Manta Releases Print Edition of Fantasy-Romance If You Dare Disobey the Duke

With a direct-to-consumer, the full-color print version of Romance Machine K's fantasy-romance serial Disobey the Duke If You Dare, Manta (manta.net), a webtoon / digital comics app platform, has announced its first formal entry into the print graphic novel market. We chatted with Manta to learn more about this and why bookstores and libraries aren't yet able to get it from comic book wholesalers.

Starting on April 18, 2023, Amazon will offer the print version of Disobey the Duke If You Dare's first volume for purchase.

Every Thursday, new chapters of this popular Manta series are released. Disobey the Duke's digital comic is in its second season, with 58 chapters already available. According to the series' page, Manta has accelerated the release of English chapters to simul-pubbed/release them simultaneously as the Korean language chapters are made available to readers in Korea due to the series' popularity.

From Manta:

You must never see the duke’s face

After her second husband’s death, Lily is forced into a third marriage by her father. Her new husband is rumored to be a monstrous warmonger, but to Lily’s surprise, the Duke turns out to be a kind man and husband. There’s just one catch… she must never see his face.

On the Manta website, you can sample Disobey the Duke If You Dare.

Although the publication of Disobey the Duke, if You Dare, is their first official print release, Manta has already made two volumes of their well-known BL series, Semantic Error, available as ebooks on Amazon Kindle in the summer of 2022. Additionally, they gave away a small number of print editions of this story to fans via their social media channels and at the Manga Publishing Roundtable panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

There are many issues with Manta's direct-to-consumer print publication of this series. Despite what the press release claims,

Manta is dedicated to turning more of its popular originals into top-notch graphic novels through direct publication and partnerships, beginning with Disobey the Duke if You Dare.

Moonseok Jeong, Head of Content for Manta said:

“Manta already has a strong, well-established fandom from offering the hundreds of best and exclusive stories in digital comics form, and we are definitely proud for Disobey the Duke if You Dare to be our first entry into print. With this graphic novel initiative, we aim to extend the success of Manta’s popular IP, diversify the reading experience, and most importantly, bring what our fans will love and enjoy.”

That's OK if you're an individual reader who wants to purchase this series as a printed book, but what about bookstores, libraries, or comic book stores? These establishments depend on distributors like Ingram, Penguin Random House, or Diamond to get their books on the shelf.

So I got in touch with Jeong to ask for more details. He stated the following:

Who will distribute these books to retailers and librarians? Are your distribution plans only for direct-to-consumer via Amazon?
JEONG: It will be distributed direct-to-consumer via Amazon. However, we are open to collaborations in the future with other popular titles of Manta.

How are you determining which books will get print distribution this way? Is it based on popularity / read rate/reactions from Manta app users or something else?
JEONG: Disobey the Duke is one of Manta’s most popular titles and our first for print distribution. It’s more for our fans to extend their reading experiences while enjoying keeping their favorite Manta title on the bookshelves.

I’m also curious how many books Manta plans to publish this way over the next year.
JEONG: We are open to more titles coming to print in the future and are exploring how to expand into this print publication.

Are you also talking with other publishers regarding licensing titles showcased on Manta to be published in print?
JEONG: As mentioned above, as an IP owner, we are open to conversations and opportunities with other titles. We have a rich library of romance stories that we are strong at and that our fans love, including Under the Oak Tree, Finding Camellia, and more.

In other words, these more complicated issues like distribution and licensing of Manta-exclusive series to other North American comics publishers will be decided later, maybe in light of the results of this initial direct-to-consumer book release.

The best way to consider this is by comparing it to how graphic novels are independently published through Kickstarter. To convince a publisher to pick up the series and provide it with more excellent distribution, a creator may use a successful Kickstarter campaign to demonstrate to publishers that there is significant demand for the book. If so, we'll have to wait to see how readers receive the print edition and where it goes.

One of the more recent entrants in the webtoon / digital comics app market is Manta, which provides something different from competing services: Manta offers all-you-can-read comics for a flat monthly subscription charge of USD 3.99 North America instead of the pay-by-episode model utilized by other webtoon sites. With a monthly subscription that varies by nation, it is accessible in 175 countries and is free to download on Android and iOS devices. Additionally, it is offered in Spanish and English.

RIDI Corporation, "one of the leading storytelling companies in Korea," owns and runs Manta. A few Manta series have been turned into live-action TV dramas and animated programs. In addition, Manta collaborates with "third-party IP rights holders to extend existing storytelling into comics."

Shortly after its launch in November 2020, Manta quickly became the top comics app on Google Play in countries like the United States, Mexico, and Spain, with eight million app downloads as of October 2022.

Visit Manta.net, the Apple App Store, or Google Play to download the app and see what's on Manta.