"Ranking of Kings" - Some Thoughts on Different Roads to Publishing
Today, I would like to share with you my thoughts after reading an autobiographical manga by Sōsuke Tōka (十日草輔), creator of Ranking of Kings.
Tōka had always dreamed of becoming a mangaka (a professional comic creator), but the field of comics was fierce, and after several rejections from various publishers, he gave up and took on various jobs to pay the bills.
It was not until when he was in his 40s that he decided to give comic creation another try.
Time has changed. Instead of pitching to manga publishers, many creators has chosen to post their works on various manga platforms (think the equivalents of Webtoons). Sure, the creators weren’t paid, but these platforms allowed their work to be seen by millions of manga readers. The connections and feedbacks with readers were instantaneous.
Tōka found this exciting and began putting his own comic, Ranking of Kings, on one of these manga platforms.
Over time, Ranking of Kings garnered a lot of fans and followers. Enough that, one day, a manga publisher contacted Tōka and asked if he would be interested in publishing Ranking of Kings with them.
To have the comic printed and sold in stores all over the nation? That’s the dream!!!
What came next was what I wanted to discuss today.
Tōka accepted the terms and signed the publishing contract. The story and artwork went through some slight editing, refining, design, layout tweaks… Everything was scheduled for print…
That was when Tōka had second thoughts.
He did a rough calculation in his head. If he had 50,000 fans, and 10% of them decided to spend money to buy his physical book, the first book would sell 5,000 copies. That’s nowhere NEAR the numbers needed for the series to continue printing.
(Disclaimer: I am not a manga creator, nor do I work in the Japanese manga industry. Everything I know about that world is through reading articles here and there. From my understanding, new or emerging series usually need to sell around 30,000-50,000 copies per volume in a short period of time in order to be considered for continuation.)
So, what did Tōka do? He asked the publisher to put a pause on production. He did not want the book to be published at the moment. He said it was a painful decision (and a big hassle to the publisher), but he believed it was the right call.
Instead, he published more Ranking of Kings for free on tons of manga platforms. (He mentioned that, since he was not paid, he could publish the same content on various platforms.) Again, over time, he gathered a lot of fans on various platforms.
That was when he decided to push the green light and have Ranking of Kings published as a book.
Every creator is different. Some enjoy publishing online comics; some like collaborating with traditional publishers; some prefer self-publishing. At this day and age, there are tons of ways to put your work out there. Each way has its pros and cons, and there is no right or wrong way to do it.
To me, what’s most interesting about this part of Tōka’s journey is that he has business sense. For most artists, the opportunity to get published is the ultimate prize. It was the moment to scream “I DO!”
Tōka had a different approach. He was thinking much further down his career and decided to say, “Not yet.”
I can’t tell you if this was the right call. Obviously, “Ranking of Kings” has become an amazing hit, so the outcome today looks right. What I am saying is that no one could guarantee if his comic would continue to have steam after posting on various platforms for a longer period of time. The plan could totally backfire. People could lose interest. New genres might appear that make publishers decide to think twice about publishing his comic. And, for all I know, Ranking of Kings could have been a big hit upon its first release anyway. We would never know. Life always make unexpected turns.
But it’s a very bold move. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if I would make the same choice he did. I am a very patient creator, and I don’t mind the long game. But I am not someone who likes to predict how the market will turn out.
I do applaud and admire Tōka for his bravery and his strong belief in what would truly make his work fly. Bravo, Sōsuke Tōka!
Check out Ranking of Kings when you have a chance! It’s a great read.
What do you think about Tōka’s choice? Would you have done the same? Share in the comments below!
Very interesting story. I know nothing about manga, but maybe he could have accepted the offer and keep growing his audience even if sales were bad and the publisher canceled the series.
Great insight, thanks for sharing. I love this behind the scenes kind of stuff.