Tokyo Soft Rice King.

This is a powerful weapon that could turn the tide, because if that utilitarian student council president knew about something that would benefit the school's reputation, he might shift his stance to the Literature and Art Club.

In that case, there's no need for them to specifically ask me to join the Arts and Literature Department, since many students will probably join because of my reputation anyway.

The personnel crisis in the Literature and Art Department will naturally be resolved.

Thinking about this, Hikawa Makoto decided it would be better to tell him about it and then congratulate Kuroba Akira.

"Kuroba Akira..."

hum-

A vibration sound was heard.

"Oh, excuse me, I need to take this call."

After nodding, Makoto Hikawa gestured to the bookstore door, indicating that he should go outside to answer the phone.

Kuroba Akira nodded, gave her a hand gesture of apology, and then walked out of the bookstore, taking out his phone as he did so.

Seeing that the contact was Mori Keima, Kuroba Akira breathed a slight sigh of relief. If it were Akane calling, it would most likely be Shion urging him to go home for dinner, a shower, to deliver his grain, and then to bed.

This phone call was probably to inform Akira Kuroba of his first-week sales figures.

Kuroba Akira answered the phone as he walked out of the bookstore.

As soon as the call connected, I heard Mori Keima shout in an extremely excited tone.

"Kuroba-kun! The first week's sales figures are in! 100,000! More than 100,000 copies sold!"

"Huh...? Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... hundred thousand?"

"That's right! That's 100,000 copies! That's a milestone record in the entire light novel industry!"

true and false?

Did the initial sales volume reach 100,000 in the first week?

Kuroba Akira never expected this.

This has really become...

I became a light novel master in Japan.

Chapter 288 Money to Spend

The first week's sales exceeded 100,000 copies.

To put it bluntly... it sold out.

After listening to the reasons given by Mori Keima, they were similar to what Kuroba Akira had expected.

It's mainly because Aiyuan Moe's illustrations, with their vibrant colors and strong perspective, have become so popular.

Moreover, after the illustrations became popular, the pose of the male protagonist and his sister on the cover of the first volume of "My Sister's Journey" became a pose that many artists imitated, and it is showing a tendency to become a famous meme in the world of anime. This wave can be considered as taking over the ecological niche of the previous life of "My Sister's Journey".

It can only be said that the sales of light novels are indeed 80% dependent on the quality of the illustrations. Strong illustrations lead to good sales, and Kuroba Akira's light novel has completely proven this point, which is equivalent to being 'epoch-making'.

I wonder if the major editorial departments will "put the cart before the horse" because of this, and repeat the era of "buying illustrations and getting toilet paper for free"... If that happens, Kuroba Akira will become the "source of all evil" that accelerates the end of the light novel era.

Of course, if it were just about the beautiful illustrations, it wouldn't have sold so well. The main reason is that "Sister's Journey" was the first work to try something new in multiple aspects.

A catchy long title, full-color character introduction illustrations, a gimmicky opening, the inherent popularity of H-games and the "little sister" theme, and Shirai Shiori's heartwarming localization touches and witty references...

These are all factors that contributed to the hot sales, which combined to result in a staggering 100,000 copies sold in the first week.

Many people may not be clear about the concept of 100,000 copies sold in the first week. Actually, a simple comparison will make it clear.

Generally speaking, the passing grade for initial sales in the first week is 'two thousand copies'.

That's right, with just two thousand copies, this light novel is no longer considered a flop.

Then double that, and 'four thousand copies' would be considered a relatively popular work, and we can expect it to further boost sales through anime adaptations.

If it rises to ten thousand, it will already be a hot topic, and an anime adaptation is practically a certainty. The only question is whether the animation production will be of high quality, which depends on luck.

After all, light novel adaptations are generally quite poorly made, especially those involving superpowers and battles; it's already pretty good if they're barely watchable.

Next, if the number of copies sold exceeds 20,000, it falls into the realm of "super bestselling authors." Editors will treat authors like their own fathers, and animation studios will be sought out to produce the works.

This is no exaggeration, because Kuroba Akira remembers that the monthly sales champion of light novels never reached 100,000 copies, it was probably only 50,000 to 60,000 copies.

The fact that 100,000 copies were sold in the first week is already legendary, which is why Keima Mori said it's a milestone in the light novel industry.

Of course, the first volume of a light novel usually sells better because the editorial department invests more in promotion and marketing, making everyone aware that a brand new light novel with great potential has been released.

Akira Kuroba's "Imouto wa Imouto" is a new work that was favored by Keima Mori, the deputy editor-in-chief. The promotion was definitely top-notch. It was placed in the most prominent position in major bookstores, and a large standee of the younger sister was also made. It seems that there was even a cosplayer book sale event in Akihabara.

Even so, selling 100,000 copies in the first week of release is still a remarkable achievement.

Kuroba Akira wasn't a transmigrator with a built-in system, so it's incredible that he could achieve sales of 100,000 copies without using any cheats, especially since it was an original light novel he wrote himself.

Then it was only then that Kuroba Akira came to his senses that 100,000 copies had been sold in the first week, which meant that Mori Keima had actually printed 100,000 copies in his first printing.

"Wait a minute! This is supposed to be the first printing, Editor Mori, you actually printed 100,000 copies?!"

For the initial edition of a novel, it's safer to print 20,000 copies and then increase the print run based on subsequent sales.

Of course, because paperback editions are priced relatively cheaply, they can be sold in large quantities. If it's a new book, they usually print around 20,000 copies.

Moreover, for authors, sales figures do not refer to the actual number sold, but rather to the 'printed quantity'. Once printed, even if it sits gathering dust in the warehouse, the publisher still has to pay the author.

In other words, Hurricane Publishing intended from the beginning to pay Akira Kuroba royalties for 100,000 copies.

"Haha, I think it will sell... And this is not my own decision. It is a sales plan decided within the editorial department after your work has been circulated among everyone and the opinions of the editors have been combined."

Even Mori Keima, an experienced deputy editor-in-chief, initially predicted sales of only 50,000 copies, while the print run was set at twice the predicted sales.

Of course, this was a huge gamble for the editorial department. If the book sold terribly, the 100,000 copies printed would become worthless... Of course, that possibility was unlikely.

Keima Mori's voice sounded ten years younger, filled with joy.

"Now that I think about it, we printed too few copies. If only we had printed 150,000... no, 200,000 copies!"

"Editor Mori... don't get your hopes up. 100,000 copies is probably just 'barely' enough, isn't it?"

Hearing Kuroba Akira's still calm voice on the other end of the phone, Mori Keima secretly praised him, thinking, "As expected of the 'old boy,' he can still remain calm even after hearing such good news."

"Old Boy" was a nickname given to Akira Kuroba by Masashi Aiga, the editor-in-chief of Hurricane Bunko, after hearing Keima Mori's story. It didn't mean "old boy" in the traditional sense, but rather "a seasoned young man." Later, it spread throughout the editorial department, and everyone there started calling him that.

Of course, they wouldn't call him that to his face. Now, if Kuroba Akira goes to the editorial department, even if he's just a high school student, all the editors will have to respectfully bow their heads and call him 'Shirako-sensei'.

Most new authors would be overjoyed to hear that their first-week sales reached 100,000 copies, but Kuroba Akira felt that the figure was inflated, indicating that he also knew the true extent of his work's sales.

"Haha, you noticed that, Kuroba-kun. Actually, after sales reached 80,000 copies last Friday, the sales speed started to gradually decrease. Although we can definitely sell out 100,000 copies, we won't reach the milestone of '100,000 copies in the first week'."

"And then what? Could it be that the data was fabricated?"

"Of course not! We wouldn't do something so despicable. It was a sudden inspiration that led me to urgently instruct major bookstores to add signs saying, 'The editor guarantees with his life! Volume 2 is expected to be released on New Year's Day!' As a result, sales surged again, and we successfully sold 100,000 copies within a week!"

"I see, just like the editor's note on the last page of a weekly manga series... That's a good sales strategy."

This wave has captured the core audience of light novels. Generally speaking, old readers are not very enthusiastic about buying newly serialized light novels because it is unknown whether a newly released light novel will survive.

Therefore, it is quite common for most light novels to experience a sudden surge in sales after four or five volumes have been released, because at that point, more experienced readers will feel more at ease, thinking that at least the novel won't be canceled and they should be able to see the ending... Of course, there are still some authors who abandon their works.

Keima Mori's move was essentially using his own reputation as collateral to assure longtime readers that the work would never be canceled in one volume and that they could buy it with confidence.

It's really just a pre-emptive use of a portion of the stable mid-term sales from the serialization.

However, selling 100,000 copies in the first week is impressive in itself, so the editorial department will definitely capitalize on this and continue to promote it. Mori Keima also recognized this and continued to create hype.

Kuroba Akira knew that 'numbers' themselves were an element that could make people feel 'excited', just like many of the videos he had seen in his previous life showing the revenue of mobile games. It seemed that many people could gain a sense of identity and belonging from them.

Some people may not be interested in this novel at first, but seeing its high sales and popularity, they may have the idea of ​​"following the crowd" and buying a copy to see what it's all about.

When the reprinted novel is restocked, there will be a huge banner next to it proclaiming, "First-week sales: 100000 copies! Achieved!" Or, knowing the nature of the Japanese, they might even add some cheesy slogans... like, "The legendary light novel!" or something like that...

Uh... This is too embarrassing. Kuroba Akira still can't stand this kind of culture where everyone is a bit of a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur).

Just as Kuroba Akira had predicted, Mori Keima had indeed arranged the follow-up sales plan.

"Don't worry, Kuroba-kun! I already contacted the printing press last Friday to print more books! The extra prints will be on the shelves tomorrow! We have to ride this wave of popularity!"

"Well... as long as the soba noodles aren't too much..."

This is also a Japanese proverb, and a more down-to-earth translation is 'to brag to the point of being outrageous'.

"Haha! No way! There's absolutely no false advertising! And I have complete confidence in your abilities, Kuroba-kun!"

"Anyway, I've already shown the outline to Editor Mori, so all I can do is continue working with my colleagues to produce the rest of the content."

I'm sure everyone in the Arts and Literature Department will be quite excited to hear about the sales figures for this product.

"Okay! Then, please come to the editorial department when you have time. Everyone wants to thank you properly. After all, thanks to you, this year's sales and profit figures should look very good, and everyone in the editorial department should be able to get extra bonuses."

"Congratulations!"

"It's nothing compared to your royalties. Speaking of which, I should congratulate you first, Kuroba-kun. You're going to become a 'professional writer' who can make a living off royalties!"

"what……"

Yup!

money!

This is the most important thing!

"Okay! I understand! I'll make time to visit the editorial department later! Goodbye, Editor Mori!"

Kuroba Akira hung up the phone impatiently, then opened the calculator on his phone to calculate how much money he could make from this.

The paperback edition is priced at 600 yen per book, and Akira Kuroba receives 5% of the royalties, which is 30 yen per book.

Then the initial print run was 100,000 copies, so the total was...

Three million yen!

Although it's in Japanese yen, the yen in this world hasn't depreciated that much... It's roughly equivalent to 200,000 RMB.

I earned 200,000 RMB in one go!

He can't compare to the extravagant rich kids in those super-rich novels, but Hei Yuming is already very content.

He was well aware that the writing profession was a typical pyramid structure because the barrier to entry was low, and anyone could pick up a pen and write a book.

Top writers in the literary world earn hundreds of millions of yen a year, while most light novel writers earn only around 100 million to 300 million yen a year, which is even worse than that of a corporate slave.

Kuroba Akira's sales in this week are already equivalent to most light novel authors' annual sales. This is after the revenue is split among the three of them. If it were full royalties, it would be more than twice the annual income of an average light novel author.