Doujin work
Some time ago one of the people in the really popular doujin circles anonymously wrote a breakdown of all costs and profits from doujin.
Two doujinshi, selling price 500 yen, total 10,000 copies
5,000,000 yen
Special binding, 70 pages, cost price 300 yen each
5,000,000 yen - (300 x 10,000) = 2,000,000 yen
Cost to deliver books to and fro 20,000 yen x 2 events
2,000,000 yen - (20,000 x 2) = 1,960,000 yen
6 guys that helped to sell the doujinshi at the booth 60,000 yen x 2
1,960,000 yen - (60,000 x 2) = 1,840,000 yen
Transportation and accommodation 70,000 yen x 2
1,840,000 yen - (70,000 x 2) = 1,700,000 yen
Transportation and accommodation for guys helping out
1,700,000 yen - 140,000 = 1,560,000 yen
Dinner with all involved 40,000 yen x 2
1,560,000 yen - 80,000 = 1,440,000 yen
Money for guest artists in book 120,000 yen
1,440,000 yen -120,000 yen = 1,320,000 yen
5000 books were through consignment via shops at 490 yen each
1,320,000 yen - 50,000 = 1,270,000 yen
Approximately 100,000 yen for miscellaneous costs such as taxi fare and printing costs for the poster.
After various costs for having some other guys to represent him to appear in a smaller event that’s located out of the way, approximately 1,000,000 yen is left.
Some people ask for doujinshi that has been sold out to be reprinted and sold again, but that can’t be done because it is impossible to cover printing costs if done in small amounts, especially if special bindings are used.
As for paying large amounts for the guys helping out, to the point of paying all transportation and accommodation, it’s so that even when there is a queue at the booth a person would not need to queue for longer than 30 minutes. There is a big difference when getting people that can work really fast, and the circle tried having only 3 people at the booth once and the queue got really bad.
November 28th, 2008 at 3:10 am
I’m assuming then, that there’s a startup investment of $40k. If the group makes $10k profit with consistent sales and production, then it takes four good outings to recoup the initial investment?
That doesn’t sound very lucrative, at least from the get-go. I suppose it’s a total passion thing then?
November 28th, 2008 at 3:12 am
@Sqrfrk
That is, if the group is intending to continue until they make it big or fade into obscurity.
November 28th, 2008 at 3:50 am
@NOYFB:
in case this is a serious question, or if anyone else cares, 1000 pressed CD will cost you around 800 euros. The most expensive position is the Master CD here, so when ZUN orders 10.000 CDs the costs for a single one will be much cheaper.
Prices also vary a lot depending on the print. No print at all or 1 Color is much cheaper then a 4-Color one (4C = basically any color).
That said, lots of Doujinshi CDs (Music/Games) are CD-r anyway. You can have those duplicated for pretty low prices (10-20 euro cent for 1 copy, depending on amount and print) or even do it yourself. This is also the realistic option if you just want 50 copies or smth.
As I once checked that, the prices in Japan for CD duplicating are nearly the same as here in europe.
November 28th, 2008 at 9:01 am
That’s SLIGHTLY better than I expected. Some people seem to be under the impression that doujin, by definition, means that you will be in the red, and only those with TRUE PASSION and SELF SACRIFICE will do it, out of their own pocket. Granted, this is from a “really popular” circle, so I’m guessing a lot of smaller circles truly are SELFLESS HEROES and PURE FANS or whatnot.
November 28th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
So about 1,000,000yen left.
I didn’t see the cost of actually drawing the doujinshi, usually done by few people.
I wonder how much is the labour cost for drawing. I don’t think the assistant artist costs cheap…
November 28th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
NOYFB: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/okome_chan/20081126/1227627555 seems handy for a cost breakdown, just replace all the instances of books with cds/case/jewel insert printing costs
November 28th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
actually that’s almost all paper doujin-related costs, I don’t think you’d really have anything other than travel + cd/packaging costs + 3000-5000jpy application fee (M3 is 4000 for a full booth, 2500 for a mini), a tablecloth maybe and a cd player+headphones if for some reason you don’t have those
November 28th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
>Anonymous
Doujinshi is usually done alone for the majority of the work, assistants are mainly used for weekly serializations when time is tight. Labour costs can’t really be calculated for doujin work most of the time because it’s like a personal hobby that’s done during personal time.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
>Zepy
Cool, that answers one of the questions in my head.
I know they hold lottery to pick the circles. But does the comiket organizers give priority to large circles or artists?
November 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
>I know they hold lottery to pick the circles. But does the comiket organizers give priority to large circles or artists?
They do, though only if the circles are applying.
For exemple ZUN somewhere wrote that he was always used to be accepted in every comicket, but when he signed under another circle name (drunken association), he got rejected lol
November 30th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
What about for doujin games? How much did it cost TYPE-MOON to release Tsukihime back then?