PR: Yen Press to publish Patterson YA manga

I just mentioned this in the post below, and as I was typing, the press release came in. Ten points to Yen for being on the ball! Details after the cut.

JAMES PATTERSON’S #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES
MAXIMUM RIDE TO BE PUBLISHED IN MANGA EDITIONS

MAXIMUM RIDE #1: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT TO LAUNCH
YEN PLUS MANGA ANTHOLOGY IN SUMMER 2008

NEW YORK, NY (December 6, 2007) — Hachette Book Group USA announced today that its graphic novel imprint, Yen Press, has acquired world rights to a graphic edition of James Patterson’s young adult series Maximum Ride. The #1 New York Times bestselling series about fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and her “flock” will be adapted into 30-page manga installments for monthly inclusion in Yen Press’ new manga anthology, Yen Plus. The first episode in Patterson’s first Maximum Ride title, The Angel Experiment, appears in the inaugural Yen Plus issue scheduled to release in summer 2008. Available through subscription and at major bookstores and comic book retailers across the country, each 460-page issue of Yen Plus will cost $8.99 at retail.

The thrilling non-stop action of the Maximum Ride series will be rendered in a “manga” style, with black & white and color illustrations that will appeal to teens, male and female alike. Select content from the monthly magazine will be featured on the Yen Press website, along with bonus features.

“Featuring Maximum Ride as a staple in the Yen Plus anthology, will, no doubt, increase manga readership and bring it to a completely new level,” said Kurt Hassler, Co-Publishing Director of Yen Press. “We are thrilled that James has chosen to bring this dynamic property to the rapidly growing medium of manga.”

“I am completely over the moon that Max’s story will be told in manga editions,” said Patterson. “I can’t imagine a more visual tale than this one. Truly, this is Max taken to the max.”

Featuring approximately 12 separate storylines in each anthology, Yen Plus will serve as a vehicle in breaking out and building enthusiasm for new properties from around the world – such as Nightschool by Svetlana Chmakova, already scheduled for the debut anthology.

James Patterson is one of the top-selling writers of all time, with over 140 million books sold. No other author has had more #1 New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son, who loves the Maximum Ride books. He says, “I want young Jack to know what his dad does at the office and, hopefully, to be proud.” (Newsweek, April 30, 2007).

Yen Press is an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA dedicated to publishing graphic novels for adults and young readers. Yen Press’ focus is primarily on licensed manga, but also publishes across the wide spectrum of the graphic novel market, including, but not limited to: original manga publications, original American comics/graphic novels, webcomics, licensed adaptations, and children’s graphic novels.

Hachette Book Group USA is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second largest publisher in the world. Hachette Book Group’s product lines include adult, illustrated, religious, children’s and audio books under the Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, Yen Press and Hachette Book Group Digital Media imprints.