Chapter 20 is going to be published in the paperback edition, but the price is

Chapter 20 is going to be published in the paperback edition, but the price is

Chapter 20 is going to be published in a paperback edition, but at a cost.
78 copies!
When she heard this number, Saito Reina was stunned.

She almost thought she had heard it wrong.

Because of such a terrifying half-month sales volume, even "Shonen Magazine", which is known as one of the three major boys' comics magazines in Japan, did not achieve this level at its peak sales period.

She pinched her thigh hard. It hurt! This wasn't a dream!
Then he looked up at the smiling Muramatsu Tomomi and couldn't help but confirm again: "Is it really more than 78 copies?"

"78 copies. Yes, Saito-san, you heard it right." Muramatsu Tomoshi nodded, then waved and greeted several employees from other departments who were coming over, and then looked at her.

Before he knew it, the way he addressed Saito Reina had changed.

From Editor Saito, who had clear superior-subordinate relationships, he became the more intimate "XX-san", who is more often used among acquaintances.

Seeing her stunned expression, Muramatsu Tomoshi decided to give her a few more minutes to calm down.

He could understand Rena Saito's feelings at the moment. When he first brought out the winning writer of the Gunzo Newcomer Award, he was even more excited than her!
I feel like I am the king of the world at this moment!

The dizzy Saito Rena finally returned to normal after 5 minutes thanks to her long-trained self-emotional regulation ability.

Then her first reaction was, it seems that the sales of the April 1995 issue of "Gunzo" are expected to exceed one million copies!

This is a number that I dare not even dream of.

Moreover, the sales volume of "Group Portrait" was only over 40 copies last month. It has skyrocketed so much this month. Who would believe that it has nothing to do with "Hear the Wind Sing"?

When she came to the company today, she only knew that the sales were good, but she didn't expect them to be so outrageous. No wonder everyone's eyes on her changed.

Saito Reina let out a long sigh and felt that the burden on her shoulders was instantly lightened a lot.

Finally, no need to worry about being optimized.

".This emergency seminar is mainly to discuss the issue of publishing the paperback version of "Hear the Wind Sing". The guys in the Distribution Department, Printing Office, Finance Department and Advertising Department used to run faster than rabbits when we had something to do. But this time, they are more proactive than anyone else."

Muramatsu Tomoshi, who was standing by, watched the employees from various departments of Kodansha busying around while continuing to talk about the reason why he was looking for her urgently.

Saito Rena could tell from his tone that Editor-in-Chief Muramatsu also breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, not every editor-in-chief of a top magazine has the courage to put a blank-sheet writer on the throne of their own newcomer award.

This behavior is similar to gambling. If he is not careful, he will be ruined in the industry.

But when she heard that a paperback edition was going to be published, Saito Rena's heart, which had just been relieved, suddenly became anxious again.

"You just said that the company is planning to publish a paperback version of "Hear the Wind Sing"? " Saito Rena's palms were sweating again.

In Japan, after a writer's debut, his or her works will generally be published in various newspapers and magazines. The best and most popular ones will be compiled by publishing houses, and then released as single volumes, which will be put on bookshelves for sale.

The sales of physical books are also the gold standard for testing whether an author is "best-selling".

In the past, there have been many writers who have won the Newcomer Award or even major awards such as the Akutagawa Prize. Although they were very popular in magazines and newspapers, no one was interested in their works when they were published as single volumes.

Sales were so poor that they couldn’t even make back the investment.

After one or two times, these writers either switch to behind-the-scenes work or literary research, or simply fade into obscurity and never make their mark again.

Who says that this world is ultimately a world of money?

For those works that can achieve a certain sales volume when published as single volumes, publishers will begin to consider [bunkonizing] them, that is, publishing more advanced paperback editions.

Compared with single-volume books, paperback books have more luxurious binding, more exquisite illustrations and layout, and some even come with additional content such as the author's personal essays, photos, etc., and are generally collected for collection.

Although Kitagawa Shuichi released a hit novel as soon as he debuted, his novel has not yet been verified by physical sales. Rena Saito is not sure whether it will suffer a sudden demise.

Now that we are going to publish a paperback edition right away, the content of only 4 words is obviously not enough to support this volume, which means that it may also need to include some personal information of the writer, interviews and other extra-book matters.

This is equivalent to directly purifying the concentration of Kitagawa Hide's readers to see whether they are willing to pay for this newly debuted talented writer.

This idea is too crazy!

"Saito-san?" Muramatsu Tomoshi patted her gently.

Saito Reina, who was awakened, sat up straight immediately, bowed to apologize, and then quickly said, "Isn't it a bit too hasty to plan to release the paperback edition so soon? How about waiting for Gunzo to sell for a few months and then see the readers' feedback before making a decision?"

She can't just sit and watch the higher-ups force things to go wrong!
She always felt that this sudden plan had a flavor of "overpraising".

"What you said makes sense, but this project has been approved by the board of directors. All we have to consider now is how to make the paperback edition better."

Muramatsu Tomoshi lowered his voice and glanced around.

"I know what you are worried about, Saito-san, but this project was not actually proposed by our editorial department."

"It's not us." Saito Rena was confused for a moment. Aren't plans like this for releasing physical copies first proposed by the editor-in-chief, and then go through layers of review within the company before finally being finalized?

How come when it came to Beichuan Xiu, it was the other way around? Soon, she had a horrible guess.

Section Chief Sho Amuro, who had just left in a hurry, hesitated to speak to her.
Officials from the Cultural Supervision Department, who usually only visited various publishing houses when cultural censorship was being carried out, suddenly appeared.
"Could it be that the plan was proposed by Culture?" Saito Rena woke up in shock.

Muramatsu Tomomi suddenly sat up straight and whispered to her, "Saito-san."

That interrupted her.

Saito Reina was smart enough to keep silent about it to avoid getting into trouble.

So this is what Editor-in-Chief Muramatsu meant when he said “They are under a lot of pressure, too.”

This year, there have been two gas release incidents, a major earthquake, and an economy that has not been able to recover since the bubble burst.

The whole society is lifeless, which is very bad for the country's development.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for educating and guiding the people, so it naturally hopes that something can break this period of confusion.

At least the suicide rate could be lowered.

However, the current pure literature world takes "classical", "tedious", "suffering", "pain" and so on as the core of creation. The works written can not only guide people to be positive, but also do not increase the suicide rate.

Although "Hear the Wind Sing" also writes about confusion, loneliness and depression, it contains infinite healing power and is also disguised as a romantic novel that young people like.

It is understandable that the Ministry of Education has been targeting him.

But this makes things more complicated.

"In short, you don't have to worry about the funding, and you don't have to be afraid that the paperback version will fail and ruin his career.

The only thing that needed to be confirmed with him immediately was the subsequent copyright issue of "Hear the Wind Sing." Muramatsu Tomoshi paused, his expression becoming a little embarrassed.

What follows is a little hard to say, but there is no other way, I have to say it.

"Is there any problem with copyright?" Saito Rena had a bad feeling. She was originally quite happy to hear that the Ministry of Culture was willing to "cover" for Kitagawa Hide.

"According to 'they', 'they' will take full responsibility for the publication, promotion and signing of the novel. They will also give the green light to the sale and try to make the paperback version of the novel available everywhere."

Muramatsu Tomoshi glanced at the huge banner that had just been hung in the conference hall, "A seminar on the publication of the paperback edition of Kitagawa Hide's new work "Hear the Wind Sing"," and suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
"But at the same time, all copyrights to the novel will belong directly to 'them'."

Saito Reina clenched her sweaty palms tightly, and blurted out the words of refusal subconsciously: "No! This is too unfair to Mr. Kitagawa!"

Although "Hear the Wind Sing" has not yet been verified in the physical book market, as long as the single volume is published step by step, the sales are observed, and then whether to publish a paperback edition is considered, Kitagawa Hide will always make a lot of money.

Even if we take a step back and say that the single volume is a complete failure, at least there is the copyright fee paid by Kodansha.

Now the Ministry of Culture has intervened forcefully and taken away the copyright in a manner that is almost like robbery, which means that not a single penny is left for Kitagawa Hide.

As for the fact that Kitagawa Hide's career could be saved after Bunkomoto's sudden death, this is just nice talk and anyone can say it.

Although Rena Saito was not very supportive of publishing a paperback version right away, that was just because she wanted to be cautious and didn't want to force things. In her heart, she actually recognized Kitagawa Hide's strength and the quality of "Hear the Wind Sing".

If "Hear the Wind Sing" can indeed stand the test of the market, there is not much difference between doing it step by step and doing it immediately. If it cannot, the cost of just publishing it as a single volume is also low.

There is still a chance to make a comeback.

That's why she couldn't understand the logic behind the upper level's operation.

I get it now.

They simply used Kitagawa Hide as a guinea pig.

If it succeeds, the Department of Culture will not only complete its tasks, but also earn a lot of money.

If you fail, it doesn’t matter. Just find the next guinea pig.

It's really a bit too much.

"Saito-san, this is not a discussion, this is an order." Muramatsu Tomoji glanced at her and felt that it was necessary to give some guidance to this seemingly promising editor as a senior.

"I know that this may be a little unfair to him, but this is also an opportunity, isn't it? Since 'they' have made the decision, all we can do is cooperate."

Muramatsu Tomoshi said calmly that although these words were different from what he thought in his heart, sometimes, he had to tell lies to stay in the company.

"You should be able to understand these things, right?"

"It's not 'a little unfair'." Saito Reina stood up and decisively refused her superior's order for the first time, "It's 'very unfair'. I'm sorry, Editor-in-Chief Muramatsu, I can't say this to Mr. Kitagawa."

(End of this chapter)