After my divorce, I became a Tokyo literary giant

Chapter 33 Inviting a Senior to Change Jobs

Maki Saionji is a woman with a strong business acumen.

The decline of the publishing house is just an inevitable result of the development of the times and cannot be blamed on her.

At present, she has seized the business opportunity brought by the death of Kakuei Tanaka.

They cleverly used obituaries to plan promotional activities, hiding themselves and letting the deceased's family members appear in front of the camera to play the victim. This process demonstrated a brilliant strategy, which not only sold out all the inventory but also avoided excessive hype that would cause resentment from the outside world.

Kakuei Tanaka's relatives took all the blame.

Why are the relatives so cooperative?
Of course, I still owe Kakuei Tanaka 10% of the royalties.

The royalties for Japanese writers are 10% of the sales price of their works. This money is not paid based on the number of copies sold, but on the number of copies printed. Even if none of the printed books are sold, this money will not be reduced.

The autobiography was sold for 1600 yen and 10 copies were printed.

So the royalties that need to be paid to Kakuei Tanaka are 160*10, which is 1600 million yen.

If your relatives want this money, come and help promote it.

In this way, money was earned, all the blame was borne by the relatives of the deceased, and Maki Saionji hid herself beautifully.

In just two weeks, all 80,000 copies of the backlog were sold out.

Of course, other publishing houses also had books related to Kakuei Tanaka, but Aobasha still had the largest sales during this period.

This success must of course be attributed to the Queen. Her skills, sense of smell, and decisive style of action have won unanimous praise from the entire company.

"——Haha, I'm finally done!"

It was lunch break time. In the sales department's office, Watanabe Nagase stretched lazily and opened a can of coffee with one hand.

Two weeks have passed, the obituary craze has passed, and the busy sales department is finally having some precious free time.

Other colleagues also put down their work and started discussing the matter.

“This month’s performance has exceeded expectations.”

"I can only say that the Queen is amazing. 8 copies in stock, and they sold out so quickly..."

"Finally, I don't have to worry about the company going bankrupt..."

"Don't be too optimistic. This is just a temporary extension of life. It will be useless if the root problem cannot be solved." Watanabe Nagase, who has always been careless, suddenly spoke in a serious tone.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's hearts became a little gloomy again.

The root cause of Aobasha's predicament is the inevitable decline of traditional literature.

To reverse this situation, we need a superhero who can save the city from collapse, turn the tide, and go against the tide of the times...

Will such a person appear?

Reality is not fiction, how could there be such a person?

Tazaki Saku packed up his things, picked up his briefcase and prepared to leave.

"Not having lunch together?" Watanabe Nagasawa looked at him.

"I have an appointment with Senior Yonekura, you go by yourself." said Tazaki Saku.

Watanabe Nagase was stunned for a moment, then his face twisted: "Asshole, I was kind enough to introduce you to my senior sister, and you actually stole my wife..."

"You're crazy. Do all beautiful women have to be your wives?" Tazaki Saku rolled his eyes at him.

Watanabe Nagase made a casual joke, then his face turned serious. "Taki, as a close friend, of course I support you. But she's the eldest daughter of a family of educators, and her upbringing is very strict. It would be almost impossible for you to be with her. Putting aside other things, just the condition of being well-matched, you're not worthy of her at the moment. If you don't love her so much, I suggest you find someone else..."

"Let's take it one step at a time. Let's go first."

Tazaki Saku waved his hand, left the company, and went to the cafe where he had agreed to meet Yonekura Yukiho.

This is a relatively niche Buddhist-style coffee shop with dim lighting and a gentle Buddhist music atmosphere. Young urban men and women whisper to each other to the accompaniment of Buddhist music, just like chanting scriptures.

The corridor is designed to be winding and narrow.

If you want to meet your date, you need to go through some twists and turns.

Yukiho Yonekura is in the corner.

As he approached her, Tazaki Saku couldn't help but be amazed. Her extravagant and elegant attire was totally out of place for the occasion. She was wearing a formal embroidered kimono with a pure white background, embroidered with several strings of wisteria flowers dangling from her shoulders.

The hem of her dress was decorated with chrysanthemums and tied with a gold and silver brocade belt. The half of her face illuminated by the sunlight from the window was so white that it was almost transparent.

The hot environment in the store had no effect on her at all; instead, it made her graceful figure even more charming.

"I ran away from the tea party." Seeing Tazaki Saku's surprised look, Yonekura Yukiho spoke first to explain.

"Are you bored?" Tazaki Saku sat down opposite him.

"Well, a bunch of rich ladies sitting together chatting about tea ceremony and flower arrangement and eating seasonal snacks is boring. But my mother never gets tired of it and always asks me to be her mascot..." Yonekura Yukiho complained about her mother very tactfully. Knowing that he was not yet capable of such things, she quickly changed the subject, "I'm sorry I couldn't help you this time."

The final list of judges for this year's Group Portrait Newcomer Award has been announced, and of course "Hear the Wind Sing" is not on the list.

Yukiho Yonekura is also tired of the intrigue-filled workplace environment and has already resigned. She will not go to Kodansha after this month.

Before leaving, she had one more thing to do.

"This is the best contract I have obtained for you. Do you think you can accept it?" Yukiho Yonekura took out a long-term contract.

Tazaki Saku took the contract and glanced at it briefly.

The income of Japanese writers mainly consists of three parts.

The first part is the royalties for publication in magazines and journals.

This part of the income depends on the number (number of manuscript pages). A manuscript page has about 400 words. Generally, the royalties for a new author are 2000-5000 yen per page. For an established and best-selling author, it is ten times that.

Kodansha paid him 4000 yen for each sheet of manuscript paper.

Taking the 4-word "Listen to the Wind Sing" as an example, the royalties received after publication are 40 yen.

The second part is the royalty income from single-volume books.

Generally speaking, the royalties a writer can receive for a single volume are 10% of the selling price.

If "Hear the Wind Sing" is sold at 1500 yen, Tazaki Saku can get 150 yen for every copy printed.

Assuming the first edition print run is 1 copies, he will earn 150 million yen regardless of how it sells.

If the book sells well in the future, you can reprint it, and you will get the same royalties no matter how many copies are printed.

The royalty rate can be negotiated, but small authors do not have this right. The contract given by Kodansha is 10%.

"There's really no way around it. No matter how hard I try, it can't improve." Yukiho Yonekura said apologetically.

"I understand." Tazaki Saku nodded in gratitude.

The third important source of income is copyright development income.

Of course, for young authors, this part is basically nothing.

The contract given by Kodansha is basically based on a template and does not offer much concessions.

"There's also a 20 yen signing bonus," Yonekura Yukiho said. This was the maximum amount she could secure, and she looked at him sincerely. "I think we can sign this contract. Firstly, the terms are pretty good for a newcomer's contract. Secondly, Aobasha is on the verge of bankruptcy, and you're at risk of losing your job at any time. It's good to have another way out."

"If there were no shady dealings in this Newcomer Award, I might have signed this contract, but now I plan to stay with Aobasha and have Aobasha publish all my next works," said Tazaki Saku with a smile.

"Uh……"

Yukiho Yonekura seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"Right now, I've made some preparations..." Tazaki Saku leaned over and whispered some plans to her.

In the book publishing industry chain, authors can only get 10%-15%, and publishing houses usually get 30%. As an insider in the industry, he does not intend to miss this part of the profit in vain. Of course, if there is a chance, he will become his own boss.

The 30% stake obtained from Maki Saionji is the first step to becoming a capitalist.

After listening to Tazaki Saku's story, Yonekura Yukiho was speechless for a moment.

His idea is radical and risky, but it is not without the possibility of success. In terms of development prospects, it is definitely better than signing a long-term contract with a large publishing house and living a mediocre life - if failure is not considered.

"Anyway, I've made up my mind. There's no need to persuade me anymore, Senior." Tazaki Saku smiled and extended his hand. "Also, I very much hope to fight alongside you again. Aoba Club welcomes you anytime."

...There was a warm current in her heart like warm water seeping out bit by bit. Yonekura Yukiho raised her watery eyes, looked at him, and slowly stretched out her snow-white and soft little hand.

(End of this chapter)