INTERVIEW: Editor Kristiina Korpus Talks About Abrams’ New Manga Imprint, Kana
Abrams recently expanded into the world of manga by launching its own manga imprint, Kana (pronounced con-uh). To learn more about what’s going on and what makes this imprint different, Otaku USA spoke to editor Kristiina Korpus, who filled us in on Kana’s commitment to authenticity, what sort of titles they’re interested in, and her background as an editor.
And check out Otaku USA‘s review on Kana’s first title, Eden of Witches, here!
Can you tell us a bit about Kana and what it has going on?
Kana is a part of Abrams Books, and a big part of Abrams is what we like to call “the art of books.” At Kana, we’re really selective of the books and the titles that we’re bringing, in the hopes that we can always bring the most authentic version back to English readers. We want to include all the special things that the Japanese editions have, so like the paperback covers being different than the jackets and the full jacket with the flaps, and if they have sprayed edges or fold art like 4C pages, 4 color pages. We’re trying to become the publisher that, when you look at a book and it has all these extras, you know that’s a Kana book, that’s a collector’s book.
Kana specifically wants to do a lot of stuff in the josei and seinen space with manga right now. There are so many really great titles that maybe wouldn’t otherwise have a big enough audience. Because we’re Kana and we’re smaller, we can bring those to readers. Our publisher has a really soft spot for horror and classic manga. We really want everyone to get to see early manga, like from the 80s, from the 70s, and be able to enjoy it in the modern day as well.
How does Kana stand out from other publishers?
We’re specifically trying to bring the most one-to-one representation of books from Japan to English readers. We have the full jacket, we have the author’s notes, we have sprayed edges or special underjacket printing and we’re trying to make sure that all of that makes it into the English edition.
We have some really exciting projects coming up. We can’t talk about them yet, but hopefully later in the year we can make some announcements. We’re so excited to share the stuff we’re fans of with more fans. Everyone who works at Kana is a fan of manga. We always want to bring it as an art form first. You can almost think of us as “by fans for fans.” We want people to feel they’re creating a bookshelf with us.
How do you select what titles you license?
Right now Kana is very small. There’s five of us. When it comes to licensing and acquiring titles, we have to be really careful what we put in our schedule. Because right now, I’m the only editor at Kana, and we only have one assistant. We’re working with the least amount of hands possible on loads of books. It’s hard to say exactly what we’re looking for, other than, if I can quote my very French boss, “Je ne sais quoi.” We want books that are collectible and classic and will withstand maybe a decade on the bookshelf and still be relevant in ten years. We’re looking at these josei, these seinen titles that are otherwise maybe too serious for other publishers to put their name on. We want to be able to make a place in the English market for those kinds of books.
Can fans make suggestions on titles?
They’re welcome to suggest titles. I’m on Bluesky and I’m on Twitter, also known as X. People can always tag me and say, “Hey, Tiina, check out this title. I think it’s really cool.” Obviously, we’re a really small publisher, so I won’t be able to bring everything that people want. But it is nice to have fans dropping something every now, and saying, “Hey, Tiina, I thought of you.” I do have a couple of friends in the industry, some letterers who will send me titles, like, “OK, I want to work on this.” I found a couple of things that I really want for the Kana list because other people have been sending them to me.
Previously you worked with Yen Press and Seven Seas. Can you tell us about your background with manga?
I went to school to be an editor. I did an English major and I studied a lot of comics. When I left school, I was like, “I’m going to be an editor.” But of course it’s not that easy to break into manga, let alone publishing. I thought it was a pipe dream.
But I managed to get a job in 2016 at Yen Press and I spent five years there, sort of learning the nitty gritty of everything manga. My ideas of good manga are thanks to the teaching of the people there. Because they’re all, at Yen, very serious about what makes good manga.
After the pandemic, I wanted to be able to work remote full-time, and so I ended up finding a job with Seven Seas. I was very lucky to know someone who offered me a job, and so I spent three years there, working and editing of some of their Steamship titles, but mostly I had a lot of romance on my list, which I liked.
But I was missing the fact that we couldn’t really suggest titles to license. It was a little bit out of our hands. I was approached by Kana and they asked if I would consider launching this imprint with them. I had to sit and think about it, and ultimately I said yes. I am so thankful that I am doing manga today, because when I was a teenager people would joke, “Oh, ha, you want to go into comics.” I made the pipe dream a real thing.
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
