I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 134 Is the goal of 100 million copies too much?
Saito Reina's office seemed a little crowded with more than a dozen people standing there.

Keigo Higashino and Shiro Dango, who came to the headquarters of Kawaide Shobo for the first time, were extremely reserved. They stood weak and helpless at the foot of the wall, not daring to talk to the big guys in front of them.

The desk was moved to the middle, and everyone stood around it, looking at the pile of scattered documents and reports on the desk together.

It has been 1996 days since the January 1 issue of "Wenyi" was released, and the future sales situation can be basically determined.

The cumulative sales in 13 days reached 39.4 copies, with an average daily sales of approximately 3.03 copies. To be honest, after seeing this data, Shizuko Kawaide breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the right thing to do to take the initiative to go to Asakusa Shrine to ask Kitagawa Hide for help!

Before Kitagawa Hidera and Kawaide Shobo, the average monthly sales of "Wenyi" hovered around 30 copies, ranking at the bottom for many years. Not to mention catching up with the four big brothers in front, Kawaide Shizuko only hoped not to be defeated by the quasi-first-tier publishing houses behind her.

This time, Kodansha and Bungeishunju are making every effort to attack me, and those guys on the board of directors who like to go against me are also ready to make a move.

A large number of authors were poached, the pages could not even be assembled before publication, and employees generally lacked confidence. All kinds of problems came one after another, and at first glance it seemed like a dead end.

Originally, Shizuko Kawaide was prepared for a sudden death in this issue, but she didn't expect that after serializing "South of the Border, West of the Sun", the sales would be so strong. It was really the power of Mr. Kitagawa alone that saved the entire publishing house!
Judging from the current sales trend, it is not a problem for the January issue of "Wenyi" to reach sales of 1 copies. This has far exceeded Shizuko Kawaide's expectations, and she is very satisfied!
Among the people present, the editor-in-chief, deputy editor-in-chief, and several senior editors who were called in temporarily shared her idea and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena had no expression on their faces, and they just kept flipping through the pile of data reports on the table.

This emergency meeting was also initiated by Kitagawa Hide and strongly supported by Saito Rena.

Now the two most important people did not speak, and everyone else could only remain silent, not daring to make a sound.

This is clearly something worth celebrating, so why is it made to look like a disastrous defeat?
Shizuko Kawaide's head was full of question marks, but in order to maintain her consistent personality in front of her subordinates, she pretended to be calm and frowned in thought with Kitagawa Hide.

After a while, Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena seemed to have finally finished the work at hand. They looked up at the same time. Everyone present suddenly became nervous and stood straight, waiting for the two big guys to speak.

"I'm sorry, President Kawaide, I'm sorry to disappoint you." Kitagawa Hide bowed slightly to Kawaide Shizuko with a sincere attitude, like an employee who had made a mistake.

Saito Reina, who was standing by, hugged the data report and bowed to apologize, "I'm so sorry, President. I was too confident. I didn't expect their influence on the market to be so great. If I had been prepared in advance, the result would have been much better. I'm really sorry!"

Shizuko Kawaide's face remained expressionless and she maintained a calm demeanor, but her heart was in turmoil and she had no idea what was going on.

Disappointed?

Disappointed for what?
Should I be disappointed now?

But what should I be disappointed about?
The editors-in-chief were equally puzzled. They were trembling with fear, and when they saw the two heroes bowed and apologized, they quickly followed suit, bowing 90 degrees while saying "Private Marseille".

Now Shizuko Kawaide was completely confused.

Her doubts did not last long, as Kitagawa Hide's next sentence answered her question.

"But I think the reason why sales did not meet expectations is not the novel. I am not making excuses or shirking responsibility."

There were other editors in the office called by Kawaide Shizuko. Kitagawa Hide thought for a moment and tried to explain in a sincere tone that he must not let them think that he was a writer who liked to shirk responsibility when something went wrong.

He pulled out several data reports from Saito Rena's arms. These were sales statistics for "Wenyi" in suburban areas such as Adachi Ward.

"Please take a look. The main audience of our Wen Yi magazine is concentrated in suburban areas such as Adachi Ward and Ota Ward. Comparing the statistics of previous issues, it can be seen that readers in these areas have not given up on Wen Yi. On the contrary, the momentum of purchasing is increasing."

Beichuan Xiu pointed to the numbers above and analyzed them carefully and in detail.
“This shows that even though the overall quality of the magazine has declined significantly compared to last year, thanks to the serialization of South of the Border, West of the Sun, they are still willing to buy Literature and Art, and it has even attracted some new readers.”

"I also received sales reports from other counties this morning. Compared to the past, the overall sales curve is on an upward trend." Saito Reina also agreed, "This also means that there is no problem with "South of the Border, West of the Sun"."

"Well, please allow me to interrupt. Mr. Beichuan, you just said that the sales data did not meet expectations. Did I hear it wrong?"

The editor-in-chief couldn't help but interrupt.

He thought he must have heard it wrong.

Nearly 13 copies were sold in just days. If this does not meet expectations, then what are the expectations?

"You heard it right." Beichuan Xiu nodded seriously, "I originally expected sales of 100 million copies that month, and more than 70 copies in half a month. Now it seems that even 50 copies in half a month is difficult, which is a full 20 copies short of the expected value!"

"My opinion is the same as Kitagawa's." Saito Rena rubbed her temples. She didn't know if her face was swollen now. She felt more guilty and dissatisfied.

During this month, she spent twenty days eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping in the company, all in order to promote "South of the Border, West of the Sun" to the level where it could compete for the Tanizaki Prize.

It would be a waste of such a good work to use it only to prevent other publishing houses from suppressing it.

It should win awards, further promote Kitagawa Hide's position in the literary world, and realize their common dream of "the best in the world". Writing high-quality novels is Kitagawa Hide's job, and promoting it to the public and making it widely known is her job.

This novel is also the one she has put the most effort into so far, with the most extensive preparation and the most abundant publicity and promotion resources.

In terms of quality, "South of the Border, West of the Sun" is not inferior to "Youth Trilogy".

With the preparation of "No Longer Human", "I Am a Cat" and "芥廾", this novel should have been a long way off.

In the first few days after the book was released, she made a special appointment with Kitagawa Hide to visit various bookstores for on-site inspections.

The promising sales trend of "Wenyi" made them feel stable for a time. Even if Kodansha and Bungeishunju held a large-scale essay solicitation and various top writers published new books, it should be difficult to stop their progress.

Unexpectedly, the final sales data was far from their expected target.

This time, Rena Saito felt like she was the one who pulled it.

"70 copies in half a month? One million copies that month!" The editor-in-chief looked at the other editors and felt that his thinking was not on the same dimension as these two people.

The two people in front of me were behaving so strangely at a time when they should have been celebrating, and they were out of tune with everyone else.

Mr. Kitagawa, who was only responsible for writing the book and had no business dealing with the publishing house, stood here analyzing the data like an editor and took the initiative to take responsibility;

Although she was the second most meritorious person and had long been recognized by her colleagues in the editorial department, Rena Saito also looked worried and kept admitting her mistakes.

The reason turned out to be that they were completely dissatisfied with the results of this issue of "Literature and Art"!

They have much bigger and more amazing expectations.

But the sales of 100 million copies that month is too exaggerated.
Kitagawa Hide looked at the reactions of the editor-in-chief and others and felt confused.

Is the goal of 100 million copies too much?
The first time he serialized "Hear the Wind Sing" in "Qun Xiang", it almost broke the sales mark of one million copies that month.

Although this is due to objective factors such as the fact that "Qun Xiang" has more readers than "Wenyi" and has more abundant publicity and promotion resources, it is a debut work after all.

At Kawade Shobo, he has published three novels one after another, including the hit "No Longer Human".

And the publicity and promotion this time is also not bad.

Kitagawa Hide took into account the competition from Kodansha and set a more compromising target of 100 million copies.

Ultimately, he felt that he had somewhat overestimated his influence.

He thought that he had become an "upper-class writer" and had written many novels worthy of being recorded in the history of literary history. He would be like those "best writers in the world" who could attract a steady stream of readers just by writing a book title.

The fact is, for now he can only hold on to his own group of book fans.

When the overall quality of "Wenyi" declined significantly, he tried to support the publishing house on his own, which was a bit unrealistic.

Perhaps only when one becomes truly “the best in the world” can one have such appeal.

Even if they only see your name, they are willing to pay for you!
But failure is failure, and Kitagawa Hide will not make any excuses for what happened in the past.

He discussed it with Rena Saito and decided to hold this emergency meeting, hoping that everyone would work together to try to increase the sales of the next issue of "Wenyi" to this level.

And this time, it was Shizuko Kawaide who came personally to ask for help in helping Wen Yi to overcome this difficulty.

He even boasted to her that he would help her just like she helped him when filming and publishing "芥廾".

Kitagawa Hide glanced at the boss's face. From beginning to end, Kawaide Shizuko had an indifferent expression.

Sure enough, did she think so too?
"President Kawaide, your goal is similar to ours, right?" asked Kitagawa Hide.

Shizuko Kawaide was already frightened by their intended target.

She looked at Kitagawa Hide and suddenly realized that maybe her request that day had caused him to misunderstand something?
She just hoped that Kitagawa Hide could help Kawaide Shobo get through this most difficult time, not that they could defeat Kodansha and Bungeishunju with just one novel!
I agreed that you would lead the troops to rescue me, not to attack someone else's lair!
At this moment, she wanted desperately to break through his defense, and then she took Kitagawa Hide's hand and told him loudly, "Teacher Kitagawa, you are already very good! I am very satisfied with this result!"

But looking at the inquiring eyes of her subordinates and people like Keigo Higashino, with whom she had little contact, she struggled to restrain the impulse and maintained her own personality.

"Yes," Shizuko Kawaide nodded mechanically.

(End of this chapter)