Kuo-Yu Liang, who headed up Diamond Book Distributors when it began in 2002, has left Diamond to join convention organizer ReedPOP as Global Director of Business Development, a new position. He’ll focus on growing the ReedPOP business across the globe, particularly in Asia, where they already have nine shows China, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and India.
Liang was most recently Vice President International Sales and Business Development at Diamond Comic Distributors, a position he took up last year after heading DBD for over a decade. He led Diamond’s bookstore division just as the graphic novel business was taking off in the US and was a key player in all that has followed.
ReedPOP’s Lance Fensterman tweeted his enthusiasm about the move:
https://t.co/EcGmUtkNmJ Really proud of this one. I've known Ku for a decade. Pleased that someone of his talent wants to throw in with us and build fun for fans around the world.
— lfensterman (@lfensterman) February 2, 2018
At ReedPOP he’ll lead the convention model as it spreads around the world:
For over 30 years Liang has built a reputation on connecting brands, creators, fans and ideas to create mutually beneficial partnerships. During his tenure at Diamond Comic Distributors he created the company’s international bookstore division, which led to significant growth in distributing graphic novels, manga, pop culture collectibles, and table top games globally into 75 countries. This same background and expertise will be used to push the ReedPOP portfolio forward in exciting new ways while always putting fans first in the decision-making process. Liang will be based in Seattle and will split time between seeing customers, fans and ReedPOP teams around the world as well as at the ReedPOP Global Command Center in Norwalk, CT.
“Being able to have someone join our team with the pedigree and experience that Kuo-Yu has is a dream come true. His ability to create communities, connect creators, navigate multiple cultures, see upcoming trends in pop culture and build a business by bringing buyers and sellers together have all prepared him perfectly for his new role with us,” said Lance Fensterman, Global Head of ReedPOP.
“I want to thank Roger Fletcher, Steve Geppi and all the men and women at Diamond Comic Distributors for the faith and support they have given me all these years. They have helped me grow as a person, and I will be forever grateful. Now, at Reed Pop, I look forward to work closely with Diamond Comic Distributors to build pop culture communities around the globe. I am very excited to be joining a company and culture that is comprised of people who have a true passion for what they do and strong belief in where they are headed,” said Liang.
PW reported on the move here, with more comments from Liang.
Speaking of ReedPOP, they have quite a few openings for their burgeoning portfolio of shows.
Speaking of Diamond, Jim Kuhoric has rejoined Diamond as Purchasing Director, Kuhoric will oversee the business dealings for Diamond with a variety of comic book publishers. Kuhoric was formerly at Diamond from December 1994 to April 2011 before leaving to join Avatar Press, later joining Dynamite.
Comings and goings as the new year begins, indeed.
Diamond Book Distributors saved the comicbook industry. (After Pokemon saved comics in the 90s.)
In the early years of this century, as manga sales exploded, most graphic novels were distributed to bookstores via the LPC Group. When that company entered bankruptcy in 2002, many publishers had to resort to warehouse sales to generate revenue to cover losses from that bankruptcy. Client Distribution Services, which ran logistics and billing for LPC, picked up some of that slack, but a lot of those former clientes went with Diamond Book. (CDS would eventually be acquired by Perseus in 2005.)
DBD offered stability for comics publishers, partly via Diamond Comics Distribution.
As the market matured, and mainstream publishers figured out how to market graphic novels, graphic novel publishers left the DBD nest for other distributors.
DIamond still has a healthy client list, and for smaller comics publishers, they offer an easy way to enter the lucrative bookstore and library market.
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