DMP hiring scanlators?

[cmbranford]

Since The Yaoi Review no longer seems to get updated on LJ for me (and it's my posting day), I thought I'd make this information available to my flist here. Jen at TYR has gotten hold of some interesting information about a potential new DMP endeavor that will almost certainly affect yaoi fans and scanlation circles. You can read about it here.

Comments

[koyuki]

Damn. It's too bad I'm too busy to scanlate stuff, but I hope this does go towards faster and wider distribution. I'd really like to see more of AHnY translated, and the faster the better.

I'm just curious how it worked out for the company that was scanlating Totally Captivated and distributing it online. Even with online legal scanlations for download, I think I'd still prefer a physical copy in the end

[compli-cait.livejournal.com]

I seriously doubt this program will affect existing licenses, licenses of major works or licenses of mangaka that sell well for DMP. It seems clear this is a cost-saving endeavor for titles as yet unlicensed for works that they don't think they can recoup costs to publish in the normal fashion. Also, as much as I applaud DMP for thinking outside the box on this, I see it going down in flames just as badly as their unfortunately failed attempt with the web-a-thon titles. No one is going to care about the first book they try this with, they won't generate any income to speak of from their early endeavors and abandon working with a majority of the scanlators who come forward because they won't have the work ethic to stick with projects or want to work for free with the constraints of an established legal publisher.

And yes, I still want to own a physical book in the end as well. When Netcomics switched to pretty much online-only content and abandonded several of their manga series mid-series in print, I was more than a little peeved. I now have two incomplete manga series in print and if I ever want to read them again online I have to pay to rent them again.