godfather of tokyo entertainment

The selection of the Naoki Prize is divided into three rounds, the first round, the second round and the final selection.

A large number of works will be eliminated directly in the first round. The novels that make it to the second round are all works of acceptable quality.

A novel that can enter the final selection can already be called a masterpiece, but in the end, the best of the best has to be selected.

There are five judges in total for the Naoki Prize, and Mika Miyano is one of them. The works submitted by the judges will directly enter the second round of selection.

Soon, a new issue of "Qiankun Chunqiu" will be released. This issue contains the serialization of Chapter 12 of "White Night Journey".

The sales volume of this issue of "Qiankun Chunqiu" magazine was 460,000 copies, while the sales volume of "Spring and Autumn Literature Appreciation" in the same period was 520,000 copies.

There is a sales difference of nearly 60,000 copies, which is still a certain distance. However, anyone who knows the sales of these two magazines this year knows that this is the closest sales volume of this magazine and the supplement.

Some people even can't help but wonder: Will the sales of the supplement one day exceed that of this magazine...

But this is just a joke. After Xiaozheng's statistical rankings in this issue's supplement were released, "White Night Journey" is still ranked first, second, third, and fourth all together are not enough.

Therefore, it is easy to judge that the reason why the supplement sells so well is largely because White Night Walk has boosted sales, and as this novel is about to be completed in one issue, the momentum of the supplement will drop instantly. If you want to surpass this magazine,

It's nonsense.

Is it possible that if we give it one more issue, it can complete its counterattack and surpass this magazine? Don’t be kidding, how is this possible? After all, the sales volume of "Spring and Autumn Literature Appreciation" is also increasing every month. I really want to surpass it.

It also takes time to accumulate.

However, what all the editors of Chunqiu Society did not expect was that a change occurred, which caused Qiankun Chunqiu's counterattack and overtake of this magazine to come ahead of schedule.

This variable is Arima Guixiang.

When Higashishima Station was filming a documentary about the famous kabuki family Hakutsuya, Katsura Arima, the daughter of Hakutsuya, also appeared. In the documentary, Katsura Arima mentioned the book "White Night Journey".

"This is an amazing novel." Arima Keixiang said, "To be precise, this is a novel that makes people sleepless. When I read the end, I felt like I had scissors inserted into my chest..."

At this point, Arima Guixiang subconsciously covered her mouth with her fingers: "Am I spoiling the story?"

"As far as I know, this book is still being serialized. How did you read the ending?" the reporter asked.

Arima Guixiang smiled: "I know the author and have read the entire manuscript."

After the documentary was screened, it inspired a large number of fans to buy the last issue of "White Night Journey" and also tapped a large number of potential readers.

So when this issue of "Qiankun Chunqiu" was published, it was reprinted many times, and the sales volume instantly reached 550,000 copies. However, the "Spring and Autumn Literature Appreciation" in the same period did not perform well, and only sold 520,000 copies.

book.

"Qiankun Chunqiu" surpassed this magazine for the first time since its inception. This also shocked the editorial department of Chunqiu Society, so the editor-in-chief made a decision to increase the first printing number of "White Night Journey" to 40,000 copies.

The first printing had 40,000 copies, which is already the standard for a well-known author.

The cover design of "White Night Walk" was designed by a well-known designer. After referring to Kei Fujiwara's opinions, the designer used a dark minimalist style, making the whole book look very stylish.

The paper material is also high-end, and the price is 2,700 yen per volume, which is really not cheap, but as long as the book is good enough, the high price will not affect sales. No wonder all Japanese writers are so rich.

Kei Fujiwara's royalties are divided into zones. If the sales volume is more than 100,000 copies and less than 300,000 copies, his royalties are only 6%;

But if the sales volume is more than 300,000, the excess will be calculated as an 8% royalty;

If the sales volume is more than 500,000 copies, a 10% royalty rate will be calculated.

If the sales volume is higher than 600,000, the excess will be calculated as 12%.

If the sales volume is less than 100,000, the royalty is calculated as one percent.

Twelve percent is already a royalty level for first-line writers. Without this "bet" contract, Kei Fujiwara would not have been able to get so much.

This royalty calculation method, which is a bit like a bet, was actually proposed by Kei Fujiwara. At the beginning, the royalties given to him by Spring and Autumn Club were 8%. This was a suitable price for a newcomer, but Kei Fujiwara was not satisfied.

Fujiwara Keimoto hoped to get 10% of the royalties, but Kawaguchi Nobunori rejected him on the grounds that newcomers' works may not be able to achieve sales. Fujiwara Kei also had been prepared and proposed his gambling plan.

If the sales are not good, he only needs to pay one percent of the royalties, but if the book sells well, the royalties will be increased appropriately.

Kawaguchi Nobu was surprised at Kei Fujiwara's aloof confidence at first, but after some hesitation, he actually agreed.

The reason is also very simple. Kei Fujiwara's proposal is actually beneficial to the interests of the publishing house. Only one percent of the royalties are paid for copies of less than 100,000 copies, while the sales volume of "White Night Journey" is only more than 600,000. Part of it is calculated based on high royalties.

What is the concept of 600,000 copies? At least it can only be achieved by a popular book like "Aurora Murders".

Even if "White Night Journey" is really a hit and sells 700,000 copies on the market, the extremely high sales volume of 800,000 copies, Spring and Autumn Society will only need to pay 12% of the royalties based on the extra 600,000 copies. .

Besides, if "White Night Walk" is really so strong that it sells a super high sales volume of 600,000 copies, not to mention giving him 12%, 14% is not out of the question. After all, the publishing house is making money.

News of the gambling between Kei Fujiwara and the Spring and Autumn Society spread quickly. The editors of the Spring and Autumn Society were very surprised. In their opinion, if the gambling agreement was proposed by the Spring and Autumn Society, it must be a deliberate attempt to deceive people. Deceiving new authors.

But it is actually the author himself who requested the bet, which is really strange. But is this author a little overconfident?

Judging from the agreement he proposed, the author himself has high expectations for "White Night Journey" and believes that the book can sell at least 500,000 copies.

In fact, when Kei Fujiwara first proposed this agreement, Itagaki Kazuhiko also advised him because he felt that Kei Fujiwara was overconfident. As far as his personal feelings were concerned, he could not bear to have Kei Fujiwara's interests damaged.

But Fujiwara Kei was still very insistent, and Itagaki Kazuhiko was not in a position to say anything more.

After Shimada heard about this, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart. A mere newcomer dared to gamble. Was he blinded by the so-called good reviews on the Internet? Did he really think he had written some masterpiece?

However, he began to feel faintly worried in his heart, what if "White Night Journey" really became a big hit?

Now someone in the editorial department has begun to discuss it. The senior management seems to appreciate the fact that Itagaki Kazuhiko unearthed "White Night Journey". If this book really achieves a super high sales volume, then the position of team leader...

Shimada gritted his teeth. He couldn't just watch the duck fly away. At this point, some measures had to be taken.