Chapter 30

Akiwara Yuto knew nothing about the idea of girls in Yokohama wanting to set up a fan club for him; he was busy dealing with his own work at the moment.

After going to the internet cafe to look up information a few days ago, he summarized the relevant data to avoid errors and omissions when writing the script.

Afterwards, he sat at his desk and wrote furiously, intending to write the stage play script for "Seven Rooms" as soon as possible.

According to the script format, the first part is the general background of the story, the second part is the personality and characteristics of the actors, and only then are the dialogue and actions of the actors.

As he wrote, he would put down his pen from time to time to ponder, then feel that the effect of writing it this way was not good, and directly crumple the whole draft paper into a ball and throw it into the wastebasket. Just like that, he wrote from morning until 12 noon, and his stomach started to feel hungry.

By the way, if he rushes to the publishing house now, can he still eat the bento brought by Asano Aiko?

Asano Aiko did not know that someone in the distance was thinking about her lunch; she was carefully looking at the statistics in her hand at the moment.

This data was sent by the statistics section under the distribution bureau, and it was a summary made directly based on the sales situation of distributors and some bookstores, including first-day sales, weekday sales, and final estimated sales.

Looking at the curve chart from Monday to Friday on the data sheet, she felt it was very strange no matter how she looked at it.

When it was first released on Monday, the sales of "New Novel" were still a mediocre 6,000 copies or so. According to the daily decreasing trend, the total sales of this issue should still fluctuate around 30,000 copies.

By Tuesday, the sales data sold over 7,000 copies.

She thought this part was fine, after all, the book review on half a page of the "Tokyo Daily News" still had some effect, but the effect of a book review usually only lasts 1-2 days.

However, for the next few days, she couldn't quite understand it.

On Wednesday, sales slipped slightly, but still maintained at around 6,000 copies, on par with when it was first released.

By Thursday, sales actually rose against the trend, becoming over 7,000 copies again.

Then until the end, the sales curve also maintained a tilting upward trend, and reached a full 8,000-plus copies on Friday.

She put down the statistics table, rubbed her eyebrows with her hand, and couldn't help but think that it might be possible for the 40,000 copies of the first edition to be sold out by the end of the weekend.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came. Asano Aiko was frowning and wondering who was so impolite, but when she looked up, she found it was Kikuchi Tai, the editor-in-chief of "New Novel".

Kikuchi Tai might have been walking too fast, his face was flushed red, and he was a bit out of breath. But his eyes were unusually bright, and the joy on his face could not be hidden at all!

She was a bit puzzled as to why the editor-in-chief was in such a hurry, only to see the other party suddenly raise a report in his hand, and say loudly and laughingly to everyone in the editorial department: "Reprint! We are reprinting!"

Asano Aiko didn't come back to her senses for a moment. After hearing this, the others in the editorial department couldn't help but stand up one by one.

Kikuchi Tai looked at the people gathering around, his excitement irrepressible. He himself didn't expect that the distribution bureau would suddenly inform him today that the 40,000 copies previously published had already been sold out, and 20,000 copies would be reprinted later.

Although he didn't figure out what was going on, this was undoubtedly good news, so he couldn't help but get excited.

After all, "New Novel" hadn't been reprinted for too long!

Songdao Kazuhiro was also a bit surprised to hear this news, and had a bad premonition in his heart.

Asano Aiko did not have such concerns and showed a heartfelt smile. She sincerely hoped that "New Novel" would sell better and better, regardless of whether it was because of her own contribution.

The surrounding editors were also very excited. A reprint meant that their salary performance would also rise, so they all applauded or high-fived the people next to them one by one.

Because there were so many people, the whole office made a loud noise for a while, shaking half the floor, causing people nearby to keep glancing over.

Looking at the scene before her, Asano Aiko thought of Akiwara Yuto, and she prepared to make a phone call to inform him of this good news!

But before that, she had to figure out the specific reason for the surge in sales.

At 7 p. m., Akiwara Yuto, who was writing, heard a phone ring.

He put down his pen, stood up, walked downstairs and picked up the receiver: "I am Akiwara Yuto, who is this?"

"Akiwara, it's me."

Hearing Asano Aiko's voice on the phone, he said with a smile: "Asano, why are you calling suddenly?"

"Akiwara, there is good news, 'New Novel' is reprinting!"

Akiwara Yuto was half-believing for a moment.

Reprint refers to re-printing and re-publishing books for sale, which means that the previously sold issues of "New Novel" have been sold out, but hasn't "New Novel" always been at the bottom?

Asano Aiko on the other end of the receiver seemed to have guessed his thoughts and immediately explained: "Starting from Tuesday, people have been coming to various bookstores one after another to ask for 'New Novel'. By yesterday afternoon, the inventory of 'New Novel' was cleared out, and many bookstores even called to request restocking."

After a pause, she said with a hint of a smile: "Akiwara, the hero this time is you."

Akiwara Yuto was confused, but still listened to her continue.

It turned out that the reason for this reprint was still due to that half-page book review.

A couple saw that book review, bought the second issue of "New Novel", and were moved by the story between parents and children depicted in "Sofar".

At the same time, they also learned about the little boy in Iwate Prefecture who was abandoned by his parents.

This couple were social workers by trade. After inquiring about the location, they immediately went to Iwate Prefecture, intending to visit this poor child.

But they didn't expect that after contacting the little boy, they were moved by his well-behaved and sensible nature.

So they contacted the social organization currently in charge of this matter, preparing to adopt this child.

This incident was also reported by local media, which aroused more people's curiosity about "Sofar", leading many people to go to bookstores to buy it recently, which drove the surge in sales and the reprint.

Hearing all this, Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but suddenly realize; it seems he caught a hot topic.

However, he was still very happy in his heart. If that little boy could be adopted by a loving couple, it would undoubtedly bring a turning point in his fate.

Besides that, the reprint made his mood a bit excited. He felt that after coming to this world, he had finally achieved some results!

Asano Aiko didn't hear Akiwara Yuto's reply for a long time, which was not surprising. She could more or less guess Akiwara Yuto's current mood. After all, a magazine reprinting because of a newcomer's serialization is something rarely heard of in the entire publishing industry.

After a while, she felt that Akiwara Yuto should have calmed down, so she continued: "By the way, there is another piece of good news. The covers of the following issues should focus on recommending your articles."

Akiwara Yuto was slightly surprised: "Is it because the reader feedback came out?"

According to the previous statement of editor-in-chief Kikuchi Tai, his articles must rank in the top five in reader feedback to have a cover recommendation position.

But he later learned that the recommendation position mentioned by Kikuchi Tai was just adding a title to the bottom left of the cover, and would not find someone to make a cover like "Searching Footsteps".

Asano Aiko gave an affirmative answer and at the same time talked about a series of things that had just happened in the editorial department.

After the editorial department celebrated, deputy editor-in-chief Songdao Kazuhiro submitted a promotion plan for the next step of "Searching Footsteps", and the editor-in-chief was considering whether to pass it.

As a result, the specialist from the statistics section came to the editorial department again, informed everyone of the causes and consequences of the "New Novel" reprint, and simultaneously submitted a reader feedback report.

This report showed that among the 963 readers who filled out the survey, Akiwara Yuto's "Xiao Yang and Shiko" and "Sofar" were highly rated by 85% of the readers, while Kadowaki Yuzhen's "Searching Footsteps" was only liked by 45% of the readers, a huge disparity in data.

At that time, Songdao Kazuhiro's face looked as ugly as if he had swallowed a fly. After repeated confirmation, editor-in-chief Kikuchi Tai directly rejected the former's promotion plan.

He subsequently brought in Asano Aiko and informed her that the editorial department would vigorously promote Akiwara Yuto in the next step and customize a special cover.

That is why Asano Aiko made this phone call now.

Akiwara Yuto nodded; this confirmed his idea. As long as he can prove his work through sales, the editorial department will naturally increase its emphasis.

Asano Aiko should be very happy now, right? Thinking of this, Akiwara Yuto joked with a smile: "Asano, you aren't going to go to a bar to drink again, are you?"

Asano Aiko, holding the receiver, did not expect Akiwara Yuto to keep thinking about her going to the bar. She rolled her eyes and said bluntly: "If you want to drink, shouldn't you, the great writer, treat me, the little editor, to HighFive? And open two bottles of good wine to treat me?"

Akiwara Yuto choked a little and pretended he didn't hear it.

HighFive is one of the most expensive bars in Tokyo. A glass of wine might cost tens of thousands of yen, and opening a bottle of wine is even more incredible, which might be equal to the money for half of his manuscript. With this money, he would rather donate it to the welfare academy.

Asano Aiko found that he was speechless and felt a bit proud. Who told you to bring up my going to the bar, I already told you not to bring it up again.

She smiled and prepared to end the call. After all, the subsequent cover and promotion plans all needed her to promote and plan.

"Akiwara, let's celebrate together later. I still have some work to deal with recently," she said with a smile, her voice still sounding a bit excited, "When it really sells big, I will treat you to a big meal, and I will definitely not let you down!"

"Then I'll wait for your big meal!"

The two then hung up the phone and continued to get busy. Akiwara Yuto returned to the desk upstairs, sat down and continued to write his stage play script.

He didn't expect that there would be such good news from the editorial department, but this did not mean that he should slack off. He also had to work harder on his side.

Inspiration kept emerging in his mind, and he was about to write furiously when he didn't expect the phone to ring downstairs again...