Chapter 132: Cooperation? Give Up?

November 14, Anju Bookstore, second-floor office.

"The process of the matter is like this."

Anju Jin Gangyi told the other five people in the office about the specific situation he learned at the dinner party last night.

Hearing the cause and effect, the 5 employees of Anju Bookstore were all surprised. Sasaki Maki showed a worried expression on her face, Itakura Naka frowned, Oka Yuisho and Nagao Toru looked at each other, and Nishijima Sota's expression became serious.

After looking around, Anju Jin Gangyi continued: "So everyone, after ending the existing inventory, should we continue to cooperate with Akiwara-sensei later?"

After learning that the opponent was the giant Mantanshe, Anju Jin Gangyi was a bit scared.

After all, compared with Mantanshe, Anju Bookstore, whether in terms of size or channels, is like a sampan next to an aircraft carrier.

He considered whether to end the cooperation with Akiwara Yuto to avoid trouble.

That's why he avoided Akiwara Yuto and held this meeting.

Itakura Naka, who was wearing lipstick, raised her hand and first put forward her opinion: "President Anju, I don't have any other opinions. I just want to ask, if we don't cooperate, what is our business later?"

Itakura Naka didn't really care about the publisher. In her view, she would sooner or later hook a rich husband and be a housewife.

Anju Bookstore or something is just because she can't find other jobs now.

So what she cares about is just the change in her work content.

Hearing this question, Anju Jin Gangyi hesitated for a while and said in an uncertain tone: "Let's continue to focus on self-publishing business."

Now relying on Akiwara Yuto's *The Devotion of Suspect X* has already made a name for itself, and self-publishing customers are also much more than before.

According to this situation, even after losing *The Devotion of Suspect X* and another unpublished *The Death of a Mystery Novelist*, although Anju Bookstore earns much less money, it will not be seriously injured.

Itakura Naka shrugged, "Then I don't have any other opinions."

Anyway, no matter how Anju Bookstore is managed, she won't get an extra bonus, so as long as the working hours don't get longer.

Anju Jin Gangyi nodded and looked at the others, "What about you?"

"President, I object."

Unexpectedly to Anju Jin Gangyi, Sasaki Maki, who had never expressed much opinion, stood up and said in a firm tone.

"The reason?" Anju Jin Gangyi asked back.

Sasaki Maki nodded and said in a serious tone: "President, if Akiwara-sensei hadn't cooperated with us, Anju Bookstore wouldn't have reached this point today. So I think we shouldn't choose to end the cooperation just because the other party is suppressed by Mantanshe!"

Anju Jin Gangyi shook his head. Children only talk about right and wrong; adults only talk about interests.

Cooperating with Akiwara Yuto at the beginning was nothing more than a business relationship. Although there were some human feelings, they couldn't compare to real money.

And in the revenue sharing with Akiwara Yuto, Anju Bookstore can only get 8% of the sales revenue, and the vast majority of the profit is taken by the other party.

Anju Jin Gangyi ignored Sasaki Maki's eyes, waved his hand to let her sit down, and asked another capable general, Nishijima Sota, who was responsible for sales and promotion.

"Nishijima, what is your opinion?"

Nishijima Sota looked at Sasaki Maki and felt that her expression was a bit wrong.

He turned his head to face Anju Jin Gangyi and said: "President, I want to ask, how much is the liquidated damages?"

"If it is a supplementary agreement after the reprint, it is about 5 million yen. As for the other book, a formal contract has not been signed yet."

Nishijima Sota nodded and continued: "President, except for the 50,000 books already delivered to distributors and bookstores, the current inventory is still 10,000. According to your estimation, if you want to digest the final inventory, how long will it take?"

Anju Jin Gangyi thought for a while and replied: "The current weekly sales are 6,000 copies. It may still be the subsequent influence brought by the book review. Later, it is not excluded that it will return to 4,000 copies per week or even lower at the beginning."

He calculated in his heart for a while and replied: "It may take about half a year."

Nishijima Sota continued, "President, if it takes such a long time, I suggest you continue to cooperate with Akiwara-sensei. After all, in Mantanshe's view, our Anju Bookstore has already been tied to the other party."

He emphasized his tone.

"Most importantly, from the data, *The Devotion of Suspect X* can be completely called a long-selling book, right? Do you really want to give it up?"

He felt that his president was too afraid of Mantanshe, so much so that he ignored the most important present of Anju Bookstore.

After all, although Mantanshe is large in size, there is no reason to restrict Anju Bookstore.

If you just cut off the most important business on hand simply because of fear, then this behavior can simply be called demented.

Moreover, ending the cooperation with Akiwara Yuto will only hurt Anju Bookstore itself.

After all, Akiwara Yuto owns the copyright. As long as he has money, he can still easily find a publisher with self-publishing business to cooperate.

Too many publishers are in poor operating condition now. As long as there is money, who cares whether they will offend a large publisher.

And *The Devotion of Suspect X* can still be further sold based on the readers and fans accumulated before.

In the end, Anju Bookstore got nothing, and perhaps it would also get the reputation of abandoning business partners in the eyes of others.

For Japanese society, which attaches great importance to reputation, this reputation is no less than digging one's own grave.

Nishijima Sota sighed and then analyzed the pros and cons with his president.

Anju Jin Gangyi nodded while listening, and then couldn't help but show a bitter smile.

To be honest, regarding these things Nishijima said, in fact, Anju Jin Gangyi himself can see many places clearly.

But he thinks that his employees still don't know enough about Mantanshe's power.

As one of the four giants of the Japanese publishing industry, Mantanshe has huge energy in the business, political, and even cultural circles.

Many times, Mantanshe only needs to wave its hand, and it can choke the throat of an enterprise in some places it can't think of.

Just like now, the other party has effectively blocked Akiwara Yuto, but he hasn't heard any wind.

He lowered his head and fell into deep thought again.

Back to the point, just like what Nishijima Sota said, do you really want to give up the reprint right of *The Devotion of Suspect X*?

You must know that even if the weekly sales fall to only 4,000 copies, 200,000 copies can be sold in a year, and looking at the potential, it can be sold for many years...

This is really embarrassing?

He lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

Seeing Anju Jin Gangyi's embarrassment, the others also quieted down.

For a while, the whole office fell into silence.

Just then, the phone suddenly rang. Sasaki Maki saw that Anju Jin Gangyi had no intention of answering the phone, so she took the initiative to answer the phone.

She answered the phone, listened for a while, and then let out an exclamation, attracting the attention of everyone on the field.

Putting down the receiver, Sasaki Maki said a piece of news that shocked everyone.

"Akiwara-sensei, he has been shortlisted for the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award!" ===== CHAPTER 133 =====