Tokyopop has signed a distribution deal with Diamond Book Distributors, with longtime Tpop COO John Parker moving to Diamond as Vice President-Business Development. The deal will have “a focus on consolidating efforts to build out the manga graphic novel segment across both comic book and bookselling retailers,” the announcement said. 

 

The new distribution deal will begin July 1. Diamond began handling book trade distribution for Tokyopop in the UK and Ireland at the beginning of last year (see “DBD Gets Tokyopop for the UK and Ireland”). 

 

Tokyopop has been distributed by HarperCollins since mid-2006, and has also had a publishing relationship with the company for OEL manga based on HarperCollins titles. Tokyopop’s publishing relationship with HarperCollins will continue. 

 

Parker has been with Tokyopop for nearly 12 years. The VP-Biz Dev position is a new one at Diamond. 

 

Tokyopop’s current production level is around 150 new releases a year; the company’s backlist is around 2,000 volumes.