Vertical to tweak focus: Publishers Weekly (subscription required) spotlights changes being made at Vertical, American publisher of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha and Koji Suzuki's The Ring:

"Despite being a small house (a staff of five that includes Vertical president Hiroki Sakai), [publicist Anne] Ishii said, 'we didn't act like a startup,' pointing to a lavish advertising campaign, pricey hardcovers and cutting-edge book jackets by noted designer Chip Kidd. Now the house is doing some cost cutting, said [marketing director Micah] Burch, and taking a closer look at the kind of fiction it publishes. ...

"... Originally, Burch said, the house published 'a little bit of everything.' Now it plans to focus more on 'general fiction, with some genre, horror, psychological thrillers and crime. We're not trying to be literary.' With The Ring in mind, Burch said the house is on the lookout for titles with a U.S. movie hook, like the forthcoming thriller Naoko by Keigo Higasino, which is slated to be made into a film."

This fall, Vertical will publish seven new prose novels.