Hello~~~!  AX2009 - Day 1 is here!  Hey, shame on you!  You should be at the event instead of reading this from home!    No, seriously… I hope everyone had a chance to stop by at the booth and say hello and check out our new and cool things!   Don’t be afraid to give us your feedbacks!  You can blog here, tweet twitter.com/digitalmanga , or send emails…  or give it to us straght up - say something to us at the booth!  I hope you are finding everything you are looking for!  Oh, just quickly - 801Media (and Digital Manga) is open tomorrow (Friday 3rd) - everybody is working thru the weekend at AX… and then we are closed on Monday the 6th in lieu of the 4th.  We’ll see you back here on Tuesday! 

Ah!  A current issue of Publishers Weekly… hmm… and I’m flipping it thru and found Stupedia: The Most Useless Facts on Wikipedia.  It sounds funny - I think I’m going to stay away from yaoi manga this weekend and this is going to be my reading material for the 4th!  I love useless facts and useless knowledge. I don’t know why - I just do!

Wow… it’s July already…  And I just finished crunching numbers for the Q2!  It’s somewhat  expected… somewhat surprising…  and of course, we always want to sell more!  But anyways, I will post 801 Media’s report card here tomorrow! 

What’s on your agenda for the weekend? BBQ? Pool? Beach? Fireworks? 

801-chan
Tweet, tweet, tweet!
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On Monday, we selected 2 winners for eManga.com promo.  (You can read about it here.)  Congratulations!

Sorry guys… I forgot to blog about Youka Nitta yesterday…  Otodama (音霊　オトダマ) - Airisu blogged/asked me “did you like Otodama?”  …. the answer is “YESSSSSS! and I LOOOOOOOOOVED IT!” … and Digital Manga will be publishing this book in February 2010, under DokiDoki imprint!!!  Yaaaaay!  I’m so excited!   I love love love her artwork.  I think it’s  brilliant!  (I don’t want to give you too much away…) it’s a crime-solving-murder-mystery-suspense-drama story.  I can totally see this book turned into a TV series or something.  Can I be a bit selfish and mention a little con?  The dialogue was a bit too technical - lots of police talk and $10 lawyer words (if you know what I mean…) and was a bit difficult to understand.  Perhaps she did that to keep the story real!  Anyways, I can’t wait for the English version of this manga - and trust me, you won’t be dissappointed!  This is so read-worthy!  Not to mention plenty of hot men in page after page! 

Today is the move-in day for AX2009!  Pallets of boxes are finally out of the office!  Now I can actually see everyone’s cubicles now! There’s only 3 of us in the office today - everyone else is at the site setting up!  My boss is gone too!  So 3 of us are planning on a lazy work day today!  I’m about to go out on a Starbucks run!  Shhhhh… don’t tell anyone!   

801-chan
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So, lots and lots of things are happening this week.  Let’s start with the obvious - THE ANIME EXPO 2009!  Ladies and gentlemen!  Come to booth number 801!   Trust me, you won’t be dissappointed!  Lots of new titles, lots of new releases, lots of import books, lots of costumes, lots of everything!  - and they are all on convention discount price!  We also have tons of stuff to give away!  Come early and grab yours! 

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Next, I just finished writing sales sheets for Q1 2010 book information.  They will be posted here this week!  So please be sure to stop by again soon!   

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This week, rolling out to reviewers are: Unsophisticated And Rude (June Manga), A strange And Mystifying Story v2 (June Manga), Steal Moon v2 (June Manga), Millenium Prime Minister v1 (DokiDoki), Color (DokiDoki) and Train Train v2 (DokiDoki) - so reviewers, listen for those doorbell ring “UPS Delivery!”   

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Since 801 Media has no new book for the month of July, I decided to put a spotlight on Botan Yamada.  She’s been with us since the grand opening of 801 Media Inc.  (Whaaat?  you didn’t know this?)  Who is she?  You ask? She is the creator of 801-chan & Tomo-chan characters.  Yep!  That’s right!  She’s the artist face behind our mascot!  801-chan & Tomo-chan’s mommy!  I think she’s under represented here so I decided to re-introduce here in July!  I will be doing a one-on-one interview and she will be here for the shout-out CELEBRITY BLOG!  Can’t wait!  She says she has treats for us too!  OOOhhh… I can’t wait to see what it is!  

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eManga.com - the 2 weeks x2 Double promo has ended and we will be selecting winners for those!  The winners will be annouced here and also in the NEWS section of eManga.com site! 
801-chan 
No excuses! 
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If you guys have been twitter’ing with us - you’d know this.  We were looking for a new reviewer for a 801 Media books and we just found ONE!  Can we give a round of applause to Melinda Beasi~~~!  of http://eyeballman.com/blog/ *Applause Applause*  Spotlight on stage please!  This is exciting!  Melinda, welcome! and thanks for joining our review list!  I’m looking forward to your awesome reviews!   Spread the joy and spread the love of 801!

My goal this weekend is to make it through without these following words:  Michael Jackson, Anime Expo and cablebox.  I think I blogged in here a several days back - that my cable box in the livingroom broke - and it’s still broken.  So my TV time is much less these days… (I have a small TV in my bedroom tho) and I’m kind of liking it cuz it’s making me do other productive things. 

My reading material for the weekend is: Otodama オトダマ　音霊 by Youka Nitta.  I hear she’s back from her sabbatical and coming back to work full time!  The cover looks pretty cool - if I had to guess, this story is dark, intense and semi-action-packed story…?  I could be wrong… I’m purely judging the book by the cover - oh and it’s got this partial gold sleeve over the dust jacket!  A little Bling-age!  I’ll tell you all about it on Monday! 

Have a good weekend!
801-chan
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What!?  No new book for the month of July!?!?!?!?  I’m gonna have to talk to my production manager about this!  Don’t get me wrong, I love taking breaks.  I love taking vacations!  But having no 801 book for a whole month is absolutely unacceptable!  That means I’d have to think of something to do for the month of July!  Grrr…  I’ll run an extra contest or something… I’ll keep you guys posted! 

AX preparation is driving everyone crazy here.  Literally - we have boxes piled up in mountains.  Check out the view –> from our cubicles! They are gonna sit here for one more week…  then we move into 1,300 sq ft booth space at the convention center!  Does anyone wanna come and help us? 

I wanted to share the first On Bended Knee review, which just came in today from activeanime.com - Thank you!    

This week, I’ll be working on 2010 release schedule and the book information.  Argh… my caffeine intake is going up again.  

801-chan

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Did everyone have a good Father’s day?  I’m a bad daughter… I almost forgot all about it.  Bad 801-chan, bad, baaaaad!  I hadn’t gotten anything for my daddy…  so I called my friend on Saturday night - I had to cash-in on my favors he owed me - but I was able to fit us in for a round of golf at a nice country club and a cold refreshing beer afterwards!  ;D   “Yep, daddy!  I put our names down 6 months ago for this day!”  

I was just looking at my calender - and WOW.  It’s almost the end of June.  It’s the end of Q2.  I’ll be honest, ‘09 has been a rollercoaster ride for all of us in this office - lots of drama, lots of events, lots of news & announcements, lots of controversy… it felt like having our own TMZ show everyday.  (801-chan reminiscing…awh… hmm… sigh… grin…)  Anyways, thru the thick and thin, up and down… just wanted to say thanks for reading our books and thanks for your support!  I will be releasing our report card here for the end of Q2 - does anyone want to guess which book was the top performer?  Does anyone has a specific comment on any book?  Any questions?  Any comments?  Please - do share!  

801-chan

Happy Friday everyone!  It’s going to be a quiet day at the office today.    I’m hoping I’ll get thru the day quickly and efficiently! 

Don’t miss out!  At eManga.com (www.emanga.com) - the Double x2 Promo is still in affect.  So you still have your chance to get your yaoi in and kick start your weekend right!  The featured new title of the week is Everlasting Love (from June Manga,)  FREE sample pages are also available - just click on the PINK botton that says [READ] 

We have another big annoucement~  *Drum Roll*  Some of our titles are now available in Kindle version!  (Read our NEWS here.)  This is exciting!  Well, right now, we have 3 Yaoi novels from June manga and 1 GN from DMP imprint.  Yesterday during the meeting, for the first time, I got to see this Kindle thingy with my very own eyes!  You hear about it so much - “kindle, kindle, kindle, kindle….”  I know what it is… I kinda know what it looks like from the web and news and stuff… but to see it with my own eyes… was something else.  I must say, I was very impressed and…  now I really really want one!  May be I won’t buy me a Bishonen at YaoiCon this year, and instead, I’ll rename my savings account from “Bishonen funds” to “Soon to be Kindle” and I’m thinking of getting me a second job!  I’ll definately going to be looking more into it this weekend.   I’m hoping they’ll come up with different color frames, cute carrying cases, covers and accessories!  Oh - you know they will - just like cell phones! 

801-chan

First of all, I want to thank all of you for your emails!  Recently, 801-chan’s email Inbox is flooded with questions!  Tons of questions!  I truely appreciate your support and inquiries!  Today, I thought I’d pick some interesting ones and feature them here.  So here you go:  
 
FAQ of The Day:  Do you plan to put more 801 Media titles on eManga.com? 
A: Thank you so much for supporting eManga.com and making it a success!  We’ve had overwhelming responses and I wanted to let everyone know that His Arrogance was Number ONE rented AND viewed title for 2 weekends in a row!  And answer to this question is “YES!  - YES-YES-YES!”  Of course, there’s going to be more 801 Media titles on eManga.com.  Next one in queue is Falling into Love.  And there’s more to come!

FAQ of The Week:  Is 801-chan billingual?  
A:  Yep!  This 801-chan is billingual!  Jealous much?  I get to read all those manga in advance - courtesy of 801 Media - specially shipped from Japan, just for me!  HeeHee.  In real life, this 801-chan, born and raised in Southern California and growing up, my parents made sure that I’d be fluent in Japanese.  In addition to Japanese, I know how to say “Hello,” “beer,” and “money” in dozen other languages and I also know plenty of bad words in Spanish!  Did you know, the word “manga” is universal.  “Manga” is “manga” worldwide! 

FAQ of the All-Time:  Can you please publish Yamane Ayano’s Love Finder Series? 
A:  No surprises here - This is the most, number ONE, frequently asked questions of All-Time.  I will have you know - our VP of Licensing is bombarded with this inquiry and it’s on her “to-do” list every week!  She is actively pursuing this title ALL THE TIME!  Yup, I’ve read it in Japanese!  Yup, I’ve seen them on ebay for over $200 - whoa! Cha-ching!  and YUP!  I’d love to see it in our 801 Media library too!  And yup I know what you mean… Sorry guys - for now, all I can say is we are trying very very hard…  and I hope, soon, one day, I can deliver the good news!  You’ll be the first ones to know! 

801-chan

I hope everyone enjoyed reading Hey Class President volume 2!  The review for this book just came in yesterday - You can ready it here:  Review by Active Anime.

And last week, review copies of On Bended Knee (buy your copy at www.akadot.com for 10% off!) rolled out to my reviewers and I haven’t seen or heard anything yet… so I’m a bit nervous but I hope everyone likes it!  Ohh- anyone who wants to say something about this book, please feel free to blog here.  If anyone has a private message for Ruri Fujikawa sensei - you can send an email to:  contact@801media.com we’ll be sure to get it to her.   Oh, I almost forgot… 801 Media will be looking for new reviewers starting in July.  So if anyone’s interested, or know of anyone who’s intrested, please send us an email at:  801-chan@801media.com .  

We are also working on On Bended Knee preview pages on YouTube.com  - should be up there in 2-3 days!  Our YouTube channel is at :  www.youtube.com/user/801media   Don’t be shy on your comments/suggestions there.  The good, the bad and the ugly ones!  801-chan is a big girl.  I can take it!   

801-chan

Maniac Monday Morning everyone!  801-chan is always busy on Mondays.  Lots of espresso shots in my coffee - trying to get thru the day without much drama! 

My weekend was very productive!  My cable box in the living room broke!  (that reminds me… I have to call my cable guy…)  So I had lots of quiet time alone.  First, with my Saturday coffee and bagel, I read Maniac*Shorts-Shot.  It’s like a tongue-twister… I dare you to say it 3 times fast!?   First of all, I loooooooove the cover!  Usually, I don’t really care much for the cover… but this one… is definately an attention-getter!  And the contents lives up to it too.  Some laugh-out-loud moments - comedy well met with yaoi!  2010’s great season opener for 801 Media library.  801 Media will be featuring an exclusive interview with the creator, Miya Ousaka.  I am going to be taking some interview questions from you, the fans, as well!  so be sure to check back here periodically - for how and when! 

Then on Sunday, with my heart-stopper breakfast = 3 eggs, bacons, ham and hash browns, I read Il Gatto Sul G v.1 on eManga.com  (www.emanga.com)  This is one of my favorite series from June Manga library!  I hope I get my volume 3 soon! 

With all my manga piling up at home and no where to put them, on Sunday afternoon, I surfed the web like crazy for a new bookshelf for my 800 sq. ft. one bedroom apartment.  Obvious starting point was Ikea… but I couldn’t find anything I liked.  I’m looking for something contemporary… something sturdy… and something inexpensive.  Am I asking for too much?   

801-chan