J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japaneselight novels into English. It streams light novels andmanga in regular installments before publishing finalized e-books. As of August 2021, J-Novel Club has licensed over 150 light novel and manga series and have published more than 800 e-books.[1] It has licensed titles from many Japanese publishers, includingHobby Japan, Overlap,Kodansha,Drecom,Earth Star Entertainment,Kadokawa Corporation, Micro Magazine, Shufunotomo, andSoftbank Creative. It was acquired by Kadokawa Corporation on April 28, 2021.
After coming to the conclusion that "there was a whole universe of content out there in Japan that's hardly available in the west at all,"[2] Sam Pinansky began working on the business model for J-Novel Club in 2015 and "took inspiration from what the fans had started to do on their own, as well as the more traditional models for book publishing."[3] J-Novel Club's overall purpose was "to create and grow a worldwide market for Japanese light novels translated into English."[4] The original name for the project was "K-Novel" because "kei" is Japanese for "light" (as in the K fromK-On!), but before launch the "K" was changed to "J" (for Japanese) to avoid confusion with Korean novels. "Club" was added when it was noticed that the .clubtop-level domain name was available.[5]
J-Novel Club was founded in 2016 by Sam Pinansky and announced they would release light novels in weekly installments for their members before releasing the finalized books one-book format. It launched with the titlesOccultic;Nine,Brave Chronicle: The Ruinmaker,My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World, andMy Little Sister Can Read Kanji.[6] Shortly after they announced two more light novels:Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash andI Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse.[7]
On January 19, 2017, J-Novel Club announced it would be collaborating with manga and light novel localization companySeven Seas Entertainment, who would publish print editions of two of J-Novel Club's light novels:Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash andOccultic;Nine.[8] On July 3, 2017, Seven Seas announced they would be publishing print editions of two more J-Novel Club light novels:Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest andClockwork Planet.[9]
On July 5, 2018, J-Novel Club announced it would be printing physical versions of some of its light novel series.[10] After launching its print line withIn Another World With My Smartphone, as of August 2021, J-Novel Club has 25 light novel and manga series in print.
On October 7, 2019, J-Novel Club launched aKickstarter project forInvaders of the Rokujouma!? print edition and successfully funded it with more than $100,000 over its initial goal.[12][13]
On November 16, 2019, J-Novel Club announced the new J-Novel Heart imprint focusing onshojo titles.[14]
On October 15, 2023, J-Novel Club announced that it is launching a subsidiary called "J-Novel Club Nina" for the European market. It will, at first, launch in French and German languages.[19]
On March 6, 2024, J-Novel Club announced that it had signed a print distribution deal withHachette Book Group andDiamond Book Distributors for North American and international releases respectively.[20]
On October 25, 2024, J-Novel Club announced that it would launch an imprint forboy's love titles called "J-Novel Knight".[21]
