Like the characters in its own story, Vermonia has a distinguished and almost mythic beginning. The manga series, which debuted this month, is the brainchild of a renowned editor and a manga professor and has a multifaceted existence in print and online. The series is being published in the U.S. by Candlewick Press (the initial printing is 25,000 copies); in the U.K. by Walker, and in Italy by Mondadori and negotiations are under way for other countries. Reversing the usual order of things, however, it has not yet been published in Japan.
“We felt that the combination of the art and the story were unique in Vermonia,” said John Mendelson, senior vice president for sales and digital incentives at Candlewick. “Its literary merits, combined with the art and the high quality packaging, make it stand out.”
The project is the brainchild of former Kodansha editor Akihiro Miyata, who discovered and nurtured the talent of the novelist Haruki Murakami. “Upon retiring from Kodansha, Akihiro-san wanted to get involved in discovering the next generation of great manga artists,” said Roger Rosen, publisher of Rosen Publishing as well as the agent for the Vermonia project. Miyata found Saki Uchida, who at the time was in her last year of studies at Nihon Kogakuin College. She has since graduated and now teaches on the manga faculty there. “She is very accomplished indeed, and she is the sort of genius that Akihiro discovered,” said Rosen. Uchida had formed a collective, YoYo, to create the Vermonia manga, and Miyata helped the group conceptualize the series. “Beyond that, this is very much the work of the collective, with Saki Uchida as the foremost leader,” Rosen said.
The result is a ten-volume fantasy story aimed squarely at the middle-grade and tween market—the protagonists are skateboarders, although each is accompanied by an ancient spirit as they embark upon their historic quest.
Vermonia is more than just ink on paper, though. “Akihiro always conceived of there being links to the internet in terms of various components of the book having a life online,” said Rosen. Miyata and Rosen collaborated on a MySpace page for Veracity, a band mentioned in the book, and they even commissioned music for the fictional group. The Vermonia website includes not only information about the book but also a Flash game that ties into the story and a kanji puzzle using characters embedded on the pages of each volume. While the book can be appreciated without the web components, Rosen said, they do enhance the story. “Some of that will circle around,” he said. “The clues in the adventure [game] will be impactful for understanding the book.”
“Essentially, Yoyo had a flight plan for this, and there are things I don't know about myself in subsequent volumes that they have blueprinted out,” said Rosen. “Akihiro Miyata has helped organize them in doing some of this. It’s kind of a complex, interwoven tapestry, but each piece stands up very nicely. Of course, you can read the book without any of this, but I think the Vermonian life is extended beautifully in this context.”
Rosen’s work on the project, which included serving as agent, helping edit the English editions, and working on the web material, is something of a departure for him: He is the publisher of Rosen Publishing, which produces circulating reference material for children. He took on this work, he said, because of his personal friendship with Miyata and his connections within the children’s publishing world, as well as his enthusiasm for the project.
The series is also a step off the beaten path for Candlewick, which has published graphic novels in the past but has never ventured into the realm of manga. Nonetheless, the first printing of 25,000 for volume 1 will be printed on high quality paper and includes a dust jacket (which doubles as a poster); a full-color section and retails for $9.99, which has become the lower end of manga pricing in recent months. The book will be placed in the manga/graphic novel sections of bookstores, Mendelson said, and it will also be distributed to the direct market by Diamond. Marketing efforts include promotion of the book at last month’s American Library Association conference and an online publicity and advertising campaign, Mendelson said. Candlewick will publish the book on a traditional book schedule, two volumes per year, unless sales dictate otherwise, he said. In the UK, Walker has a more typical manga schedule with volume 2 slated for release in October.
Mendelson pointed out that Candlewick has a “very robust” middle grade and young adult program, but he said no other manga are in the plans for the immediate future. “We felt that the combination of the art and the story were unique in Vermonia,” he said. “Its literary merits combined with the art and the high quality packaging make it stand out.”
