Chapter 266: Prying Open the Eggshell

In the Japanese publishing industry, there is often a vague standard for whether different types of publications sell well.

For example, manga, because it faces the widest range of people, naturally has the highest sales.

So the standard for popular works often has to reach books with more than 10 million copies.

After manga, it is this block.

Among them, detective fiction and light novels often exceed 500,000 copies to be considered big hits.

And for traditional literature or pure literature, the standard is the lowest.

Some people in the industry believe that as long as it can reach 100,000 copies, it's fine.

Under the huge sales gap between publications, the wealth gap between creators of different publications also began to gradually widen.

Manga artist Oda Eiichiro, relying on the royalties of *One Piece*, has an annual income of as high as 3.1 billion yen, but this income is still lower than Toriyama Akira's.

Detective fiction writer Higashino Keigo, whose original annual income was said to be around 1.5 billion yen.

When it comes to traditional literature creators here, there are often not many who can be taken out.

It wasn't until the birth of Murakami Haruki's *Norwegian Wood* that Japanese traditional writers had a place on the writer wealth list again.

However, judging from the actual situation, most traditional literature authors and book reviewers, because of the sales problem of their works, often have pitifully low incomes.

To make a living, most of them have to find a formal job, thereby engaging in traditional literature writing and criticism while working.

It is like this in the world where Akiwara Yuto is now, so after investigation, he found a breakthrough method outside of his creation.

That is to pry open the mouths of some traditional literature book reviewers through throwing money or giving gifts.

He doesn't believe that all book reviewers are so clean, refusing to take money to write good words for the so-called "glory" of traditional literature.

And to tell the truth, the money to buy these people doesn't count as anything to him.

Because of self-publishing and constantly standing at the tip of the storm of public opinion, Akiwara Yuto's annual royalty income now has almost reached the level of Higashino Keigo, and even more so.

So the most important thing is to first open the situation where the traditional literary circle has "shut him out".

Minato Ward, Akiwara Yuto's home.

"Akiwara, there are already about 20 book reviewers who have agreed to write related book reviews, they are..."

Asano Aiko sat on the sofa and reported a list to Akiwara Yuto who was sitting on the other side.

Akiwara Yuto listened to these names while pondering.

After listening carefully, he found that they were just some journals and magazines with sales of a few thousand copies, and there were no heavyweight book reviewers.

Thinking of this, he asked, "What about Ms. Akiyama Emiko?"

Akiyama Emiko, editor-in-chief of *Literary Review*, has sales of about 10,000 copies.

But besides this identity, she is also the president of the Kyoto Literature Research Association and has a certain reputation in the industry.

In Akiwara Yuto's previous investigation, he found that the other party has been running around to pull funds to promote the development of traditional literature in the Kyoto area in recent years, and has been supporting young writers.

Knowing that the other party lacks money, Akiwara Yuto naturally listed her as a target for selection, and even prepared to take out at least 5 million yen in activity funds.

Asano Aiko hesitated for a while, but still told the truth, "The other party hopes to meet in Kyoto in 3 days."

Akiwara Yuto touched his chin, suspecting whether the other party felt the money wasn't enough.

After careful pondering, he still agreed.

In short, let's meet first, see what the other party means, and then decide.

Time passed very quickly, and on the agreed day, Akiwara Yuto and Asano took the Shinkansen to Kyoto.

In a pre-booked tea room, they met that Ms. Akiyama Emiko.

Akiyama Emiko was about 40 years old, wearing an all-black work uniform, and had a calm and composed temperament.

After the two sides introduced themselves, she took the initiative to brew two cups of tea for Akiwara and the other.

Looking at her movements, Akiwara Yuto said politely, "Has Ms. Akiyama studied tea ceremony before?"

Akiyama Emiko answered politely, "Due to family reasons, I studied some when I was young."

The three of them exchanged pleasantries about the topic of "tea ceremony" before entering the formal topic.

Akiyama Emiko narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Akiwara-sensei, I have read your *Snow Country*."

"What is your evaluation?"

"Not bad, very not bad." Akiyama Emiko answered in an affirmative tone, "However..."

After a pause, she continued, "Since you are writing aesthetic literature, why don't you apprentice to Yoshikawa Yuichiro-sensei?"

Before this, she had already finished reading *Snow Country* handed to her by Asano Aiko, and was amazed by the beautiful words inside.

So in her view, if Akiwara Yuto apprenticed to Yoshikawa Yuichiro, this work would surely be welcomed by the traditional literary book review circle immediately.

Akiwara Yuto glanced at her, not expecting it to be such a stupid question.

If he apprenticed, he would surely offend the detective fiction literary circle immediately, and detective fiction is the foundation of his standing.

He thought for a moment, still made up an excuse, and said seriously, "That's because I want to write my own things."

"Your own things?"

Akiyama Emiko was a bit puzzled; after all, in the traditional literary circle, the apprenticeship system had become a tradition.

In her view, although Akiwara Yuto is a detective fiction writer, he belongs to a newcomer in this piece of traditional literature.

And judging from his academic background, the other party is not from a famous school like the University of Tokyo or Kyoto University, and even only has a high school graduation level.

Akiwara Yuto looked at her with a scrutinizing eye and said seriously, "Yoshikawa-sensei's works are excellent, but if I apprentice, I will surely still be influenced by him, which is what I don't want. In fact, for some of his creative concepts, I myself also have different views."

Different views!? Hearing this sentence, Akiyama Emiko was surprised.

In Japanese aesthetic literature, Yoshikawa Yuichiro can even be counted as a representative figure.

And Akiwara Yuto, as a newcomer to traditional literature, actually dared to say this.

It seemed that she saw the doubt in her eyes, and Akiwara Yuto laughed, "Ms. Akiyama, after reading *Snow Country*, shouldn't you have understood my intention?"

Hearing this confident remark, Akiyama Emiko was silent.

She carefully recalled the content she had read before again, and found that it was indeed as Akiwara Yuto said, this *Snow Country* made her feel extremely amazed.

Long sentences full of beauty, beautiful love, unspeakable sorrow, all kinds of advantages were gathered in this work.

If she hadn't known in advance that the author was Akiwara Yuto, she would have even thought it was written by some senior writer.

After hesitating for a long time, she sighed long and hard.

"Akiwara-sensei, your previous request, I agree, but regarding the sponsorship fee..."

Hearing the other party's words, Akiwara Yuto revealed a satisfied smile.

The "eggshell" of the traditional literary book review circle had finally been pried open by him! ===== CHAPTER 267 =====