Chapter 264: A Simple and Effective Method

"Is the manager of Shimoda Bookstore like this?"

Akiwara Yuto raised his head and asked Akutsu Goichi, who was standing in front of him; the latter revealed a bitter smile and simply nodded.

In the past five minutes, Akutsu Goichi had already told Akiwara Yuto the entire sequence of events, including the "fraud" against the readers.

Akiwara Yuto had a headache; he hadn't expected it to be this...

Some traditional Japanese managers are often very stubborn and believe their profession possesses "sanctity."

Once they decide on a method, they often do not change it easily.

Trying to persuade them is often very difficult.

However, Akiwara Yuto had no intention of accepting the suggestion to change his pen name from the very beginning.

In his past life, some writers did indeed like to use different pen names for different works.

For example, Otsuichi, besides the name "Otsuichi," also used the names Nakata Eiichi and Yama Shiroko.

Especially with the latter name, some readers who were unaware even thought he was a female author.

However, the reason he used multiple pen names was to try works in different styles.

When it came time for reprints later on, some books were even changed back to the original name, "Otsuichi."

The reason was that this pen name had the most fame and sold books the best.

Besides Otsuichi, Lu Xun also used 140 pen names, such as "Xun Ge'er, Feng Sheng, Zun Gu, Ba Ren, Mou Sheng Zhe, Hai Zi, Xue Zhi, Zi Shu, Geng Chen, Suo Zi, Suo Shi, Shu Ren, Ling Fei," and so on.

But these pen names of his were often related to the era.

After all, warlords were rampant in that era; if certain articles offended a warlord, it would often lead to a fatal disaster.

In Akiwara Yuto's view, he was just using a pen name to publish "pure literature"; if that were considered fraud, it would be too excessive!

He pondered for a while and suddenly realized a possibility.

"President Akutsu, please bring a book over."

"Right now!?"

Akutsu Goichi was a bit confused, but he still instructed a subordinate to run to the warehouse, retrieve a printed and packaged new book, and hand it to Akiwara Yuto.

Akiwara Yuto lowered his head and began to examine his new book.

The outer packaging of the book was very simple; apart from a cover with heavy snow falling, there were only the words "Snow Country" and "Akiwara Yuto."

But on the very outside, there was still a layer of "transparent packaging bag"!

Seeing this packaging bag, Akiwara Yuto froze for two seconds, then suddenly realized.

That's right, standalone books are different from periodicals.

If some bookstores didn't have reading copies, readers had no way to tear open this transparent packaging bag when buying the book!

This meant they might buy the book, take it home, and only then realize this work was a piece of pure literature! Not mystery!

After all, the cover didn't mention the words "pure literature" or "traditional literature" at all!

After seeing the reason, Akiwara Yuto's expression relaxed.

At this point, he already knew how to avoid causing misunderstandings for readers without changing his "pen name"!

"Akiwara-sensei?"

Akutsu Goichi asked in confusion; he noticed Akiwara Yuto looking at the book in his hand, his expression changing back and forth.

Akiwara Yuto put down the book, raised his head to meet Akutsu Goichi's gaze, and said earnestly: "President Akutsu, postpone the release date, and then change the cover."

"Change the cover?" Akutsu Goichi became puzzled.

He didn't understand what this meant; after all, this cover had been designed by a famous artist and had been approved by Akiwara Yuto previously.

"That's right, I hope to add a line of text saying 'Pure Literature Work' on the basis of the original cover, and mark it with a specific color."

After seeing the words "pure literature," if there were still readers who thought it was mystery and bought it home, then that wouldn't be his problem!

Akutsu Goichi revealed a bitter smile: "Akiwara-sensei, 50, 00 copies have almost all been printed; are you sure you want to do this?"

Changing the cover sounds simple, but in reality, it must be done manually by hand, taking off the cover of each book and replacing it with a new one.

This would cause complaints from the printing plant.

Akiwara Yuto waved his hand and said directly: "No problem, we will also have them print our future books."

He didn't take this to heart and certainly didn't think the printing plant would refuse.

After all, the economic crisis was still fermenting, the publishing industry was generally sluggish, and these printing plants were at the point where they were very happy just to have work.

Moreover, as the client, he naturally had the right to ask them to do more work; at worst, he could give them a little extra for their trouble.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto's determination, Akutsu Goichi could only accept it.

"By the way, how much inventory was reserved for this reading session in total?" Akiwara Yuto asked another question.

Akutsu Goichi hesitated for a moment and reported a number.

"20, 00 copies."

Hearing this number, Akiwara Yuto was actually a bit surprised; he had thought there might not even be 10, 00 copies!

But upon second thought, he realized he might have miscalculated.

There were bookstores like Shimoda Bookstore that considered the readers' interests, so naturally, there were also bookstores that only cared about profit and ignored the readers!

After all, he now had a fair amount of fame; just piling the books on a display stand could attract quite a few readers.

In the face of such profit, many bookstore managers would probably still choose to order them.

After all, even if they discovered they bought the wrong book, these readers would often only curse themselves, not the bookstore!

Thinking of it this way, he still had to thank that boss of Shimoda Bookstore, thank him for this "kind" reminder to him!

However, he still had to find a way to spread the book's distribution channels!

Akiwara Yuto's mind turned for a moment before he put forward a request.

"President Akutsu, after the cover is changed, please place our batch of 50, 00 books in Shimoda Bookstore without collecting an advance payment. As for the bookstores that have already collected advance payments, refund them first."

But after hearing this request from Akiwara Yuto, Akutsu Goichi was shocked!

Not collecting advance payments, what kind of operation is this!

The current industry rule for Japanese bookstores is to collect advance payments first, and then ship the books. If the books don't sell, the advance payment is returned to the bookstore, and the unsold books are recalled.

Akiwara Yuto looked at Akutsu Goichi's expression and had no intention of explaining.

To him, "money" was secondary, and "fame" was primary.

Moreover, this set of operations was also very normal.

It seemed a bit ahead of its time now, but in the future, as the book market worsened, many publishers implemented it.

After all, if no advance payment is collected, the bookstores have no financial pressure and will naturally accept them eagerly!

After all, at worst, it just takes a little inventory space and manpower!

In short, there is no need to worry too much about the first edition of 50, 00 copies!

The rest is just to "create momentum" for his book!

With influence, the public will inevitably pay attention.

By then, even if the traditional literary circle resists him again, they will have to come out and say a few words!

And his other goal must also be implemented well at this time!