Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Romance writers (Marjorie Liu), mainstream fiction authors (Jodi Picoult) and now rock band bassist for My Chemical Romance, Mikey Way, has “penned an eight-page story that will appear in DC Comics’ special “Halloween ‘08″ book, which hits stores Wednesday.”

Via MTV News.

DC Comics is looking to cash in on the Manga furor in one way or another. Last week saw the release of DC Comics manga for girls and now comes the announcement that it has invested heavily in Flex Comics. Flex Comics will be managed by DC Comics Japan and will produce original manga content for the Web, mobile phones and print for worldwide distribution.

The goal is to serialize the content online, build up an audience and then go print.

Via Publishers Weekly.

In an effort to capture the interest, and pocketbooks, of girl readers, DC Comics launched a new manga series last month which is designed to appeal to girls. MINX debuted with series like the Plain Janes, surburban outcasts who form a secret art gang; Re-Gifters, a girl falls for a surfer boy who gives a present she buys to someone else; and Clubbing, a city girl is sent to rusticate with her rural grandparents after getting caught with a fake ID at a club.

Graphic novels and manga is seen as a new and competitive market. Teen writing sensation, Meg Cabot, is having the sequel to Avalon in manga format and Karin Slaughter is having one of her novels turned into a graphic novel.