[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-308":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Literary Master of Tokyo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2355157,4607,"Chapter 308: Time is Needed","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-308",308,"\u003Cp>After Kentaro Miyagi finished expressing his admiration, he followed the procedure and recommended the book *All She Was Worth* to the candidate list.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing the book, the members of the judging committee revealed various complex expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were delighted, some were disappointed, and others were embarrassed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those delighted were naturally the two judges from the Social School; *All She Was Worth* described the era of economic crisis and the inflation of personal desire, making it undoubtedly a masterpiece of the Social School.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The publication and potential award of such a work would undoubtedly further elevate the status of the Social School.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those disappointed were the judges from the Heterodox School and the Courtroom School; although their recommended works had little hope of winning,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>there had at least been a glimmer of possibility due to the conflict between the Social School and the Orthodox School.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially with the committee's new rule that every judge must cast votes for two or more works.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after seeing Akiwara Yuto's work make the shortlist, they had completely abandoned that intention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, those embarrassed were the three judges from the Orthodox School, or rather, the traditional Orthodox School.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this selection process, they had gone to great lengths to exclude New Orthodox authors from serving as judges, in order to disqualify *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* and thereby reduce the influence of the New Orthodox School.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But they hadn't expected Akiwara Yuto to publish a new work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing to be thankful for was that this work was of the Social School.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, one could only say it wasn't a total failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, everyone already knew who would win this year's Uemura Prize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A week later, in the third-floor conference room of Tsutaya Bookstore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto, Sota Nishijima, and Aiko Asano held a meeting to study the first-week sales of *All She Was Worth*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aiko Asano took the document sent by the statistics department and read: \"The first-week sales are around 50,000 copies, with 40,000 sold in Tokyo and only 10,000 outside of Tokyo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to channel conversions, most of the books sold directly to bookstores have been cleared by 80%, and some bookstores have already called to place new orders. However, the distributors have only cleared 40%, and we haven't been contacted yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sota Nishijima was puzzled: \"That's not right. Why is there such a big difference between the data for distributors and direct sales to bookstores?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically speaking, the market determines a book's sales, so the overall ratio should remain balanced regardless of whether it's through distributors or bookstores.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, if bookstores have cleared 80%, the distributors should also have cleared 70% to 80%.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because Tokyo Hanbai and Neon Hanbai played some tricks.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto took two order catalogs from his briefcase and handed them to the other two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These two catalogs were sent by the distributors Tokyo Hanbai and Neon Hanbai to various partner bookstores, listing all books currently on sale and publisher information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Generally, if a bookstore wants to order books, they have to find the book on the order form and call the distributor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sota Nishijima and Aiko Asano took the catalogs and looked through them carefully, but as they read, both of them revealed expressions of suspicion and uncertainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Akiwara Yuto's *All She Was Worth* was not listed at all in the first 10 pages of the catalog; it wasn't until the bottom of the 11th page that they saw the book's name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara, we should go and protest to them!\" Aiko Asano said indignantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The further back a book is placed in the catalog, the more likely it is to be overlooked by bookstore managers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as a bestselling author, Akiwara Yuto should not be receiving this treatment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto shook his head, \"Aiko, that's meaningless. After all, it's Keihan Publishing pushing all of this. If you look closely, you'll find that Keihan Publishing's mystery works are placed at the front of the catalog instead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Aiko Asano and Sota Nishijima lowered their heads to look further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as they looked, they found it increasingly wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this catalog, many works under Keihan Publishing were ranked at the front, and even some unpopular works were placed in the first three pages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Consequently, all of Akiwara Yuto's previous works were pushed to the back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aiko Asano wanted to say more, but Akiwara Yuto waved his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Aiko, all of this is normal business competition; there is no such thing as fairness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Keihan Publishing doesn't do something, their mystery publishing market will be further occupied by us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, it is normal behavior for them to rely on their shares in the distributors to suppress us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was very open-minded about this matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents; Keihan Publishing pushing distributors to engage in business competition is a very reasonable tactic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he was no longer the author who had just debuted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since they wanted to use the monopoly of distributors to suppress him, he would use normal business means to break their monopoly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sota Nishijima sighed, \"It seems we need to speed up the chain bookstore project.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mood was somewhat complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On one hand, the publishing house was thriving but had been targeted and suppressed by Keihan Publishing; on the other hand, the opponent's suppression proved the strength of Tsutaya Bookstore Publishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, being an enemy of one of the four major publishers could be considered a kind of \"honor.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How is the progress of the chain bookstores now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto asked casually, and Sota Nishijima explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Currently, we are recruiting staff for the direct-operated stores. We have already found more than 30 employees for training, most of whom are university graduates, and a small number are former bookstore employees. We are also looking at locations for the bookstores.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the franchise part, Ms. Sugihara has already contacted a group of former bookstore practitioners, 50 of whom are willing to accept loans and open stores.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sota Nishijima reported seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn't been optimistic about this plan at the beginning, but the more he came into contact with it, the more feasible he felt it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, because of the distributors' suppression, it is difficult to enter the market outside of Tokyo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, this method might be the only way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded, \"When can the first direct-operated store open at the earliest?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The first one is planned to be set up near Yokohama National University, and it can open in two months at the earliest. To set up direct-operated stores in every prefecture across the country, it will take at least five more months.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded, while thinking about the issue of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His *All She Was Worth* had already been submitted for the Uemura Prize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is estimated that in two months, at the end of November, it will be officially announced on the candidate list, and by February of next year, the news of his winning will likely be in the newspapers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps he could achieve his goal through the Uemura Prize!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought for a moment and then said to Sota Nishijima: \"President Nishijima, after the reprint later, I think we should reduce the supply of books to Tokyo Hanbai and Neon Hanbai...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sota Nishijima and Aiko Asano showed puzzled expressions, and Akiwara Yuto explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, his goal was very simple; the Uemura Prize is undoubtedly a good opportunity for exposure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By that stage, even if Tokyo Hanbai and Neon Hanbai played tricks, they wouldn't be able to stop the book from being recognized and ordered by bookstore managers across the country.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if they found that there was no stock from the distributors, they would inevitably call the publishing house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with orders and contact established, the publishing house could completely bypass the distributors in the future and achieve direct sales to bookstores everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before that, he must first build the channels and the network.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, all he needed to do now was wait for time to pass!\u003C\u002Fp>",1341,"2026-06-21T03:58:02.196Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","5f2f5463e697a4fe3c83f9918363246e6d5a1e8ef8c523406bf59f22193cd333","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-309","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-307",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]