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A look at the Norwegian manga market

As the editor of the largest Norwegian news website for all things anime, manga and Japanese visual culture, I get to be in contact with some of the bigger guys in the slowly developing anime and manga market. I sat down with the editor for manga in the foremost publisher in the market the other day, having him as the guest of our (usually) weekly podcast, talking about their recent license of the Death Note manga and the current market. Getting to know them is one thing, but looking into the actual workings of the business is really interesting, as I like to tickle the thought that our rather small market in Norway has a better starting point than, say the North American market.

In North America, regular grocery stores will not be selling manga in the shelves, and from what I've heard, comics in general are scarce. Now this is where Norway kinda shines, since we don't usually find comics in bookstores, let alone manga, and we don't have dedicated comic shops that are as widespread as they are in North America. Our normal corner and everyday grocery stores are easily selling some of the few mangas available throughout the country in addition to some of the local comics and stuff like Donald Duck. They have the latest volumes of everything and are never backstocked, since the sales model for the stores point that they return unsold stuff. How do you build a market for serialized manga, when you have to be on the ball for the manga from the first release of it, and getting the old releases is hard? You don't find them in bookstores, there's no easily accessible comic shops to buy them from.

My friend the editor has in a way tried to solve it, but is relying on technology and knowledge of using it. They are selling the volumes of manga that have previously been in the stores through a webshop fronted by them as a publisher. Personally I find this quite a good way to do this - but what about the kids that read the stuff? They're the main customers, and knowing how to use the internet and let alone getting your parents to order it for you isn't a simple task for a kid on the age of 8-12. But, somehow the market is surviving for his company and they keep getting new licenses ready.

Next up now is to get the bookstores to order in the manga. They have the option should they feel like it, but nobody are bothering since they don't think the manga will sell at all. How does this compare to the North American market, where comic shops and bookstores are what have the actual manga?