>Chinese translators are fed up with the extra work of translating the titles -- which are practically stories in and of themselves -- and then trying to fit them on the cover.
>In the wake of the release of the impressively titled "Nuiage! Nugashite? Kise kaeru! ! Kanojo ga kōkō debut ni shippai shite hikikomori to kashita no de, ore ga seishun (fashion) o coordinate suru koto ni.", there has been backlash from Chinese translators and book dealers who are finding the ever increasing title lengths counterproductive in a variety of ways.
>At 68 characters long, the new title is the longest yet for a light novel -- and causing problems both at home and overseas. It's been pointed out that the longer the title is, the more difficult the book becomes to catalog in a database, where space is at a premium. With a 68-character-long title, there may end up not even being room for a description of the book.
crunchyroll.com
Have LNs gone too far?
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This is a thing? I thought it was just the title of another light novel when I saw it in the catalog yesterday.
Well, it's a gimmick. A retarded one that only manchildren writing Young Adult tier fiction for illiterate Nips would think of, though.
From a marketing point of view, people can't tell their friends if the title is too long or complicated, the press hates such titles by default because it makes them feel stupid saying or writing the same shit over and over, but more importantly, listing that shit or running promotions will probably be a nightmare because most online stores or the software running on a bookshop will probably have a fixed length for the 'title' field.
>68 characters and it's not a book on gene therapy, how to cure cancer, how to do anything
Fucking Nips. Two bombs weren't enough.
This joke died years ago
I assume it's because LN readers are just the stupidest fucking people so they need to be told exactly what a book is about, otherwise they'll probably forget halfway through.
>Which translates as: "Sew it up! Take it off? Change your clothes!! Because my girlfriend failed at her high school debut and became a shut-in, I decided to become a youth-fashion coordinator."
with titles like these who needs a description
The two most popular light novels of the past three years don't even do the long LN title meme. Does that not hold any sway in convincing others to stop?
I guess many of their editors are aware that they have a merely mediocre LN on their hands, so it needs to go along with the fads as it can't stand out on its own.
>The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates.
>Memoirs of a Cavalier; or A Military Journal of the Wars in Germany, and the Wars in England. From the Years 1632 to 1648. Written threescore years ago, by an English gentleman, who served first in the army of Gustavus Adolphus, the Glorious King of Sweden, till his death, and after that in the Royal Army of King Charles the First, from the beginning of the Rebellion to the end of the War.
>The History and Remarkable Life of the truly Honourable Col. Jacque, commonly call'd Col. Jack, who was Born a Gentleman, put 'Prentice to a Pick−Pocket, was Six and Twenty Years a Thief, and then Kidnapp'd to Virginia, Came back a Merchant; was Five times married to Four Whores; went into the Wars, behav'd bravely, got Preferment, was made Colonel of a Regiment, came over, and fled with the Chevalier, is still abroad compleating a Life of Wonders, and resolves to dye a General.
>The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums.
>A Journal of the Plague Year
being observations or memorials of the most remarkable occurrences, as well public as private, which happened in London during the last great visitation in 1665. Written by a Citizen who continued all the while in London. Never made public before
Imagine if Sword Art Online had a typical title.
>I couldn't log out of the VRMMO so I decided to solo the death game with my Unique Cheat
They did the nickname thing too. Like "Gulliver's Travels" is actually called "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships".
>Nips hate Gooks so much they switch the description with the title
You are aware the title of a book and the title page are two entirely different things, yes? Also that the title printed in the book spine was a lot shorter even for first editions, right?
>Sup Forums
>being knowledgeable about literature
I should've known to pick one and only one.
Imagine if every classic novel was titled in the LN manner.
...
I Intentionally Murdered My Mean Landlady Just to Prove That I Am Superior to Normal People and Their Social Rules, But Now There's a Detective Who Suspects Me!
>I'm Tsundere For Darcy-san But It's Embarrassing So I Won't Say It!
They went too far a long time ago. LNs are a fucking joke.
>The Year Is 1984, And I Can't Stop Living My Big Brother!
That's amazing.
I Uncovered a Conspiracy to Prevent Light Novel Translations in China by Using Very Long Titles and Now the Japanese Government is After Me?!
How do light novels get published anyway? Can any faggot just send their manuscript to a publisher?
My Cute Little Sister Won't Even Look at Me Now That I've Suddenly Turned Into a Giant Cockroach!
>Can any faggot just send their manuscript to a publisher?
This is how publishing works, yes.
How do you think it works here user?
>I Just Wanted To Engage In Friendly Fisticuffs, But I Somehow Managed To Form A Terrorist Organization?!
Jesus Christ
I thought you needed an English or communication degree. Just seems weird that light novel companies don't seem to be nearly as discerning as Penguin House. LN grammar tends to be pretty awkward, and it reads like something a high schooler wrote.
>it reads like something a high schooler wrote
That's because it often is.
LNs are complete trash targeted to the lowest common denominator.
Really you should compare LNs to young adult novels here, not real novels. It's the same trash, just with some different fads going on.
It's literally the jap equivalent of publishing wattpad stories
>Our Plane Crashed On A Deserted Island And Now The Beast Is Coming to Get Us?!
Traditionally winning a writing competition sponsored by a major publisher (e.g. the Dengeki Novel Prize) was how a lot of authors established themselves, but these days any faggot with a web novel on narou with lots of followers can get an offer from a publisher.
It's gotten worse recently because standards have dropped.
>Given how stressful the publishing schedule must be, it's not a surprise that the careers of light novel authors tend to be short-lived. Some authors may get lucky and produce consistent hits, but the majority of them do not make a sustainable living through writing light novels.
>Because the author turnover rate is so high, the light novel industry actively encourages submissions from new authors in the form of light novel contests. The Dengeki Novel Prize, established in 1994, is easily the most famous of these contests. The contest is held by ASCII Media Works, which is owned by—you guessed it—Kadokawa. It receives thousands of submissions every year and has propelled the career of many popular authors, including Reki Kawahara of Sword Art Online fame.
So at least competitions acted as a screen of quality of sorts. However:
>It is also becoming steadily more popular these days for light novel labels to publish web novels in print form. Web novels are amateur works posted online, and while they may have an unfortunate reputation for being self-indulgent and poorly written, they do benefit from having an existing readership and a wealth of text to draw regular print releases from. The light novel version is often heavily edited and may even feature an altered storyline, which encourages web novel readers to buy the light novel as well. It's a win-win situation. Some examples of popular web-novels-turned-light-novels-turned-anime include The irregular at magic high school, Log Horizon, and Re:Zero.
>The light novel version is often heavily edited
They edited the glop out of the LN for SAO, didn't they? Or am I misremembering that?
Mahouka was a web novel? Why haven't I seen people shitposting about hilarious lines from it that didn't make it into the LN? Was the WN that uneventful?
>while they may have an unfortunate reputation for being self-indulgent and poorly written
>self-indulgent
Holy fuck is this why so many LNs are just masturbatory power fantasies with powerless NEETs as the main character?
Yeah, along with other storyline changes (e.g. Kirito originally lost to Sinon at the end of Phantom Bullet, but the Ln turned it into plasma grenade mutual self-destruction.)
Ironically Kawahara actually won the competition and gained a publishing deal with Accel World, and SAO was just an existing side project of his that they decided to pick up as well alongside.
But SAO is the one that drew in the big bucks in the end.
unless you are heavily political like Gate or has r-18 scenes that cannot be published like SAO, the publisher aren't going to do shit
neat
fucking hilarious
Not necessarily. Sometimes the efforts of the editor are the only way the text approaches anything near readability.
Compare the self-indulgent fedora-tipping "iam14andthisisdeep" trash complete with 2ch memes on the right, with the mildly cleaned up version on the left.
LNs are hi-lo books. They're meant as an intro for kids to better literature later.
if you're going to make that many changes, why not just hire professional writers to churn out young adult novels like america does? it'd probably cost less since you'd be paying them a salary, rather than royalties.
The editors are the real heroes of the LN industry.
>With a 68-character-long title, there may end up not even being room for a description of the book.
that's the goal
Oh how I miss Accel world.
>Nuiage! Nugashite? Kise kaeru! ! Kanojo ga kōkō debut ni shippai shite hikikomori to kashita no de, ore ga seishun (fashion) o coordinate suru koto ni.
fucking hell.
Why the fuck do LN authors constantly come up with these needlessly long and complicated titles? Who the fuck started this meme?
I really don't care what the fuck Communist Eyesore thinks about LNs, as long as we get those one in a million good LNs things can stay the way they are.
Why care about the slop when you can dine on the cream?
>Communist
The Chinese LNs are more for the capitalist Hong Kong/Taiwan market though, as reflected by the fact that they are written using traditional characters instead of simplified like they use in the PRC.
>I thought you needed an English or communication degree.
Not particularly.
50 Shades of Grey started out as Twilight fanfiction and Eragon was self published by like a 19yo. YA novels are the most comparable thing to LNs, there's a LOT of shitty YA novels out there, you have no idea. They're just as cliche as LNs but with a different set of cliches.
>why not just hire professional writers to churn out young adult novels like america does?
because wn have a preexisting readership, duh
>50 shades of grey started out as Twilight fanfiction
The fuck? Twilight ALREADY reads like clownishly bad fanfiction, and you're telling me this super popular eroge is a fanfic off of THAT?
I think I may actually be at a loss for words for a change.
It was called Masters of the Universe I think. All she did was swap out the names and the setting when it got published.
People hold western literature too highly. There are MOUNTAINS of schlock our there.
>Masters of the Universe
Are you serious right now holy fuck
It's not that I hold Western lit in high regard, it's that I apparently held the mistaken notion that something doesn't become popular without SOME degree of artistic merit. Forgive me for my grevious error.
goodreads.com
Yeah, it was this thing.
>the author's username was Snowqueens Icedragon
Jesus Christ
stupid shit
Don't forget the fact that she was in her 50's. A 50 fucking year old woman chose the username snowqueen icedragon.
Who needs artistic merit when you can pander to horny housewives with awful taste.
ITT: Come Up with an LN Story and Make a Title out of It.
I'll start:
私は信じることができない私は奇妙な地域コードを決してしていない間に私はゼウスexマチナの方法で彼女の電話番号を得た後、私のクラッシュの代替世界のバージョンとの愛に陥った！?
私はビデオゲームをプレイし中に、滞在のすべての私の時間を過ごすが、彼女は私に近くなること神から命じられた、という宗教的な説教に会う 1 日?
To be even clearer: a 50 year old woman wrote fap fic about teenagers, and got it published.
Great title
Published and had a multi-million dollar movie adaptation.
Living the dream.
And is getting a second soon.
Nigga, I'm all for that. Fuck, I'd love to read a 120 year old's fap fic just to know what kind of shit they were into back then.
What is this one in reference to?
Fight Club I think.
Here's mine.
>I Can't Believe I Used Google Translate So My LN Title Is a Mess I'm Such a Faggot
俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない
"I'm a Fag" for short.
10/10 anime would watch.
>SPACEBALLS THE LIGHT NOVEL
Fucking 10/10
Ara Ara I'm Just an Old Office Lady Who Wrote a Fanfiction for My Favorite Books, but Somehow I Became a Bestselling Author and Now They are Making a Movie Too!
...fuck, I would watch that.
I Couldn't Think of a Light Novel Title So I Thought That If I Just Added a Whole Bunch of Words That Nobody Would Notice That My Light Novel Title Makes No Sense But It Turns Out That My Editor (Who's A Cute Girl) Really Liked It And So She Fell In Love With Me; The Only Problem Is I'm Gay!
Dunno
Romeo & Julliet
1984, duh
Dunno
Hamlet
Around the world in 80 days
Portrait of Dorian Gray
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Sinbad?
Don Quixote
GANKUTSUOU
Sherlock Holmes
Monty Python and the HG comes to mind but thats hardly a book.
Dunno
P & P
>I can not believe I fell into love with an alternate world version of my crash after I got her phone number in the way of Zeus ex Matina while I was never doing a strange area code It is! Is it?
>Sinbad?
Odyssey
>Slice of Life work series about an LN author who's being chased by women but is gay.
FUND IT
Wasn't there already something very like that?
>There are MOUNTAINS of schlock our there.
Someone post that one guy who publishes a new book like every week about fucking his own ass.
...
Attention getters. The longer the title, the more likely people will see the cover.
...
You know, forgive me for bringing politics into this, but, this shit is why I'm a communist. Because I don't think making scads of money should be the driving force behind our acheivements.
Your first two Dunnos are 'Merchant of Venice' and 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern'
Chuck Tingle is not schlock, you pleb.
Nah, that would never work.
Title's too short. Also, too incestuous.
I respect how he always finds new levels of madness to take it to.
He got nominated for a Hugo award and then wrote about himself getting fucked in the butt by the personified nomination of the Hugo award.
How new are you?
...
>he doesn't realize it's an Sup Forums meme and invented on Sup Forums
He is the genius of our time.
>Dr. Chuck Tingle is a pseudonymous author of gay niche erotica.[1][2][3] He self-publishes his works through Amazon.com, primarily as ebooks, but also as paperbacks and audiobooks (narrated by Sam Rand).[4][5][6][7] Tingle began his career by writing dinosaur erotica and expanded to stories based on unicorns, Bigfeet, and various anthropomorphized objects and even concepts.[8][9] The bizarre nature of Tingle's writing has led to his developing a cult reputation.[10][11][12][13][14]
Underrated post.
>Chinese translators are fed up with the extra work of translating the titles
>Chinese
Who fucking cares
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Holy shit, the man is awesomely gay.
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