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

Naho Imamura analyzed it from the perspective of a professional mystery novel editor.

"From the perspective of atmosphere creation, I think you did a great job, Hikigaya-kun. The ancient family, the countryside in the mountains and old forests, and the wartime background. To be honest, the novels I have read that contain these elements are probably It’s more of a horror novel. Anyway, the descriptions so far are very attractive to me.”

Machida Enko commented.As a general public reader, she has not been exposed to other folklore mystery novels, so her evaluation is more representative of the general reaction of most readers after the work came out.

This is exactly what Hikigaya Hachiman hopes to achieve. The folklore part of folklore reasoning is certainly important, but how to control the content is a big science.It can be said that the work "The First Innocent Thing" is indeed very good at this point, so good that even the original author's subsequent works cannot control it so accurately.

"That's good. I also think that folklore reasoning is not to show off the author's knowledge reserves, but to allow readers to truly feel the charm of folklore."

Chapter 154 Famous Overseas

"By the way, Hikigaya-kun, the publishing house has entrusted me to tell you something very important, so I can take this opportunity to tell you."

After finishing the coffee, Imamura Naho said to Hikigaya Hachiman.

"Oh? Is there any good news from the publishing house again?"

Hikigaya Hachiman asked with great interest.

"Yes, it is indeed news, Hikigaya-kun. Speaking of which, do you still remember the first time Bungeishunqiu signed a publishing contract with you, right?"

What Imamura Naho mentioned was the time about two years ago when she personally signed a publishing contract for "Confessions" with Hikigaya Hachiman.This may be the most important business cooperation for Literary Spring and Autumn in recent years. They have directly established a cooperative relationship with a writer who will continue to produce high-quality literature for many years to come.

"Of course I remember. Editor Machida was also present at that time, wasn't he?"

Hikigaya Hachiman recalled.That was also his first encounter with the two editors.

"That's right, I remember that day too. It was the day when I reunited with you, my dear senior sister, after a long time after graduation."

Machida Enko looked at Naho Imamura with some evil intentions. She caused a lot of trouble for Naho Imamura that day, and she felt happy every time she thought about it.

"Well... I believe everyone has not forgotten this. In the contract at that time, in addition to the two very important clauses involving the finalization of the royalty rate and the ownership of the film and television adaptation rights, there was also a final clause, Hikigaya-kun The rights you gave to Wenyi Chunqiu Publishing House are the overseas distribution rights of the novel. Just two days ago, this clause was finally fulfilled."

Naho Imamura said.

"Editor Imamura...are you saying that there are publishing houses from other countries that want to introduce my novels?"

Hikigaya Hachiman confirmed.In fact, it's not that he hasn't thought about it, but because it's not under his control, he doesn't pay much attention to it.

"That's right, but before that I want to ask, Hikigaya-kun, do you know what the status of your novel is outside of Japan?"

"Sorry, I really haven't paid attention to this."

Hikigaya Hachiman admitted happily.

"Okay, let me explain it to you first. In fact, within a few months of the release of the single volume of your "Confessions", Hikigaya-kun, the fame of this book has already spread to the stick next door to us. The country and the Huaxia Kingdom, to put it bluntly, are the entire East Asian cultural circle."

"In these two countries, folk translations of "Confession" soon appeared. After all, as you know in Bangzi Country, the piracy industry leads the world, but it was not widely spread at the time. It was not until later, Hikigaya-kun You won the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award, and the name Hachiman has officially become famous in the mystery culture circle of East Asia."

"After that, your "Malevolence", "Disintegration of Causes" and "The Clock Museum Incident" have all achieved extremely high ratings in the small circles of these two countries. Perhaps considering that your reputation has been accumulated It was enough that Jiuxing Publishing House and Beihai Publishing House from China contacted Literary Spring and Autumn at the same time, and Taidong Publishing House from Bangzi Country also sent an intention to cooperate."

Naho Imamura introduced it in one breath.

"I understand everything you said, Editor Imamura. But since this matter has been handed over to the publishing house, is there anything else I need to know about it?"

Hikigu Hachiman asked.

"Of course it has something to do with money, Hikigaya-kun. Although the income from overseas copyright distribution is with Bungeishunqiu, you can still get a certain amount of royalties from the sales of your novels overseas. Of course, due to the distribution There are more people making money, and your royalty rate is probably only half of the previous level, which is about [-]%.”

"As for sales, I don't think there is anything to worry about. Whether it is in China or Bangzi, the market for mystery novels is very broad. There is absolutely no need to worry about selling. Moreover, their entertainment industry is also very developed. If your works If it opens up the market, it will definitely be adapted into a movie or TV series there."

Naho Imamura explained in detail.

Two Five Five⑤ Nine Five Three Mio Mio

"I see...This is really an unexpected surprise."

Hikigaya Hachiman is naturally very happy that his works can gain good reputation and sales overseas. After all, the Japanese domestic market is limited no matter how much it is developed, so overseas markets are very necessary.

"By the way, Mr. Hachiman. How is your foreign language proficiency?"

Naho Imamura wanted to confirm this.But she regretted it as soon as she asked. The other person was a high school student who had just turned 17 years old.

"As for foreign languages... I am very fluent in English, maybe with a slight accent. As for Chinese, I may only know some basic greetings. To be honest, Chinese is too difficult..."

Hikigaya Hachiman replied.In his previous life, he was bedridden for a long time and learned many things in his spare time, one of which was language.

"Ah...Okay, I understand Mr. Hachiman. This is very convenient. If possible, you may be able to write a preface or something for a novel published overseas in the future. This is also a good publicity tool."

Editor Imamura, who thought she was asking a nonsense question, did not expect that the other person actually knew some foreign languages. Her understanding of the talented boy in front of her was refreshed once again.

"Probably in the next few days, the publishing house will contact you, Hikigaya-kun, to sign a contract. Then you can go meet the publisher from overseas."

"By the way, I remember that the prices of novels in China seem to be quite cheap. The price of hard-cover single books there seems to be about the same as that of Japanese Bunko books."

Machida Enko said curiously.

"If Japan could have more than a billion people who could read the same language, I believe the price of novels would be much cheaper. Unfortunately, Japan cannot follow the route of small profits but quick turnover."

Naho Imamura replied.The price of novels in Japan is no longer very high, otherwise there would be no situation where the sales volume of library books is far greater than that of single books.

"That's right, let me tell you a secret that is not confidential. The full version of the small part of "The First Innocent Thing" that you read today will be more than 30 words. The price of the single book is estimated to be 1000 yen. , even the Bunko version will cost [-] or two hundred yen.”

﹝qianxun﹞554707⑤⑤⑤

Hikigaya Hachiman talked about this incident.

"This price... is a bit too high."

Imamura and Machida exclaimed at the same time.

"Because I have received some criticism recently, they said that the works I created contain too many violent and bizarre elements, and have an immeasurable impact on minors. But it is impossible for me to change my creative style, so I and the publisher Let’s discuss it and just raise the price so that minors can’t afford it.”

Hikigaya Hachiman drank his hot chocolate in one gulp.

Chapter 155: How to deal with parents who are looking for trouble? (4k)

In fact, to be honest, Hikigaya Hachiman is still a little bit dumbfounded about the fact that one day he will be really troubled by the PTA (school Parents Association).

As we all know, in the eyes of Japan's two-dimensional groups, the PTA organization can be said to be a somewhat hated and sworn existence.Through reporting and creating public opinion, this organization has successfully forced a large number of animations and comics to protect themselves through harmonious methods. This harmony includes not only pictures but also lines.

Of course, there are also some works that vow to fight against PTA to the end, such as a famous long-form comic animation. In the end, its ending was moved from the prime time to the late night time.As a work with national influence, the impact of this shift is huge.

One of the main reasons why PTA can always achieve their goals is that the organization's purpose is "all for the healthy growth of children."It is true that PTA does play an indispensable role in school and family education, and it also allows parents to play a key linking role in accompanying their children's growth.You can imagine what will happen once this kind of child-related organization reaches out to the cultural and entertainment industry.

Since the Two-dimensional industry in Japan is very prosperous, and many students like to buy various comic magazines, or watch animations broadcast on TV Tokyo during prime time every night, the Two-dimensional industry Only then did they become the focus of PTA's care.

As for other entertainment fields such as TV series, movies, and novels, they are less poisoned by PTA. After all, underage students rarely come into contact with these things.Especially the field of popular literature is an area that PTA will never touch. After all, even if children today read books, they only read light novels. Serious literature has long declined among young people.

However, since Hikigaya Hachiman's debut, due to Bungei Shunqiu's vigorous promotion of his status as a genius junior high school student/high school student, coupled with his excellent appearance that he often shows to the outside world, Hachiman has really gained a lot of popularity on Japanese junior high and high school campuses. Popularity.Because of this, his novels are becoming more and more popular on middle school campuses.

However, strictly speaking, the novels written by Hikigaya Hachiman are not suitable for middle school students with immature minds.

The plots in "Confessions" and "Malevolence" are pure darkness, describing the extreme evil of human nature. In "Confessions" there is even a plot where junior high school students build bombs and prepare to blow up the school.

As for "Causes of Disintegration", there are endless pornographic jokes and a novel full of vulgar slang. In terms of writing style, it is purely literature written for adults.

Therefore, when these novels became popular on middle school campuses, they naturally attracted the attention of parents in the PTA.

However, before the PTA officially declared war on Hachiman Hachiman, the PTA was divided internally.The reason is that several PTA representatives believe that the organization's accusations against Hachiman are just looking for trouble. If the audience of animation and comics is young people, then the authors naturally have an obligation to provide good guidance in their works.And you parents failed to take good care of your children and let them read novels that children of this age should not read. How can you blame Teacher Hachiman?

This is very reasonable, and it is also a commonly used rhetoric in the entertainment industry around the world when dealing with censorship.However, it was later discovered that these PTA representatives were all fans of Mr. Hachiman, and two of them had even attended Hachiman's autograph session.As a result, the purpose of their speeches was questioned and they were no longer accepted. PTA also launched a series of actions against Hachiman's works.

"Best-selling books that describe the ugliness of human nature are popular on middle school campuses. Will they lead to wrong guidance for children's body and mind?"

"A well-known mystery writer is popular among teenagers. Should we be wary of the possible negative influences in his books?"

Remarks like this gradually began to spread on the Internet, and careful analysis revealed that the PTA did not name names and used interrogative sentences, making it difficult to raise objections to them.

"It's really unreasonable... I myself am the one the PTA should protect. Why did the iron fist hit me on the head one day?"

Hikigaya Hachiman, a 17-year-old underage high school freshman, said helplessly.Today, he originally went to Wenyi Chunqiu Publishing House to sign a contract for the overseas distribution rights of the novel. After finishing the matter, he and several senior executives from Wenyi Chunqiu came to a small conference room alone and began to discuss how to deal with PTA entanglement.

"Actually, we can ignore the PTA's attack this time. Literature is not a cartoon on TV, so how can we compromise with them casually? If they continue to be stubborn, I will go to my friends from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for help. , see if we can put pressure on the PTA."

Director Suzuki of the Public Relations Department said angrily.This matter was within his scope in terms of division of labor, so he had already planned to use the relationships he had accumulated over the years.

"I think it's better not to trouble the authorities about this matter, Minister Suzuki. Besides, I feel a little sorry for you using your personal favor to handle this kind of public opinion matter for me."

Hikigaya Hachiman waved his hand to signal Suzuki not to be impulsive. He was opposed to bringing this kind of conflict to the actual government level at any time, especially in his own name.

"Is there a possibility that this matter was initiated by other publishing houses? There are too many publishing houses that are unhappy with us. This may be part of a business war."

The head of the publishing department guessed.

"This possibility cannot be completely denied, but I think if a publishing house does this, the risk is too great. If it is exposed, they will not be able to gain a foothold in the industry."

Hikigaya Hachiman analyzed.It's not uncommon for competitors to cause trouble for each other, but if you use the PTA as a weapon, aren't you afraid of backlash?Therefore, Hachiman judged that the possibility was relatively low.

"However, you reminded me that we can indeed take this opportunity to let other publishing houses stand for us."

Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes lit up, and a good idea formed in his mind.

"Teacher Hachiman. Do you have any ideas?"

President Hirao, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. He originally planned to use his connections to resolve the matter, but seeing that Hikigaya Hachiman seemed to have his own opinions, he decided to listen carefully.

"That's right, President Hirao. First of all, we need to make one thing clear. The most fundamental reason why the PTA came to me this time is because my books that may have a negative impact on students were circulated on middle school campuses. It's coming. In other words, it's not that other works don't have such bad effects, it's just that they are not popular on middle school campuses."

"Therefore, we need to let those publishers who are gloating about others' misfortunes or feel that the matter has nothing to do with them realize one thing. If the PTA can target me today, it may also target any author from any publishing house in the future. After all, if you want to Speaking of excessive descriptions in novels, or the display of the dark side, there are many writers in today's literary world who are thousands of times more powerful than me, and their books are also openly sold in bookstores. Any junior high school student As long as you have money, you can buy it.”

"Of course, what I say is not to threaten other publishing houses, but to make them realize one thing: the publishing industry is a community of interests, and everyone will be prosperous and everyone will suffer losses. If my mystery novel is published by PTA It has been branded as being a bad influence on young people and spreading bad influences. I wonder, is it just me, Hikigaya Hachiman, who is being affected?

"When people with children buy books in the future, they will avoid mystery novels when they hear them, for fear that the dirty content in the books will affect their children. They will not care whether the book is written by the author named Hachiman, or not. They will care whether it is published by a company called Bungei Shunqiu. After the idea that 'mystery novels = poisoning teenagers' is planted in their minds, no matter whether you are Kodansha, Shinchosha, Shueisha or Futabasha, everyone's publishing company Business will be affected, no exceptions.”

Hikigaya Hachiman stopped to take a sip of tea. No one in the audience spoke. They all looked at Hachiman expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

"To sum up, we need to unite Japan's publishing industry. Anyone who wants to do business can't understand what I said above. Besides, many publishing houses want me, even if they want to flatter me. This unity should be supported.”

"But please note that after unity, we are not trying to attack the PTA. The fact that this organization can survive to this day is of very positive significance, but they should not always reach out to the entertainment industry. Publishing houses should really What we do is to propose to society the idea of ​​promoting a book classification system. Of course, we don’t really want to do this, we just propose it.”

"As you all know, the concept of the classification system of literary works only exists in some private regulations in Japan. There have never been relevant regulations at the official level, and it is impossible to stipulate them. After all, if classification is carried out, it will lead to those The proliferation of content that is not suitable for children. But this does not prevent us from raising this matter.

"Think about it, how to standardize the classification of various literary works in bookstores, how to judge whether the content of a literary work should be read by minors, and how to prevent minors from purchasing such literary works. These are all possible Through my incident and the discussions that have arisen, these contents will divert the attention of the PTA and let them go to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. After all, formulating industry regulations is a matter for the power department."

Hikigaya Hachiman said sarcastically.

"But what if the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology really issued any regulations?"

One participant expressed his doubts.

"No, no, no, it's impossible. I'll tell you what they will do: they will arrange for officials to visit bookstores and campuses to solicit the opinions of students' parents; they will arrange a symposium and invite publishing house representatives, bookstore representatives, and of course There are also people from the PTA coming to discuss countermeasures; they will even propose relevant plans in Congress and report and publicize them. In short, everything seems to be actively advancing, but in the end, nothing will change."

Hikigaya Hachiman leaned on the back of the chair, his hands slightly clasped together and resting on his chin.

"Yes, any official who knows the publishing industry cannot possibly try to change any part of the existing publishing system, especially bookstores. However, this must be a very useful tactic, Ministry of Culture and Literature The Ministry of Science and Technology has been wrangling with the PTA in various ways, and I think they don’t mind one more piece of work.”

President Hirao said in agreement.

"That's it, Mr. Hachiman. I can summarize what you mean by stating our interests and harms to unite other publishing houses and jointly propose that we hope to change some aspects of the existing literary publishing and sales system to protect young people. The physical and mental health plan will turn the PTA from just targeting you to targeting the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the next trouble will be theirs."

Minister Suzuki confirmed that he analyzed it from the perspective of a professional public relations person and believed that this plan was extremely feasible.

"Absolutely correct, Minister Suzuki. And I believe that the PTA will no longer be hostile to me or the Bungeishunqiu Publishing House because of this matter. After all, it is my work as an opportunity that allows the PTA to further propose new ideas to the higher-ups. Why not make constructive suggestions instead of fighting with an author like me?"

"Wonderful! Mr. Hachiman. Heroes have been born since ancient times. Even if I could think of it now, I probably wouldn't have the courage to propose a solution like yours. If it weren't for your status, I would have immediately recruited you to the public relations department. Come to work!"

Minister Suzuki said very happily that he did not expect that Mr. Hachiman was not only a talented writer, but also an unparalleled public relations powerhouse.

"Thank you, Mr. Suzuki. I'm just a theorist. The next specific work needs to be carried out by a practical person like you. I'm sorry to trouble you."

Hikigaya Hachiman nodded to Minister Suzuki humbly.He knew very well that Minister Suzuki would be very busy during the next period of time.

"Anyway, Teacher Hachiman. This is my job. I am very confident in dealing with other publishing houses and these social groups. I have been doing these things for the past twenty years."

After Minister Suzuki nodded to President Hirao and Hikigaya Hachiman respectively, he walked out of the conference room. He will immediately return to his office and greet his employees to start working until the results expected by Hikigaya Hachiman are fully achieved.

Chapter 156 For the highest literary honor...

Shortly after returning home from Bungeishunchu Headquarters, Hikigaya Hachiman received a call from Yukinoshita Harano. The other party was also very concerned about Hikigaya Hachiman being picked on by the PTA. After all, she was a member of Hachiman Studio.

"It's okay, senior, don't worry. Well, I went to the publishing house today to discuss countermeasures. We already have a plan and it will be implemented soon. I believe in the power of literary spring and autumn."

Hikigaya Hachiman comforted Yukinoshita Harano who sounded slightly panicked.

"Hikigaya-kun, my mother said that she has some say in the local PTA organization in Chiba Prefecture, and she can guarantee that the PTA here will never cause you trouble. But we can only do this. Oh, you must take care of yourself."

Yangno is really anxious. She is very aware of the power of the PTA organization in Japan. After all, she herself was one of the beneficiaries.

"I will. Please tell Mrs. Yukinoshita for me, senior, that I am very grateful to her. I will visit you again in a few days after my work becomes easier."

Hikigaya Hachiman was a little shocked, but also a little moved. He didn't expect that Mrs. Yukinoshita would also pay attention to this matter, and was willing to use her own connections to reduce his burden as much as possible.