Chapter 49 From today on, you are the pillar of Kodansha!
Chapter 49 From today on, you are the pillar of Kodansha!
three days later.
Kitagawa Hide got up early in the morning. Thinking of what Saito Rena said that night, he suddenly felt happy. Humming a little tune, and with the help of my wife Yumeko, he put on his newly bought brand-name suit, combed his hair like an adult, tied a "decisive" tie, and went to the Kodansha headquarters happily.
After more than two weeks of fermentation, the latest supplement of "Qun Xiang" and the hardcover paperback edition of "Hear the Wind Sing" have crushed the main publication in both word of mouth and sales.
Kodansha suddenly seemed to have come to its senses. Not only did it return the publicity resources that originally belonged to Kitagawa Hide, it also resolutely decided to stop the serialization of "Eastward", which was equivalent to putting a perfect end to this sales war at the official level.
The matter was settled. That night, Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena spent half an hour on the phone and agreed on the subsequent new contract. Then Saito Rena rushed back to the company to report the situation to her superiors.
Last night, Kitagawa Hide received approval from the editorial department, and immediately went to Kodansha early with the completed "A Wild Sheep Chase".
"Mr. Kitagawa, good morning!" Hashimoto Yudai, who used to be arm in arm with Kitagawa Hide, now respectfully kept a distance from him and bowed 90 degrees when he saw him. "I heard about it. Congratulations on the big sale of your novel!"
"Thank you, Hashimoto-san. You make me feel embarrassed, haha." Kitagawa Hideya bowed in return, which scared Hashimoto Yudai so much that he bowed even deeper!
The two of them exchanged pleasantries several times before stopping.
"Anyway, I'm really grateful for your help. This is a thank-you gift, please accept it." Kitagawa Hide handed the signed "Hear the Wind Sing" to Hashimoto Yudai. He thought that even the April issue of "Gunzo" could be sold for 4 yen a copy on the black market, so a book signed by himself should be able to appreciate a lot in value in the future.
There is not much he can do for these ordinary people who helped him in the past. I hope this book can improve Yudai Hashimoto's life in the future!
"Thank you very much! I will keep it well!" Hashimoto Yudai took the signed book with trembling hands. Being honest, he could not chat and laugh with Kitagawa Hide, who was already a famous writer.
He is a shining figure who can touch the stars!
Just looking up is so dazzling that people dare not approach.
"Then I'll take my leave first. Goodbye." Kitagawa Hide waved his hand in a cool manner. He was still the same himself, but he knew that from now on, Hashimoto Yuda would no longer treat him as the little security guard who ran to him with a smile, handed him cigarettes and talked to him.
Life is like this sometimes. When you keep moving forward, there will always be people who can't keep up. But they don't leave, but become a scenery that is forever engraved on both sides of the road in your memory.
The scenery is gorgeous and life is brilliant.
When he walked into Kodansha again, Kitagawa Hide clearly felt that his status was completely different.
Before, there were a small number of employees who knew him and secretly greeted him from a distance, but there were not many of them.
As soon as he walked into the door, before he had time to call out to Rena Saito who was standing at the elevator door, many Kodansha employees came running over excitedly to greet him, and some even took out pens and paper and asked for his autographs.
"Can I sign here, Teacher Beichuan?" A female employee with big breasts puffed out her chest and asked expectantly.
"Uh, okay." Kitagawa Hide really couldn't resist them, so he responded to all their requests unless they were too excessive.
After finally seeing off a group of Kodansha employees, Kitagawa Hide hurried to Saito Rena and got into the elevator with her.
"It's a bit strange, isn't it? But this is the treatment of a famous writer. After Kitagawa-san officially reveals his identity, such things will happen more and more."
Saito Reina said to him with a smile, her eyes showing pride and a little envy.
She has also been writing novels, hoping to win a new literary award one day, but unfortunately, things have not gone as she wished and she has not been successfully shortlisted so far.
Her long experience of submitting and receiving rejections has enabled her to deeply understand the moods and lives of most ordinary writers, and therefore she can more clearly feel Kitagawa Hide's strength and his unparalleled talent!
"It's true that I'm a little uncomfortable, but I will get used to it slowly." Kitagawa Hide smiled warmly and followed her to the signing department on the third floor.
The person who was going to negotiate a new contract with him this time was not an ordinary employee, so the location would naturally not be in the original screen room.
Saito Rena took Kitagawa Hide along the way and then stopped outside a huge luxurious conference room.
"Mr. Kitagawa, I heard that senior company executives who hold real power will be present this time. Please seize the opportunity." Saito Rena's position was not enough to allow her to participate in the negotiations. She and Muramatsu Tomoshi had another meeting to attend. Before leaving, she deliberately lowered her voice to remind Kitagawa Hide.
"Real power" was emphasized, and Kitagawa Hide immediately understood her hint.
Push the door open and enter.
In the magnificently decorated conference room, there were already three smiling men sitting there. Behind each of them stood a female secretary in an OL suit, responsible for serving tea and water. Not far away, there was an employee sitting in front of a computer acting as a recorder.
The scene was indeed quite formal and serious.
"Hello, Mr. Kitagawa, please take a seat." The middle-aged man on the left stood up first and bowed slightly to him, then introduced himself and the other two, "I'm Kashiwamura Takeshi, the current editor-in-chief of the "Gunzo" editorial department. This is Hanamori Yasuji, the managing director in charge of the business department, and this is Oguri Akai, the director of the finance department." With an editor-in-chief, a managing director and a director, Kodansha's lineup is indeed grand. Compared to the last time when they only let Muramatsu Tomoshi meet Kitagawa Hide, this time they obviously attach more importance to him.
Kitagawa Hide smiled and responded to the greetings one by one. He couldn't remember the people's names, so he simply used Editor-in-Chief Kashiwamura, Bald Executive Director and Square-Faced Minister instead.
What surprised him was that the three of them sat on both sides, with a seat deliberately left in the middle.
"We have heard about Kitagawa-sensei's request from Editor-in-Chief Muramatsu. Originally, it was General Manager Noma who should have come to discuss the new contract with you personally, but General Manager Noma had something urgent to do, so I took over the responsibility."
The bald executive smiled professionally and asked the female secretary who was helping to pour tea to present a brand new contract to Kitagawa Hide.
"This is the new contract details based on your request, Mr. Beichuan. Please review it."
Kitagawa Hide took the contract and read it carefully, ignoring the cumbersome template agreements on the responsibilities and obligations of Party A and Party B, and directly focused his attention on the thing he cared about most -
money!
The contract is for ten years, and Kodansha provides a basic salary of 25 yen per month before tax. This is a free salary. As long as he signs his name, Kodansha will have to pay the money on time even if he sleeps at home every day in the future.
It has increased from 12 yen for a short-term contract to 25 yen, which is already the salary level of an ordinary white-collar worker. It is worthy of the wealthy Kodansha!
The remuneration for each sheet of manuscript paper increased from 6000 yen to 1.2 yen, which doubled.
Taking "A Wild Sheep Chase" as an example, the length of the 14 words was such that after it was serialized in "Gunzo", Kodansha had to pay him a royalty of 6 million yen before tax.
Kitagawa Hide has learned about the current remuneration of Japanese literary writers. Oshima Hikaru, who worked hard for Kodansha for six and a half years, only received 1.8 yen per sheet of manuscript paper. The price he was given was indeed not low.
The royalty rate was also raised from the initial 6% to 10%, which Kitagawa Hide was very satisfied with. After all, compared with the serialization remuneration, royalty income is the bulk of the income.
In addition, the profits from various adaptations will be shared with him in a 50-50 split. If the work is adapted by Kodansha itself, he will also be given a share of the net profit after deducting operating costs. The ratio will be discussed at the time.
Everything else, such as giving lectures, book signings, attending important occasions, recommendations for various industry awards, recommendations from literary societies and other organizations, are all undertaken by Kodansha. Kitagawa Hide does not have to spend any time on these and can just focus on writing books.
It can be said that compared to last time, Kodansha was more sincere this time, and the price offered was quite in line with Kitagawa Hide's psychological expectations.
After reading the contract, he smiled and nodded, saying, "I've read it, and there's nothing wrong with anything else, except the contract period."
"Teacher Kitagawa, do you want a lifetime contract?" The bald managing director immediately sat up straight and became a little nervous.
Managing Director Noma had specifically told him that Kitagawa Hide was not yet qualified to sign a lifetime contract, and if he made a similar request, he should find a way to refuse.
"No, no, no. For some personal reasons, I still hope to extend the contract to within a year if possible." Kitagawa Hide was very satisfied with the new contract, but he did not want to tie himself to Kodansha completely.
Especially when you know that you will continue to produce hit works in the future.
"I see. I can make the decision on this matter." The bald managing director breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he did not want a lifetime contract. Otherwise, he would have a hard time explaining to Managing Director Noma.
The company's top management actually wanted to retain Kitagawa Hide with a big contract first, but they were also afraid that he would be a flash in the pan after that, so they didn't want to give him a top contract like Oshima Hikaru.
Didn’t Oshima Hikaru really screw them over with this move?
Therefore, the current contract is actually the highest salary that Kodansha can offer.
The top management was even worried that Kitagawa Hide would be unhappy if he couldn't get a top contract, so they deliberately gave him an additional condition in order to win over his hearts.
Seeing that the time was right, the bald executive added with a smile: "By the way, the board of directors has already discussed the matter raised by Mr. Beichuan. As long as Mr. Beichuan's new book is of sufficient quality, you will definitely be the main person in the future!"
Kitagawa Hidetoshi's question was very simple. He just wanted to know who would be the No.1 in "Gunzo" if Kodansha met him and Oshima Hikaru on the same stage in the future!
The bald executive's words were very subtle, but the meaning between the lines was clear. He was just short of saying to Kitagawa Hide, "From today on, you are the pillar of Kodansha!"
"Really? Then I don't have any problem here. I'll sign the new contract after it's drafted."
Kitagawa Hide put down his pen, glanced at them, and his smile became even brighter.
"Okay, we'll contact you as soon as the contract signing department issues a new contract!"
The three of them stood up together and said to Kitagawa Hide who was walking towards the door,
"Please take care, Mr. Kitagawa!"
(End of this chapter)