Strawberry Panic light novel Vol. 2?

Chaotik · Post by **Chaotik** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:38 am

Well, I know that strawberry panic light novel 2 is out, but I can't find it ANYWHERE. I live in Canada so finding them is pretty tough. I've become an avid buyer from online sources like Amazon and Righstuf however I can't find Vol. 2, just volume one.

Does anybody know what a good online source is that has it, or was it completely pulled off shelves? I know it was put on hold, but did they get rid of it altogether? :S

Thaanks. :]

Post by **Adam_Arnold** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:47 am

Strawberry Panic novel 2 had a small print run, but it was released (as were Ballad of a Shinigami novel 2 and Pita-Ten novel 2). The issue is that our distributor has shipped out the remaining stock of the volume, so there aren't any more books available and we have no plans to do any reprints. Basically, all the light novel titles are now "Out of Print."

SoraNoAkaiAme · Post by **SoraNoAkaiAme** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 10:17 pm

And for what reason will you not re-print the volume? Is it the cost? This series has been around for years and each day someone else finds about it, like myself. Three years after the anime was released I found it, and now want to own the light novels, but that is impossible in this day and age.

I know there are plenty others out there like myself who also want to read this whole series, or are waiting for volume two to become available again.

By re-printing, the next generation and even the past and present generation would be able to enjoy this wonderful series. And it's not like they can find it for free on the internet, killing your sales. Trust me, I've looked for months.

This is just my opinion though, and I know the volume will most likely not be re-printed, but I'm just putting it out there, that there are people in this world who are dying to get their hands on this volume.

Post by **Adam_Arnold** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 2:06 am

I wish I could tell you something different, but I can't. Strawberry Panic novel 2's initial orders were low because stores didn't think it would sell since Strawberry Panic novel 1 wasn't moving for them. That resulted in the second book having a low print run.

As far as doing a reprint goes...
When the $7.95 price point, color color pages, b/w paper stock we used, and the non-standard light novel trim size are all taken into account, it means that a reprint of the second novel would not break even. The lower the print run, the higher it costs to produce.

Nanica · Post by **Nanica** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:17 am

The same thing happened to me, I found out about the novel fairly late and had a lot of difficulty locating a copy of volume 2. Fortunately the local library had one so I was able to continue reading the story. Now I have to wait until my Japanese improves sufficiently to read the final volume, which will not happen anytime soon.

If it's too expensive to reprint a light novel at the price of $7.95, how high should the price be in order to make it possible for the company to do so? I really liked the paper and translation quality of Strawberry Panic as well as the color pages, and since it's only got 3 volumes, I wouldn't mind paying a little more for them.
Is it possible to do some sort of a survey along with a special order to see how many people would actually purchase the novel and then do a limited print run based on those numbers?

Light novels seem to be selling badly in the US in general, except maybe for Haruhi Suzumiya.

Post by **Adam_Arnold** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 5:52 am

Nanica wrote:If it's too expensive to reprint a light novel at the price of $7.95, how high should the price be in order to make it possible for the company to do so? I really liked the paper and translation quality of Strawberry Panic as well as the color pages, and since it's only got 3 volumes, I wouldn't mind paying a little more for them.

If we were to raise the price, we'd have to completely resolicit the series as a "new edition" (or "second edition"). For all intent and purposes, it would be considered a new title then and have to be reoffered to stores for new orders. Basically, you can raise the price of a title mid-series, but you can't raise the price of an existing volume of an already released book. You have to consider it a new release.

Nanica · Post by **Nanica** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:20 am

So if you were to print volume 3 now, how much would you have to charge for it to make some money on the release, since you could raise the price for it?

jimmydean815 · Post by **jimmydean815** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:55 am

Nanica wrote:So if you were to print volume 3 now, how much would you have to charge for it to make some money on the release, since you could raise the price for it?

I've asked this before or something to what your trying to say. And the answer is a lot. Right now it would be impossible for Seven Sea's to make any money off of a light novel without charging us, which my guess would be, upwards of 50 dollars. Again 50 dollar's is my guess.

Post by **Adam_Arnold** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:36 am

No, the book price couldn't go too far over a $9.99 price point.

Nanica · Post by **Nanica** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:30 am

The price of manga has gone up for both TokyoPop and Del Rey recently and Viz will raise prices at the end of the year. I think it's realistic for the light novel market to do the same. I wouldn't mind paying $10-20 for a decent paperback edition. Just look at the price of other books.

Lord Styphon · Post by **Lord Styphon** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:10 am

Nanica wrote:The price of manga has gone up for both TokyoPop and Del Rey recently and Viz will raise prices at the end of the year. I think it's realistic for the light novel market to do the same. I wouldn't mind paying $10-20 for a decent paperback edition. Just look at the price of other books.

You might not mind paying a higher price for a decent paperback edition. The problem then becomes how many others would similarly be willing to pay. Given the sales figures that resulted from the original price, the probable answer is "not very many". Nowhere near enough to justify printing them.

jimmydean815 · Post by **jimmydean815** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:41 pm

Adam Arnold wrote:No, the book price couldn't go too far over a $9.99 price point.

Really? why only that far?

Lord Styphon · Post by **Lord Styphon** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 9:27 pm

jimmydean815 wrote:
Adam Arnold wrote:No, the book price couldn't go too far over a $9.99 price point.
Really? why only that far?