New York, NY – June 27, 2008 – Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today plans for popular Fairy Tail manga creator Hiro Mashima's first-ever US convention appearance at Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. During his appearance at the convention, which takes place from Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27, Hiro Mashima will be featured on a panel hosted by Del Rey Manga. Mashima will also meet with fans at two separate signing events.

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A round-up of new acquisitions announced during this weekend's NYCC:

Yen Press:

• Bamboo Blade by Igarashi/Totsuka
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni by Ryuukishi ZeroNana
• Nabari no Ou by Kamatani Yuuki
• Soul Eater by Atsushi Ohkubo
• Sumomomo Momomo by Oohashi Shinobu

Dark Horse:

• Clover by CLAMP

DMP:

• Swallowing the Earth by Tezuka Osamu

Del Rey:

• Gakuen Prince by Jun Yuzuki
• Samurai 7 by Mizutaka Zuhou
• Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei by Kouji Kumeta
• The Case of the Dragon Slayer (novel) by Kouhei Kadono

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Plus spring break in Japan, Rocket K, Japanese 101, contests & more in episode 63!

GRIMES, IA, March 28, 2008 - Anime producer and mega-online anime retailer Right Stuf, Inc. is pleased to welcome Dallas Middaugh - associate publisher for Del Rey Manga - to episode 63 of ANIME TODAY.

In this new, two-segment interview, Middaugh discusses his career in the publishing industry, the start of Del Rey's manga imprint, the state of the North American manga industry and its relationship with manga fans, Del Rey's upcoming collaboration projects with Marvel Comics (X-Men and Wolverine) and Dean Koontz (Odd Thomas), and what Del Rey Manga has in store for in 2008, including Faust and the launch of Fairy Tail, a new title from Hiro Mashima (Rave Master).

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Del Rey Manga has announced a new contest based on Hiro Mashima's manga Fairy Tail:

Ascend to manga heaven. Be the first to read Fairy Tail. E-mail us, and if you're selected, you'll win an advance copy of the book. There's just one catch: You have to write in and tell us what you think!

Send your emails to delreymanga@randomhouse.com with FAIRY TAIL in the subject line, including your full name and address in the body of the e-mail (NOTE: your personal information will not be used for any purpose other than this contest). Ten (10) lucky winners will be selected at random and will receive a copy of the book when it is published. All submissions must be received by Wednesday, February 27, 2008.

According to Del Rey Manga's February Newsletter, Del Rey's Editor-in-Chief Betsy Mitchell will be attending the Inc. Conference, which takes place from March 27th - 30th in New York City:

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From About.com:Manga comes an interview with Katsushi Ota, editor of Kodansha's Faust magazine, who appeared as Del Rey Manga's featured guest at the 2007 New York Anime Festival:

Q: So how did it happen that you and Del Rey Manga decided to bring Faust to America? Did you approach them or did they approach you?

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From Del Rey's Editorial Associate Tricia Narwani comes an article talking about his experience with comics:

I actually came to comics pretty late–I didn’t start reading them seriously until I was in high school–and it happened quite by accident. Until then, I was pretty much just an all-purpose aesthete and all-around geek, a voracious reader of everything from William Gibson to William Blake. In a strange way, though, all this reading was exactly what prepared me to fall hard for comics on that fateful day.

According to Del Rey's official blog, a 25-page preview of Miyuki Eto's manga Hell Girl is currently available on MySpace Comics.

Also, MangaBlog points out that Del Rey Manga's Dallas Middaugh has a blog post talking about his experience with comics.

Del Rey Manga is currently looking for proposals for "original, manga-style graphic novels" as well as artists who are"proficient at drawing in the manga style." Writers are also encouraged to find an artist partner to work on their ideas.

Source: MangaBlog

Del Rey Manga's Dallas Middaugh reveals in his latest blog post that Del Rey has officially licensed Keito Koume's Kujibiki Unbalance. The acquisition of the title was "strongly hinted" at Del Rey's MangaNEXT panel in 2006.

Via: ANN