Danica Davidson
March 1, 2021 
The news outlet Reuters published a piece called “For manga’s striving artists, success lurks online,” showing how sometimes manga first published on the internet will become very successful series.
Their main case in point is Kamentotsu, who self-published Koguma’s Cake Shop online and soon had offers from forty companies after they saw how many readers it was getting.
“Publishing company editors have gone from bringing up manga artists, like they are farming, to hunting for them,” Kamentotsu told Reuters.
Reuters continued, “By searching for talent online, publishers squeezed by the rise of the internet can see an artist’s audience potential out in the open. For Japan’s striving manga artists, many of whom toil in obscurity for low pay, that means going viral can be life changing.”
The article did not, however, point out that the odds of going viral with a manga in Japan are like the odds of going viral in America, and most people who self-publish manga online will not have Kamentotsu’s level of sales.
Source: Reuters
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
