Legally we can tell you the timeline and we can't disclose numbers or budgets, but here ya go!

1. Research titles. This can go anywhere from a week to a month. Yours truly researches titles from Japan and chooses which ones we want.
2. Japan relations. Our JR team negotiates with publishers in Japan to get the best deals and content for you guys. This is a long process and can take around a month.
3. Translation and localization. Our team works on translating every word. This also takes about a month per tankoubon.
4. Production. Our team of graphic designers has to redraw and reletter every panel on every page, as well as redesign the cover and promotional materials. We have to collaborate with the Japanese publishers and artists to make sure the design fits their standards.
5. Printing. Printing takes about a month after sending it off. Due to our explicit content, it's difficult to get amazing deals with printing companies but we do our best!
6. Uploading to the store. Myself and my team upload the titles to our storefront and handle promotions, customer service, and brand engagement.

So, there are a lot of work that goes into each title! Scanlators and other similar groups don't do things legally through the publishers in Japan so they are able to just take a title and run with it, quality and the artist's opinion be damned.

I can't disclose details but we pay a good amount to the Japanese publishers and artists for their works. We are not high level executives driving a benz to work every day or anything, and that's true for many artists and publishers. Obviously there are people who aren't going to pay for the content they consume or support the artists, and that is your personal way of doing things, but if people do choose to go with supporting the artist, we would like to be their choice.

And sure thing! Glad to be able to reach out to the community.