The lonely Hikigaya Hachiman wants to become the king of mystery novels

Hikigaya Hachiman still maintained his calmness that saw through everything.

Qianxun Resource Group 255595300

"Okay... okay."

Naho Imamura was stunned for a moment, then agreed.It stands to reason that as a member of the publishing house, she should seek benefits for the publishing house, but now she has agreed to seek benefits for the author in a daze.

"You may have many more questions about this novel, but let's eat first. You should be very hungry already."

Hikigaya Hachiman picked up the chopsticks and said.

Only then did Imamura Naho realize that it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon, and her stomach had protested countless times, so she had no choice but to pick up the chopsticks with a slightly red face.Imamura felt very ashamed. After she met Mr. Hachiman, all the conversations were led by this boy who was 13 years younger than her. However, she did not feel any discomfort at all and actually enjoyed the way this boy spoke. , when she realized it, the conversation between the two parties was completely over.

The two parties quickly ended their meal.

"Then, let's stop here today, Teacher Hachiman. Tomorrow at nine o'clock in the morning, I and the staff of Wenyi Chunqiu Publishing House will go to your home in person to sign the publishing contract."

"No problem, it will be just a few of us tomorrow. I believe Editor Imamura can bring you a contract that Editor Machida can't find fault with."

Hikigaya Hachiman joked, and Imamura Naho looked at Machida sadly.

"I have already paid for today's meal, senior. But please don't get me wrong, I just want to thank Hachiman for being willing to read such a great novel to me for the first time. You are here by the way. See you tomorrow, senior."

After Machida Enko finished speaking, she smiled and waved to Hikigaya and her son, and then drove away.Naho Imamura was left helpless and furious.

"Teacher Hachiman! I am making a request to you now as a fan! No matter what works you write in the future, you must send them to me as soon as possible! Let's exchange email addresses."

The corners of Hikigaya Hachiman's mouth twitched slightly. He suddenly had a feeling that these two women, who both started out ten years older than him, were jealous of him.

After bidding farewell to Imamura Naho, Hikigaya's mother, who had been making soy sauce, suddenly patted Hachiman's head.

"You kid, you can look so good-looking with just a little bit of dressing up, but you had to make yourself so withdrawn before. You won't be able to make friends this way."

"Mom, socializing will only affect writing. I am not a genius. I just use the time that others spend chatting, partying and singing karaoke to write articles."

Hikigaya Hachiman casually used a famous quote, took off his glasses, and instantly restored his original fish-eye poker face.After just staying open for more than two hours, his facial muscles were almost completely frozen.

...... ......

Chiyoda Ward Bungeishunqiu Publishing House Headquarters

"I believe that everyone has read the first four chapters of "Confession". All the doubts and uneasiness we had before should have disappeared at this point in time. As for the last two chapters that are still in the hands of Mr. Hachiman, I firmly believe that only It will be more shocking than the first four chapters.”

"All Readings" editor-in-chief Matsui Koichi confidently announced this to the heads of the publishing department.

"I agree with Editor Matsui. Putting aside the biggest gimmick that the author is only 15 years old, the content discussed in this book alone is enough to trigger widespread social discussion. This type of novel is the easiest to sell."

echoed a staff member in the publishing department.Other attendees nodded in agreement.

"Since everyone is unanimously optimistic about the prospects of "Confession", we must also show the sincerity of Literary Spring and Autumn Publishing House."

The head of the publishing department, Chubu Jiaren, said solemnly.

"With a royalty rate of 13.00%, we will try our best to strive for Mr. Hachiman to continue to submit articles under Bungeishunqiu in the future. Editor Imamura, you and Sasaki from the publishing department will make another trip tomorrow. I look forward to your good news."

...... ......

The signing process on Sunday was very relaxed. Naho Imamura and Sasaki, who was traveling with him, did not even use the planned rhetoric.

"The royalty rate of 13.00% is a very generous treatment. The industry norm is generally 12.00% to 14.00%, and the top writers can only get [-]%."

Machida Enko, who is responsible for supervising the contents of the contract, said this to the Hikigaya family.Even though she and Imamura had such an unpleasant past, it was still very fair when it came to business matters.

"As for the additional terms, the serialization and publication of the next two novels will be carried out under Bungeishunqiu Publishing House, as well as the distribution rights of overseas copyrights. I think there is no problem with the former. They are already the leader in Japanese popular literature, whether it is Both the magazine circulation and the number of cooperative bookstores are very impressive. As for overseas copyrights, publishing houses are usually taken over. They have mature overseas distribution experience, and you can still get commissions."

Machida Enoko added, as if she was the representative who signed the contract with Bungeishunju and Hikigaya Hachiman.

"As long as I have the rights to film and television adaptations, I'll have no problem with it."

Hikigaya Hachiman confirmed the contract again and said to Imamura and Sasaki.

Since Hikigaya Hachiman was under 16 years old, after he signed, Hikigaya and his wife signed the guardian column respectively, which meant that the contract officially came into effect.

"I think this should be celebrated. You two, please be respectful and have a meal at my home today."

Mrs. Hikigaya extended the invitation. She believed that true hospitality was to cook the meal yourself.

After completing their work, Imamura Naho and Sasaki had no reason to refuse, so they happily accepted.

"Oh, by the way, I can leave this to you now."

Hikigaya Hachiman took out the last two volumes of "Confession" manuscripts. Before they were completely handed out, Imamura's hands took them with his eyes shining brightly. At this time, there was still a long time before lunch time, enough for her to finish reading.

The last two chapters of "Confession" are relatively short, but the narrators are the two most important characters in the book: the genius boy Shuya and the bereaved class teacher Moriguchi. Chapter 5 reflects the psychological distortion caused by the loss of maternal love, which is one of the sources of tragedy in this book.

Chapter 6 is the most exciting reversal chapter, and the biggest reversal appears on the last page of the book. It ends abruptly at the moment when the reader's emotions are aroused to its peak. This is also a common writing technique in Japanese mystery novels.

"Student Hikigu."

Naho Imamura, who seemed to have finished reading, suddenly raised her head and called Hikigaya Hachiman without any emotion.

"You really are a genius."

It was still a voice without any emotion.

"Of course, that goes without saying."

Chapter 11 Hikigaya Hachiman’s first pot of gold

After Hikigaya Hachiman signed a contract with Bungeishunsu Publishing House on Sunday, he received two payment notifications from his bank account the next day.The first payment is the bonus from the Newcomer Award of "All Readings", which totals 45 yen after deducting income tax; the second payment is the first month's remuneration for "Confessions" which will be serialized next week, after tax deduction A total of 27 yen was received.

"You will have money all of a sudden..."

Hikigaya Hachiman, who usually has less than a fraction of Komachi's pocket money, couldn't help but sigh.But he soon began to feel distressed about the [-] yen in income tax that had been confiscated before they even met. Hikigaya Hachiman also knew very well that neither the current amount of income nor the amount of taxes were comparable to the amount after the publication of "Confession" .

Hikigaya Hachiman began to make a calculation in his mind:

Assuming that the single volume of "Confessions" is first printed in 13.00 copies, based on the selling price of 950 yen per single volume and the royalty rate of 2000%, Hikigaya Hachiman can directly receive [-] million yen. This The number does not need to consider how many books are actually sold to readers. Even if one book is not sold, Hikigaya Hachiman can still receive a pre-tax income of [-] million yen.

In Japan, where books are ridiculously expensive, the sales volume of cheap and easy-to-carry Bunko volumes are often several times that of single volumes. Especially in the field of shorter mystery novels, there have even been cases where the sales volume of Bunko volumes are ten to five times that of single volumes. A huge difference of ten times.

"Confessions" is no exception. Hikigaya Hachiman doesn't expect the stand-alone version of "Confessions" to sell well, but the library version will definitely sell well, which will be the main source of future royalties.

"Forget it, these are all things for next year."

Hikigaya Hachiman shook his head. He is now more focused on the things in front of him. For example, he needs a thin and light laptop. This way, when he wants to code words outside of home, he does not need to use a small and difficult-to-press clamshell all the time. The phone is gone.

As for the typewriter that he had thought about before... After Hachiman looked up the input method of the Japanese typewriter, he immediately stopped thinking about using it. It was too complicated. His goal was not to become an automatic note taker. I.

The week of classes passed quickly and it was Saturday.Hikigaya Hachiman decided to buy a laptop.Speaking of purchasing, in this era when thin and light notebooks have not yet become popular, Hikigaya Hachiman also knows that a notebook computer that is both high-end and portable enough has already been launched into the fifth generation of MacBook Air.

Hikigaya Hachiman came to the Apple store on the first floor of a Ginza store in Chiba City alone. After explaining his intention to purchase, he started trying it out. The clerk followed him closely and talked nonsense.

Hikigaya, who was not short of money, paid happily and walked out of the store as several clerks bowed to see him off.Then he walked into a cafe next door and found a secluded place to sit. Adhering to the spirit of using it immediately after buying it, he decided to use this brand-new laptop here to start his new work.

Hikigaya Hachiman is more hesitant about new work plans.Because the writing style and overall style of "Confession" are too special, Hikigaya Hachiman doesn't want the style to deviate too far when choosing the next book, and the content of the book must be exciting enough so that it can be suitable for serialization...

"Malicious".

Hikigaya Hachiman typed the title of the book on the screen.This novel is an early work by Keigo Higashino. From the perspective of more than 20 years later, this work has undoubtedly achieved great success.Commercially, this book has at least three versions of single books and library books. In terms of reputation, "Malevolence" is widely regarded as the best work of Keigo Higashino in the early and middle period. It is one of his representative works of socialist reasoning and is also popular among many folk. One of the must-recommend works on the wild list.

But historically speaking, the book Malice did not receive the attention it deserved for a long time after its publication.In 20, when it was published, "Malice" was only ranked No. [-] or fourth in the "This Mystery Novel is So Great" selection that year.It was not until a few years later that "Malice" was reprinted and published by the publishing giant Kodansha that the book gained widespread popularity and its status grew.

Hikigaya Hachiman is not worried that "Malicious" written in this era will reproduce the failure of talents in his previous life. Today, the Internet information circulates extremely quickly and word-of-mouth fermentation is extremely fast.Not to mention the strong marketing strength of Literary Spring and Autumn Publishing House will not allow such a work to be buried.

Malice is also a novel very suitable for serialization.There is almost no useless description from the beginning, and the case part is entered very quickly.It's enough to grab the reader's attention from the first serialization.

Hikigaya Hachiman believes that there is a certain gap between "Malice" and "Confession" in terms of commerciality. Both are social mystery novels, but "Malice" hardly touches on any social topics and has no intention to discuss them. Its essence It is the most typical "police solving crime" type of mystery novel.As popular literature, "Malice" is far less entertaining than "Confession".

The similarities between "Malevolence" and "Confession" are also obvious. For example, the core of both books is carefully planned revenge; the last chapter of both books reveals the whole mystery in a person's monologue. , not a single sentence describes the murderer’s reaction after the truth is revealed. This huge blank space is Hikigaya Hachiman’s favorite writing technique.

"This book may not achieve very good commercial performance, but its reputation will definitely not lose to "Confessions"."

This is Hikigaya Hachiman’s final conclusion to Malice.However, he believes that it is too early to start writing. He only needs to plan the general serialization framework of "Malevolence" now. This book in the previous life was not serialized, but was directly released as a single volume, and he had no experience to draw from.

Turning around, Monday, October 22nd, "Confessions" Chapter 1 "The Priest" was published in the new issue of "All Readings" magazine. Literary Spring and Autumn Publishing House used the most conspicuous way to promote this newcomer award. Award-winning work.Including the unanimous praise of the five judges, which is rare in history, the author who is only 15 years old, the new masterpiece of the socialists, the in-depth analysis of hot social issues, etc., all come together to give all readers a vigorous first impression.

After raising the banner, the next step is to rely on the excellent quality of "Confessions" to completely win over readers. This is actually the least worrying thing for everyone in the literary and artistic age.

Chapter 12 Yukinoshita Harano is curious

Yukinoshita House, Chiba City

The Yukinoshita family is one of the traditional wealthy families in Chiba Prefecture. Japanese wealthy families have always pursued influence in both political and business circles, and the Yukinoshita family is no exception.

The current representative of the Yukinoshita family is Mr. Yukinoshita, who is one of the members of the Chiba Prefecture Assembly.However, he is the son-in-law of the Yukinoshita family. For this reason, in the eyes of many outsiders, the actual head of the Yukinoshita family should be Mrs. Yukinoshita, who manages the existing businesses of the Yukinoshita family.

This is indeed the case, Mrs. Yukinoshita's control over the entire family is unparalleled.She possesses almost all the characteristics that outsiders have in the stereotype of a wealthy Japanese hostess: wearing a kimono, having a cold temperament, speaking her mind, and not being angry or assertive.

The love story between Mrs. Yukinoshita and Mr. Yukinoshita is like a fairy tale: a delinquent who comes from an ordinary background and skips school all day long to smoke and play mahjong, but his girlfriend is a daughter of a local wealthy family.Under the supervision and discipline of his stern girlfriend, Mr. Yukinoshita finally changed his ways and even quit smoking. He was finally recognized by the head of Yukinoshita's family and officially became his wife.

However, Mrs. Yukinoshita, who has experienced beautiful love stories, will never allow her two daughters to bravely fall in love like her.People will always become what they hate the most. When Mrs. Yukinoshita became the one in power and had to consider the interests of the Yukinoshita family, she had to admit that the political marriage she once hated the most was indeed the key to maintaining Yukinoshita's family. The best way for your family to prosper.

Her two daughters all inherited her excellent appearance.The youngest daughter, Yukinoshita Yukino, has a cold personality and is currently studying overseas, so she won’t mention it for now.The eldest daughter Yukinoshita Harano, a sophomore at Chiba City Sobu High School, grew up under the strict guidance of her mother. She is in awe of Mrs. Yukinoshita. At the age of 17, she has already begun to prepare for the future as a new Yukinoshita. I am the head of the family and strive to improve myself.

Although Mrs. Yukinoshita strictly raises her children, she does not restrict Yukino and Harano from freely developing interests that are beneficial to their bodies and minds.Reading is the most basic one. Yukinoshita's family has the habit of reading for a long time.A wide variety of newspapers are delivered to the mailbox in front of Yukinoshita's house every day, and various weekly and monthly magazines also arrive on time.

Yukinoshita Yono is not a loyal reader of any of these magazines. She just likes to read widely, from "Weekly Shonen Jump", a comic magazine that is widely loved by teenagers, to "Literary World", which is full of serious content. The literary magazines discussed are all to which she subscribes.On a brand new Monday morning, Yukinoshita Yono, who was about to go to school after saying goodbye to her parents, casually took out the November issue of "All Readings" that was newly delivered today from the mailbox, intending to wait for the driver to take her to school. Read it casually for a while.

"Speaking of which, the works for the Newcomer Award of "All Readings" are published in this issue."

Yukinoshita Harano looked at the promotion on the cover and turned directly to the Newcomer Awards column.

"The 15-year-old genius writer Hachiman was born! Breaking the minimum age for new writers in one fell swoop!" "The award-winning work was unanimously praised by the five judges!" "Mystery novel giant Arisugawa strongly praised Hachiman: This is the future of Japanese mystery novels!" ...

Qianxun Novels Group: Wuwusiqi[-]

Yukinoshita Yono was a little confused by these slogans in large and bold fonts. In her understanding, "All Readings", as a popular literature magazine, rarely went as far as light novels and comic magazines. Such exaggerated propaganda.

The three characters "15 years old" shocked Yukinoshita Yono. 15 years old, that is, the second and third grade of junior high school, the same age as her dear sister Yukino.But this "Teacher Hachiman" has already won the "All Readings" Newcomer Award, and has also received unanimous praise from these literary giants.

Although the promotional form of "All Readings" magazine is exaggerated, most of it is the original words of the Newcomer Awards judges. It is impossible for these literary giants who are familiar with Japan to deliberately exaggerate and publicize against their true intentions.Yukinoshita Yangno felt more and more that this year's award-winning work must be extraordinary, but at this time the car had already arrived at the school gate. Yangno put the magazine in his schoolbag and got out of the car.She is the student council president of Sobu High School. It would not be very good if she was seen bringing magazines into school.

"I will be very busy today. I hope I can have time to read this "Confession"."

Looking at the several student union officials walking towards her, Yangno sighed.

It was noon, and Yukinoshita Yono always used the student union office as a place for her lunch break, but no one objected.She decided to use this uninterrupted time to read.

""Confession" Chapter 1 There are many situations in this world where clergy have wildly different views on the same matter due to different perspectives."

This was the first sentence that caught Yukinoshita Yono's eyes.It's a very simple and simple truth. The content of this novel may be a concrete presentation of this sentence. Yukinoshita Yono thinks so.

Time always goes by very quickly when reading. About 10 minutes passed. Yukinoshita Yono raised his head with a complicated expression on his face.

"This Hachiman-sensei is so amazing..."

Yukinoshita Yono was so shocked that she was speechless.Whether it is the shocking foreshadowing that Mr. Moriguchi tells about his lover suffering from AIDS shortly at the beginning, or the penetrating analysis of social phenomena such as the causes of juvenile delinquency and the misguidance of the media, all reflect the author's strong writing skills.

Yukinoshita Yono believed that the magazine would not create false gimmicks, but because of this, she wanted to know more about this talented writer who was the same age as her sister. She didn’t know exactly what she wanted to know about Mr. Hachiman, but There was an inexplicable desire driving her.

For ordinary readers, the only way to understand the writer's situation is through some public information.However, Yukinoshita Yono is not an ordinary reader, and the Yukinoshita family is not an ordinary family. She believes that she can always find a way.

"The editor of "All Magazine"? I probably don't know him, but I have a classmate from Literary Spring and Autumn Publishing House. He might know something."

At Yukinoshita's house at night, Mr. Yukinoshita said thoughtfully after understanding the eldest daughter's request.

Mr. Yukinoshita did not ask Yangono why he wanted to know about a junior high school writer. He believed that Yangono would not do anything outrageous.

"Asked, Yangno. This friend of mine said that the publishing house is keeping the specific information of this Hachiman-sensei confidential. But his colleague went to sign a contract with Hachiman-sensei last week, and the business trip at that time was in Chiba City."

Chapter 13 Hikigaya Hachiman’s singing and writing will continue

Just like Yukinoshita Haruno, many readers who have read the first volume of "Confessions" were shocked by this short book of more than 2 words.In the Internet era, everyone can more easily share excellent works and are willing to express their opinions. On the daily push in the afternoon, many netizens started selling Amway, including some well-known accounts, including Some of them are naturally the work of Wenyi Chunqiu Publishing House.

Hikigaya Hachiman received a call from Naho Imamura at five o'clock in the afternoon.

"Teacher Hachiman, good news. Your "Confessions" has begun to gain popularity on the Internet. This month's printing volume of the magazine is expected to reach a new high in recent years. This is all thanks to you. On behalf of "all Readings" 》magazine thanks you.”

There was unconcealable excitement in Naho Imamura's tone, not only because the novel she was responsible for as editor was definitely going to become a hit, but also because she had already become a fan of Hikigaya Hachiman and saw what she liked. The mystery novel can be widely recognized, which makes her even happier than her career success.

"I'm ashamed that I couldn't cooperate with your company to carry out more publicity. I can only ask you to pay more attention to other aspects."

Hikigaya Hachiman said slightly embarrassed.

According to the practice of previous years, the winning writers of the Newcomer Award should accept an exclusive interview and talk about some things about the creative process and themselves to satisfy the curiosity of readers. This content will be published behind the winning works as supplementary reading content.However, since Hikigaya Hachiman is still a junior high school student, he does not have enough free time, and his young age is not suitable for overexposure.The publishing house considered it over and over again and finally gave up allowing Hachiman to be interviewed, which was also in line with Hikigaya Hachiman's own thoughts.

"Please don't blame yourself, Mr. Hachiman, this is what we should do. We all think that you should not accept such an interview at your age."

Naho Imamura said hurriedly.

"Editor Imamura, are you free this Saturday? Maybe we can come out and meet. I would like to discuss some ideas about new works."