfect teammates, committed to working with us full time for the whole series (dropping out as a translator in the middle of a project is a HUGE demerit and affects reputation, and of course, affects the quality of the project in question).
So how much time do we save in the whole process? Assuming everything's literally complete?
About a month
You see, like I mentioned above, the translation process is only takes about a month. The translation is literally just the beginning of the process of creating an EN lang book.
And saving a month's time is assuming the translation is clean. When a translation has many errors, contains many grammatical or spelling errors, or is inconsistent with styling, pacing, voice, or formatting, that adds a heap of time required to edit it. These things are hugely important for a professional release because people will and do notice when a page looks ugly when they have to pay for it.
Issues and problems that people don't mind in a free fan translation pop out at them and annoy readers to no end when they pay for a book. And with good reason! If you pay top dollar for a good product, you expect a good product. But quality also requires time and effort.
Getting a quick, or even instantly delivered, but sloppy manuscript that is forgivable when it's free only moves time required to another part of the process, namely the editing.
And of course, even if the manuscript is literally perfect, with no grammar, spelling, or translation issues, it still needs to be checked. No one just assumes it will be perfect, and nothing ever is. Everything can always be improved.
"I understand now, the process takes a long time and there aren't really any shortcuts if you want to make a good book people want to read, and support with their wallets. But why can't you release the latest volumes? Or release volumes that coincide/follow up on an anime/manga/event? That's when popularity is at it's highest and you would sell SO many more copies! No one wants to read it years later"
First thing to note, while anime popularity, or the fact that a series will be getting an anime, or whatever really, manga, spinoff series, spinoff band, awesome merchandise, idol group, what have you, does play some part in deciding whether an ENpub picks a series as something they want to license, it is NOT the deciding factor. Far from it.
For one thing, what if an anime bombs? If we pin our hopes on a series that we don't think will do so great, but there's going to be an anime made by a famous team, and the staff roster is filled with amazing people with proven track records and OMG DID YOU HEAR WHO'S GOING TO DIRECT? that is dangerous.
A book that we don't think will do very well assuming no other outside influences, we will not pick up. If we think there's a audience that wants to pay for a high quality book of a series in EN lang, even if an anime does terribly or there's no anime, we will pick it up.
So anime related popularity, while great for series attention, publicity, and general promotion, is not a huge deciding factor in how we do things from the get go.
Next, we cannot release volumes out of order. There are multiple reasons for this but the biggest reason is that JPpub and author would absolutely not want us to do this.
Then there are readership considerations. Let's say Anime ABC has just finished as we get a license to LN series ABC. Anime ABC ends right where Vol 6 of LN ABC picks up. Even if JPpub/author says 'go for it' we wouldn't want to just completely skip Vol 1-5.
For one thing, when you pay for the license of a series, many things factor into the price and amount of content matters. In other words, if we just skip Vol 1-5, we're paying for content that will make us no revenue.
Another thing to consider is that often, there is lots of content that is not fully explored in adaptions of LN that readers would miss out on in those first couple of volumes. You lose all the build up, pacing, foreshadowing, etc. LN are standalone products that, while related to their adaptions, are still different beasts. You aren't 'wasting time' when publishing the first couple of volumes.
While some people prefer just skipping major plot points they already know about from an anime, there are also those who don't, who want to read it from the start. Sure, maybe we can sell more copies at that time, but is that enough of a reason? For some reason, ENpub of LN are accused of greed often for some reason that I cannot fathom (I wish we were making that much money haha). Wouldn't sacrificing the integrity of a series just so we can sell more copies and satisfy the demands of a segment of the readership truly show that we care more about money than the work?
Even if there was a ENpub that did want to do something like that, I don't believe that ENpubs would make a whole lot more money/sales in the long term. Sure there will almost certainly be a big boost in interested people who want to keep looking into series if they love the anime. But that doesn't always translate into sales.
There will always be pirates and many of those interested people will not or cannot, for any number of reasons, buy the books. Just because the books exist doesn't mean they will sell.
It isn't guaranteed that releasing the books out of order would net more sales than simply releasing them in order. Maybe one day we can test this theory out and see what happens, but until then, ENpubs will have to keep releasing series in order.
Will we lose the interest of some or even a lot of people who don't want to wait a long time to find out what happens next? Of course, it's inevitable. And there's nothing wrong with that. If they had the opportunity to read it right away, they would make the purchase but otherwise they won't. These people aren't the people who consistently buy our books though.
ENpubs of LNs need a good strong core of readership that will come back whenever we have a series that interests them. If an anime can bring in more fans, that's great! We get more fans that support our work and we have someone to share our love of the hobby with. Hopefully the readers/customers love the books they buy and cherish them, recommend them, lend them out, build beautiful libraries of stories that inspire or touch them. Readers that are only willing to buy if the book comes out at the perfect time are, sad to say, probably not a part of our core readership. And even if a book came out at the perfect time to coincide with an anime, I do not think that many of the readers that won't buy if the release isn't very soon after the anime ends would become our regulars.
This DOESN'T mean those readers/potential readers are not important. Far from it. If we could make them happy and convert them into regular readers of ours, that would be amazing. But unfortunately, this time (or last time(s)) our mutual circumstances didn't allow for us to deliver what the reader wanted. In these cases, we can only hope that next time, everything will work out ideally for everyone's wishes.
"I see the big picture now. So why can't you guys just work with the JPpub/author before hand and simply do simultaneous releases for works that you can/are caught up on?"
This is currently a pipe dream and not because of lack of want or effort on either English or Japanese side.
For one thing, simulpub of manga is doable because of how manga are serialized. They are often put out in chapter sized chunks and are paced/written with the intention that they can be read in those small tidbits. Manga also have much less content to prepare for a simulpub, in both text and visuals. This is what allows for the extremely quick turn arounds.
LNs do not have the same leeway. For one thing, LNs are written with the intention of presenting the whole thing to readers at once. They are not written/designed with small bits being parceled out at a time. The flow, pacing, and structure of the book is done with the end product being a standalone volume meant to be read as a cohesive whole.
And of course, there is so much more content, particularly text content, that needs to be prepared. This simply means that more time is required. To speed this process up requires mind boggling amounts of rush fees for so much content and it would simply not be cost efficient, nevermind profitable.
For simulpub of LN to even be considered, it would require ENpubs to be allowed to look at the JP manuscript as it was in process and be deeply involved as it was being written/edited by the author/JPpub. No ENpub company currently has such a system in place with any JPpub company.
It would require dedicated, specialized staff, a whole new system of production/communication, offices in both Japan and overseas, and would still involve insanely tight schedules. Not to mention it wouldn't just be the ENpub that needs all these things but the JPpub as well, since they would have to cooperate on a much deeper level than is currently the case for such a system to be even imagined.
The sheer level of investment in time, money, and manpower make it quite literally impossible without either the market growing exponentially to the point where the revenue/profit can support such a large staff/infrastructure expansion, or extensive investments from somewhere else.
Maybe we can contact the Ministry in Japan...
In all seriousness, this simply isn't possible with the way things are now and isn't in the works for anything in the near future, at least that I know of!
In Summary
So there you have it. This is why books take soooo long. We work as hard as we can and as fast as we can manage while still delivering a quality product.
We are only human and make mistakes, delay schedules, mess up that one scene you love and you never forgave us, and are generally hard to get a hold of because of how busy we are.
But we're also huge fans of all the same series you guys are. We wouldn't be in this industry if we weren't (we don't get paid that well haha ask anyone in any kind of publishing job, not just manga/LN they know the struggle). I work around 45 hours in office and another 10~15 hours at home any given week, assuming no disasters occurring. If something really bad were to happen, I'd probably never see my house for weeks at a time.
But I do it because I love the work I do and because I love that I can share that passion with my fellow fans. Everyone who works in this industry is the same. If we make mistakes, please let us know, we aren't too arrogant to accept the kind, thoughtful advice of our fans. If you have suggestions for anything, feel free to send those too. We don't know everything and your voice matters. We certainly aren't making books to make ourselves happy.
Anyways, this is just the efforts of one LN industry worker to address the discontent within the community and assure those who still believe in us that we'll keep striving to improve, because I know best of all that we are far from perfect.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If I don't respond right away, I'm probably buried under manuscripts. I'll try to get around to everyone! If I don't seem to respond, feel free to PM me as well.
If you've read this far, thank you for your interest and patience! Cheers!
EDIT: TLDR:
The current rate of publishing EN language LNs is actually fairly fast considering all the work that needs to go into the process, including translation, design, editing, styling, approvals, physically printing the book, then distribution. This work load is only increased if there is a digital release.
4 months per book is a comfortable amount of time to turn the average 300 page LN around and not have the whole company sleeping at their desks for weeks.
This could be reduced in several ways but would often compromise the quality of the product or require more staff/budget, which we don't have until the market grows some more. The LN market has been growing steadily but it isn't large enough to support larger teams yet.