APP CREATED AND SERVICED BY RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHER SERVICES
App to launch with $2.99 Fairy Tail promotion in celebration of manga creator New York Comic-Con guest Hiro Mashima
NEW YORK, October 14, 2011 – Kodansha USA Publishing is proud to announce the debut of the Kodansha Comics app, appearing at midnight tonight in the iTunes store. The app was created by Random House, Inc.’s digital content team on behalf of Kodansha, a Random House Publisher Services division client. It will be free to download, with most volumes priced for sale at $4.99. The Kodansha Comics iPad app will launch with 34 books covering four series: Arisa by Natsumi Ando; Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima; Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei by Kôji Kumeta; and Until the Full Moon by Sanami Matoh. Additional series will be added to the app in the near future.
In a special launch promotion designed to celebrate the appearance at New York Comic-Con of Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima, all fifteen volumes of Fairy Tail will be available at the special price of $2.99 each for a limited time.
Random House, Inc. has been increasing its own focus on the digital world with the acquisition in May of digital media agency Smashing Ideas, as well as with its in-house corporate digital content and services group. With numerous apps and specialized eBooks under their belt, the Random House team was the ideal choice to develop this exciting new app for Kodansha.
Servicing this app is a natural extension of Random House Publisher Services distribution agreement with Kodansha USA Publishing, which covers sales and distribution, and also editorial, production and marketing.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to broaden our partnership with Kodansha USA Publishing,” said Jeff Abraham, President of Random House Publisher Services. “This is a great example of how RHPS can draw on the larger experience of Random House to create compelling services for our clients. We look forward to implementing app development capabilities for more of our clients.”
Kodansha Comics launched its first title, Akira volume 1, in 2009 in partnership with Random House. In 2010, the company hired Random House Publisher Services to coordinate, sell, market and distribute its U.S. publishing program, and the first books debuted in 2011. Kodansha Comics has published many New York Times Graphic Novel bestsellers in recent months, with Naoko Takeuchi’s classic Sailor Moon currently holding the number one spot for manga for three weeks in a row.
About Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC
Established in New York in 2008, Kodansha USA Publishing (KUP) is a subsidiary of Kodansha, Japan’s largest publisher. KUP’s first works under the Kodansha Comics imprint were Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira and Masamune Shirow’s The Ghost in the Shell. In 2011, KUP is expanding their catalog to include such titles as Negima by Ken Akamatsu, Shugo Chara! by PEACH-PIT, and Bloody Monday by Ryou Ryumon and Kōji Megumi. Kodansha Comics is distributed by Random House Publisher Services.
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