Publishing | IDW has moved its book distribution to trade bookstores in North America from Diamond Book Distributors to Penguin Random House Publisher Services, starting in April 2017. That may seem like boring insider baseball, but it's significant that over the past decade the graphic novel market has been shifting over from Diamond, which has its roots in comics, to book publishers for distribution to the book channel. The move clinches PRHPS's position as the biggest graphic novel distributor, with DC, Archie, Dark Horse, Kodansha, Legendary, Titan, and Vertical on their roster already; Hachette Client Services distributes Marvel graphic novels; and Simon & Schuster distributes Viz, BOOM! Studios in the book channel. Don't count Diamond Book Distributors out by any means, though—they still handle Image graphic novels, as well as Oni, Valiant, and others. [ICv2]

Creators | Raina Telgemeier discusses her new graphic novel "Ghosts," her inspirations, and her love of drawing skeletons and ghosts. [NPR]

Creators | Margaret Atwood and Kelly Sue DeConnick talk about books, movies, music, and reading each others' works. [Paste]

Creators | Luana Ferreira profiles Mauricio de Sousa, a.k.a. "The Walt Disney of Brazil," who started out with comic strips and now sits at the head of Mauricio de Sousa Productions, which includes movies, a theme park, and more. De Sousa started out as an aspiring cartoonist who couldn't sell his work to the newspapers. He took on a gig as a crime reporter instead, and five years later got his big break. Now he is a multimillionaire and, at 80, still actively involved in the business. [BBC]

Publishing | "We want to present the African heritage in a way that will make millennials both in Africa and the Diaspora genuinely excited to engage and interact with" says Abena Addai, PR manager for the Ghana-based comics and game studio Leti Arts. "The current ways of telling our stories are boring and not innovative. They also tend to be extremely exaggerated or watered down. We want to bring these stories to the world in a simple, fun, entertaining and authentic way." Leti has a line of interactive digital comics and games that mix new superhero characters with traditional African legends. [Atlanta Black Star]

Manga | The Japanese "Shonen Jump" announced this week that Osamu Akimoto's "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo," usually referred to simply as "Kochikame," now holds the Guinness World Record for the most volumes in a single manga series. The long-running manga winds up this week with the 200th volume being released on Saturday. [Anime News Network]

Manga | For those who are unclear about the line between manga and reality, Japanese fans have compiled a list of things that happen in manga but not in real life. Turns out Japan is not OK with high schoolers living on their own, and the student council president isn't the Supreme Leader of the school. [RocketNews 24]

Conventions | Coming up this weekend in Detroit: MECCA, the Midwest Ethnic Convention for Comics and Arts, which focuses on creators of color working on independent comics. "I want people to leave energized, to start their own brand, comic, design, character, to have self-ownership, and to know that black people are all over the comics industry, all the way from Marvel and DC to the indie industry," says founder Maia Crown Williams. "Of course, we want to celebrate those who are working for Marvel or DC, but we want to celebrate the black indie community as well. It's not nationally recognized as much as it should be, and neither are women out here in the community who are also doing a lot." [Model D Media]

Retailing | The experiences of comics retailers in Wilmington, Delaware, bear out the statistics that show that digital sales are not hurting the direct market—and may be helping it. [USA Today]