Writing for PWCW, Brigid Alverson reports that all those rumors of Tokyopop cancellations that have been circulating the Net recently are just that:

As part of its recent restructuring, Tokyopop cut back its publication schedule from about 500 volumes per year to between 200 and 225. As a result, Tokyopop postponed some scheduled releases so the rights could be renegotiated. Tokyopop notified retailers in June that 28 titles solicited in the July previews would be canceled, and many bloggers posted that list. In addition, PWCW’s Heidi MacDonald reported in her comics industry blog, The Beat, that 11 more that were slated for January had been pulled.

However, Pavia says the books on both lists were postponed, not permanently canceled. “We obviously have restructured our publishing program and are going month by month with fewer titles,” he says. That requires going back to the license holders to discuss the new schedules. “We are talking about either revising the schedule or looking at alternatives such as online [publication],” he says. While he did not rule out dropping some titles, he says, if that happens, “We will certainly let everyone know.”

What’s more, they’re planning some new releases as well:

Meanwhile, Tokyopop continues to release new series, and its August releases include four double-size volumes at different price points. Pavia says the reasons for the thicker volumes vary from title to title. The science fiction series Jyu-oh-sei was released in double volumes in Japan, Pavia says, so Tokyopop opted to keep the original format. On the other hand, the two-volume bindup of the manhwa Jade of Bango was strictly a marketing decision. “It’s a shojo action fantasy series,” he says. “We thought binding it up at a good value price would encourage new readers.”

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