Press Release
TOKYOPOP and Diamond announced today a new sales and distribution agreement between the companies, with a focus on consolidating efforts to build out the manga graphic novel segment across both comic book and bookselling retailers. The new endeavor will commence on July 1, 2011, as TOKYOPOP transitions over its current bookselling distribution from Harper Collins to Diamond Book Distributors.
The new arrangement will become Diamond Book Distributor’s most comprehensive effort to date within the manga space, as TOKYOPOP’s 150+ annual new releases and 2000+ backlist titles will become available through the comic book distribution giant. As part of that effort, TOKYOPOP’s President & COO John Parker will join Diamond in the newly-created role of Vice President of Business Development.
“I’m excited about the opportunities for both TOKYOPOP and Diamond in this new arrangement,” Parker said. “A combination of the strengths of both companies will lead to significant new opportunities in the manga business.”
TOKYOPOP Founder & CEO Stu Levy added, “John has been my right-hand partner at TOKYOPOP for nearly twelve years, and I am thrilled to have him be the one helming our critical new business partnership with Diamond Book Distributors.”
Both comic shop and book retailers will be able to purchase the entire range of TOKYOPOP products from one source, Diamond Comic Distributors, and partake in creative marketing efforts to increase their in-store sales of manga.
Diamond’s Vice President of Purchasing Bill Schanes said, “Diamond welcomes John Parker and the premiere innovators and leaders of the manga revolution, TOKYOPOP. We are excited about our future together.”
For book market retailers interested in more information about the upcoming product line, please contact Moria Trent at Diamond 410-560-7100 ext. 862.
About TOKYOPOP
Founded in 1997 by international media entrepreneur Stu Levy, TOKYOPOP established the market for manga in North America, introducing the term to the English language in the process. Over its history, TOKYOPOP has published over 3000 books, distributed anime and Asian films on home video and television, licensed merchandise to consumer goods companies, created graphic novels of major brands such as Warcraft, Star Trek, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Hannah Montana, and led the way digitally in social media, e-commerce and user-generated content. TOKYOPOP’s brand expanded internationally with offices in Europe and Japan and a network of over 160 partners in more than 50 countries and 30 languages. Taking its Manga Revolution beyond the page, TOKYOPOP has begun producing live-action and animated film and television content based on its extensive intellectual property library, including Priest, Van Von Hunter, and another 20 projects currently in development, along with America’s Greatest Otaku, an 8-episode reality show filmed during its 2010 summer-long, 28-city national tour. For more information, visit www.TOKYOPOP.com as well as www.twitter.com/tokyopop and www.facebook.com/tokyopop.
ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)
Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.
ABOUT DIAMOND BOOK DISTRIBUTORS (DBD)
DBD is a division of Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., and is dedicated to making a wide selection of graphic novels and other pop culture merchandise available to bookstores, online retailers, libraries, schools, mass merchants and other general retailers globally. DBD is the home to a number of world class publishers including Dark Horse, publisher of award-winning and best-selling creators & series including Joss Whedon, Janet Evanovich, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Conan and the Star Wars franchise; IDW, publisher of Transformers & True Blood; and Image Comics, publisher of Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead. For more information, visit Diamond Books on the web at www.diamondbookdistributors.com.
