Top 50 Manga Graphic Novels & TPs: September 2012

Naruto and his friends continue their adventures in VIZ Media's Naruto Volume 58, the best-selling manga title to direct market retailers in September.

In total, VIZ Media had five titles in the top ten, including Bleach Volume 46 at #4, Bleach Volume 47 at E5, One Piece Volume 64 at #7, and Bakuman Volume 14 at #10.

Kodansha Comics had one title in the top ten with Sailor Moon Volume 7 at #3.

Dark Horse Comics had three titles in the top ten — Berserk Volume 36 at #3, Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus Volume 4 at #8, adn Oreimo Volume 1 at #9.

Rounding out the top ten, Yen Press' Yotsuba & ! Volume 11 ranked #6.

TOP 50 MANGA
Based on Total Unit Sales of Products Invoiced in September 2012

This information may not be reproduced in any format without the express permission of Diamond Comic Distributors.

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which include the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 accounts, comprised of comic book specialty shops and other merchant stores and buyers. The shops are primarily located in North America, with a percentage of sales also to international stores and buyers located throughout the world. The account base includes not only brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, but also Internet stores, chain stores, and other specialty stores.

Unit and retail dollar sales are calculated based upon orders invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

About the Diamond Sales Index: The Sales Index of selected monthly Best Seller Charts is presented as a comparative tool for retailers and publishers. It presents Diamond’s monthly sales for individual titles in relation to Diamond’s total sales for the issue of DC Comics' monthly Batman comic book. (Batman is used as the control title — with a value of 100 — because sales of Batman remain relatively stable.) This allows for easy comparison to other titles and helps retailers gauge their orders for all other titles. This formula is only a guide, other factors may impact a titles' ability to sell in certain locations and clientele.