Living in Tokyo, starting with a lifestyle-related job

The editors in Group C would occasionally request a meeting room to hold a unified meeting.

After the meeting, everyone would gather inside to review the manuscript together.

Ultimately, the quality of the novel itself determines their performance.

Therefore, they are particularly careful in the peer review process.

Because if the artwork doesn't sell well, you'll lose money.

After all, the publishers are the ones who bear the risks most of the time.

Other expenses, such as publishing, printing, and bookstore negotiations, add up to a considerable sum.

Some books even claim that you can barely break even.

However, there are some books that cannot even recoup their cost.

If too many books fail to recoup their cost, everyone from the editor-in-chief to the team leader will be criticized.

However, being criticized is a minor matter.

The main issue is still performance.

If their performance wasn't good enough, they didn't get any commission.

In addition, there is a limit to the number of books published in each issue.

Therefore, they are very careful in their reviews.

To avoid situations where an editor has personal biases towards a particular author and approves their manuscript directly, or where an editor is too fond of a certain work and shows favoritism, etc.

Therefore, the editorial department conducts cross-reviews on all submitted manuscripts.

And now.

The editors in Group C had just finished their meeting for the day.

Cross-audit is underway.

However, cross-audits don't necessarily happen every day.

Because not all of these manuscripts will actually pass the review.

It's common for a few novels to be published in a single day.

Therefore, cross-review meetings are not held frequently.

They only gather together to review submissions when there are many.

In reality, most of the time the editors in the group just glance at each other's work, and then the group leader takes a look at it.

at this time.

Igarashi Chinatsu nervously clutched the manuscript of "Journey Under the Midnight Sun" in her hand. Seeing that the meeting was ending and they were about to cross-check it, she immediately stood up, handed it to the team leader, and said very solemnly:

"Team Leader Miyu, this is a new work by Kamishiro-kun, and I think it's really excellent!"

"They are absolutely capable of becoming the dark horse of this group again this quarter, and will definitely boost the group's performance!"

"So please take a look!"

Ota Miyu, who was nearly forty years old, was somewhat surprised:

"That young man has already written a new work so quickly?"

"If I remember correctly, he signed a contract for a project just last month."

Of course she knew who Shiro Kaede was.

Although this young man has only been to the editorial department a few times.

However, he was too handsome.

It's hard for anyone in the company to forget it.

However, compared to appearance...

More importantly, there's Shindai Shirokaze's "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas," which is quite a work.

At least Miyu Ota could see that "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas" would definitely break even and make the company money; it was just a matter of how much.

However, this young man's works are being produced so quickly, I wonder what the quality is like?

Igarashi Chinatsu seemed to sense Ota Miyu's worry and quickly chimed in:

"Kamishiro-kun's suspense mystery is very well written."

"I showed it to the other editors before submitting it, and they all praised it highly!"

"You'll understand once you see it!"

Ota Miyu frowned as she looked at the other editors in the group.

The editors, of course, overheard their conversation and unanimously agreed:

"It's really well written."

"Yes, I just took a look at this book, and it's probably the best mystery novel I've read this year."

"Indeed, it's a pity that it's only half. I was really looking forward to the rest."

"+1!" Xn

Ota Miyu asked in confusion:

"Only half?"

Chinatsu Igarashi quickly said:

"Kamishiro-kun writes very quickly. He said he should be able to finish writing it within the next few days."

"Once it's finished, I'll definitely submit it immediately."

"He asked me to send it over first so the editors could take a look."

“I wouldn’t normally do this, but it’s so well-written that I’m showing it to you first.”

"I feel that if we don't sign this agreement, it will definitely be a huge loss for our company!"

Igarashi Chinatsu said this partly for her own performance evaluation.

After all, Bai Feng was the editor in charge, and if the contract was successfully signed and sales were substantial, she would receive a commission.

But another part is that she genuinely thinks the book is really good.

If a contract isn't signed and the book is given to another publisher, it would be a huge loss.

She said this with complete sincerity.

There was absolutely no hint of falsehood in it.

However, the final decision on whether someone passes or not rests with the group leader.

If it weren't for the fact that Igarashi Chinatsu's own manuscripts had been rejected by the group leader multiple times, making her somewhat doubt herself, she wouldn't have asked so timidly; instead, she would have submitted them directly along with other manuscripts.

Seeing her ponder so seriously for a while, Ota Miyu finally agreed in a lukewarm manner:

"I understand. Put down the manuscript and go back to your seat."

After putting down her manuscript, Chinatsu Igarashi returned to her seat, her eyes glancing occasionally at her team leader, who was reading her manuscript. She couldn't help but feel a little worried.

I don't know how many hours passed.

Most of the other people in the group have already gone to work elsewhere.

Even Chinatsu Igarashi has gone out to meet with other authors to review their manuscripts.

Only Ota Miyu remained here, reading the book "Journey Under the Midnight Sun".

She was seen with her brows furrowed and her expression extremely serious as she flipped through the works in front of her.

Before I knew it, I had turned to the last page.

However, because only half of "Journey Under the Midnight Sun" was submitted, only half of the content was actually written.

The story then abruptly ends.

This distressing plot twist even made Ota Miyu, who had worked there for over ten years and was the head of the C editing team, feel somewhat upset.

She looked up at where Igarashi Chinatsu had been sitting, intending to say something.

But she discovered that there was no one else in the meeting room except for herself.

But that's normal, since everyone has to be busy.

After a brief cross-checking of the manuscripts, they are all placed with her for her to review before the table of contents is submitted to the editor-in-chief.

Seeing this, Ota Miyu didn't say anything. She took all the manuscripts piled up beside her to her post, and then glanced at Igarashi Chinatsu's position.

I noticed that he wasn't here either; I guess he was discussing things with other authors.

So Ota Miyu clicked on her phone, edited a text message for Igarashi Chinatsu, and then started reserving a space on her computer for Kamishiro Hakufu's "White Night Journey" to be listed for sale.

Because there are actually limitations on the number of places where items can be listed.

If we don't do this in advance, it will be troublesome if there are no seats available later.

Then we'll have to wait for the next episode.

Miyu Ota recalls that the Gunzo Newcomer Awards started in June.

If this book, "White Night Walk," isn't printed within this month, it probably won't be able to participate in this group of newcomers' awards, and we'll have to wait until December.

Recently, our group's performance has been significantly impacted by Group A.

She herself also suffered a lot of pressure from the editor-in-chief as a result.

Miyu Ota saw the potential for a huge hit in this book, "Journey Under the Midnight Sun".

She thought that if she could get the novel nominated for the Gunzo Newcomer Award, then even if she didn't win, it would still make her feel a little proud in the other categories.

After all, there are quite a few monsters participating in the Newcomer Awards every year now.

This is one of them, Shinobu Shiroshige. He's only a first-year high school student, yet he has such profound writing skills and an incredibly tight plot.

However, even with this, it is still very difficult to stand out and win among more than 5,000 novels in each issue.