Follow-up Note on ‘Tokyo Love’ Delays

September 20th, 2012

So yesterday I told you all about the delays with the print version of Tokyo Love ~ Rica ‘tte Kanji!?

Today Rica and I made a drastic decision. We’re scrapping the manuscript we’re using and starting over from scratch. The original edition of Rica ‘tte Kanji!? was created in 2003, before there were high-res scanners for household use. So many things have changed, the way we letter, and the way we scan, the way we lay pages out…everything.

So, yes, we know this is going to delay the print edition even more than it is, but we’ve decided to remaster all the pages. Re-scan, re-clean, re-letter if needed, re-lay them out.

Why am I telling you this? Because, 1) I want you to see as much as you can into our workshop, since ultimately, this is all about you. Rica and I care about what you see, we care about your reading experience and I want you to know that. And, mostly, 2) Why not? there’s no reason to hide the fact that I made a command decision that didn’t work out. ^_^ We’re human, so of course sometimes we make the wrong decision. And this was one of those moments that “it seemed like a good idea at the time” wasn’t a good idea at all. Oh well. It’s a learning experience.

The upshot is, you’ll get a completely remastered version of the original Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, so everything will look better than it did in the first place. If we have to re-letter those early pages, we’ll replace the ever-hated Comic Sans, with the default I now use (Komika, if anyone cares. And if you hate that one too, oh well. I really like the way it looks. ^_^) Plus, the “More Rica” pages from the Yuri Monogatari collections, and the as-yet unpublished in English work and the brand-new-for-this-collection pages.

At NYCC, we’ll be premiering the ebook version, which will be DRM-free epub – we are committed to keeping all our digital editions DRM-free from here forward. And we’ll launch the online free edition. When NYCC is over, we’ll start taking pre-orders for the print edition, but we still don’t know, exactly, when that will come out. I’m going to pretend it will be available for the holiday buying season and work hard to make that true.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who (so far!) has helped out with this book: Rica, of course, Takami-sama, Diane, Ed, Masayo-san, Yukiyo-san, Erin, Heather (who let me freak out at her a few times)  and my wife who is probably heartily sick of me talking about this book, and really ready for this to be over.

This has been an exhausting process. It’s not over yet. But when it is, you will have the absolutely best book Rica and I can make for you. That is our promise to you.

3 Responses

  1. bec says:

    looking forward to it.

  2. Eric P. says:

    Meant to say this before, but I’m sure we’ll all wait for as long as it takes, whenever you feel it’s properly ready! I know I will.

  3. BruceMcF says:

    “At NYCC, we’ll be premiering the ebook version, which will be DRM-free epub”

    Sweet.

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