Weekly Shonen Jump Raises Manga Author Payments
Weekly Shonen Jump has provided raises for new artists and more incentives for continuing authors.
Manga publications are notorious for their inhospitable conditions and pressures.
On November 18, 2024, Shueisha’s , the largest manga publisher in the world, has announced on its official Twitter account that it will raise the minimum payment rate for Weekly Shonen Jump artists.
【ご報告】
『#週刊少年ジャンプ 』本誌で連載・読切掲載する場合の最低原稿料を24年11月掲載分より改訂しましたので、ご報告させていただきます。読者の皆様からいただいた雑誌(紙版・電子版)の売上利益を基に、弊誌作家さんのより良い執筆環境作りへ今後も改訂を重ねてまいります。 pic.twitter.com/k2krA7V52w
— 少年ジャンプ編集部 (@jump_henshubu) November 18, 2024
“We would like to inform everyone that the minimum manuscript payment for serialized or one-shot manga in Weekly Shonen has been raised, effective as of November 2024.”
“Based on sales profits received from readers of Weekly Shonen Jump (print and digital editions), we will continue to make such reservations in the future in order to produce better working environments for our magazine’s creators.”
Artists will be paid a minimum of 31,350 yen (US$203.04) per color page and 20,900 (US$135.36) yen per black-and-white page.
Most manga pages being black-and-white format and with most Weekly Shonen Jump chapters covering up to 20 pages, this would be around 418,000 yen (US$2,707.20) in earnings per chapter/week, which extends to 1,627,000 yen for a month (US$10,537.35) with four issues, or around 21.7 million yen (US$140,541.14) for a 52-week year.
This is an increase from the previous rates of 28,050 yen (US$184.96 at the time) per page for color page and 18,700 yen (US$123.31) per page for black-and-white pages, tax included, a rate posted on November 2023.
It is noted that these rates are for rookie artists.
For continuing artists whose works have passed the first year of serialization, Weekly Shonen Jump gives annual rate increases and enables first-timers in Jump to negotiate if they have been offered higher rates from other magazines.
First-time serialized authors are also provided with 500,000 yen (US$3,241.05) in funds for ensuring their series can take off.
Weekly Shonen Jump is Shueisha’s largest magazine, with works such as One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, and Kagurabachi being among their most notable currently serialized manga.
At the same time, Jump Giga, the quarterly magazine that holds titles such as Black Clover, has also announced its own minimum rate increases, reaching
Weekly Shonen Jump sibling publication Jump Giga simultaneously announced it is increasing its minimum rates as well, to 19,800 yen for color pages and 13,200 for black and white.
Keep in mind, however, that even with a 20 million yen yearly fund, the author is directly paid by the publisher but the author usually requires the help of assistants to keep up with deadlines and, as such, it is the author’s responsibility to pay for them.
The salary given will mostly cover production costs in this case, so those who are able to sustain a strong business structure, such as One Piece, can have a sustainable future in manga creation.
Additionally, some creators might take breaks, as One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda is known for, so these rates will be subject to deduction on those occasions.
Source: Twitter and Sora News
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