[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-85":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},2354934,4607,"Chapter 85: Anjiu Bookstore","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-85",85,"\u003Cp>Time passed quickly, and two weeks went by in a flash. Akiwara Yuto stood up and placed the completed manuscript of *The Devotion of Suspect X*, which he had been writing on his desk, entirely into a manuscript bag. The total content was about 150,000 characters, spanning 375 pages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this time, aside from writing, a new male editor from the *New Novel* magazine of Mantan Society also paid a visit to ask when he would be able to serialize a new work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding this request, Akiwara Yuto brushed it off by claiming a lack of inspiration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The male editor didn't say anything; after all, it was common for writers to lack inspiration. He simply asked Akiwara to contact him early if he had any new work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded in agreement, and through some probing, he also learned some of the latest news about Mantan Society from the other party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Kikuchi Tai had been transferred, the new editor-in-chief of *New Novel* had become Matsushima Kazuhiro, who was previously the deputy editor-in-chief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides that, the sales of recent issues of *New Novel* had seen a clear downward trend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, at *Tokyo Literature*, the rumors that had caused Takei Kohei such distress were still circulating between the editorial department and the distribution bureau, though it seemed Kihara Daigo had spoken privately, ordering all departments not to discuss the relevant content.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the more this happened, the more people believed in the authenticity of the rumors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto cleared his thoughts, changed into his outdoor clothes, and walked out with the document bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For him, the most important thing right now was to execute his own plan. As for Mantan Society, it was enough to know the latest intelligence; there was no need to pay too much attention to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After stepping out the door, Akiwara Yuto first went to a law firm and spent a little money to register his work, then took the train to the publishing house called \"Anjiu Bookstore\" that Imamura Yuto had previously recommended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This publishing house was located in the JD District of Tokyo, a relatively remote location that took him quite a bit of effort to find.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But upon seeing the storefront of this publishing house, Akiwara Yuto began to doubt himself. Was it really appropriate to find such a shabby publishing house to release his book?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This publishing house called \"Anjiu Bookstore\" was located in a two-story old building, which could be seen as a converted traditional detached house: the first floor was a bookstore open to the public, where three children aged eight or nine were reading manga, while the second floor was a sealed-off room with a sign hanging that read \"Anjiu Bookstore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto hesitated for a while, but still walked in. After all, since he was already here, leaving abruptly would be a sunk cost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, his budget was limited, and perhaps such a publishing house was more suitable for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked through the bookstore door, bypassed the children reading manga, and headed inside. Soon, he saw a female clerk yawning and asked, \"Excuse me, I'd like to consult about publishing services. May I ask who is in charge?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female clerk, who had been a bit drowsy, perked up upon hearing this and stood up to ask, \"What kind of service is it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto replied, \"It's self-publishing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing his answer, the female clerk became excited. She said, \"Please wait a moment,\" left her seat, ran \"thump-thump-thump\" up the stairs, and immediately after, the sound of knocking on a door could be heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After quite a while, accompanied by footsteps, the female clerk appeared before Akiwara Yuto along with another middle-aged man wearing a loose suit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the person arrive, Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but size him up. The man looked a bit \"prosperous,\" appearing somewhat chubby, and he wasn't tall, standing at less than 1.7 meters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto took two looks, then stepped forward and politely asked, \"I would like to consult about self-publishing. May I ask if you are in charge of this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately bowed and responded with a smile, \"I am Anjiu Jin Gangyi, the president of Anjiu Bookstore. If you would like to learn about self-publishing services, why don't we go inside and sit down?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying this, he gestured for Akiwara Yuto to go upstairs with him. Akiwara Yuto nodded and followed him, stepping on the \"creaking\" stairs up to the second-floor office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the two sat down, the female clerk also walked in, poured a cup of tea for each of them, and then left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto picked up the teacup, took a light sip, and continued the previous topic: \"President Anjiu, my name is Akiwara Yuto. My purpose for coming today is to self-publish a book. Could you please briefly explain the relevant services of your publishing house?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he was very polite in his speech, Akiwara Yuto still felt a bit skeptical about the capabilities of this publishing house in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he hadn't expected that the unremarkable man before him was the president of the publishing house, and looking around along the way, there were hardly any employees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, asking the other party to repeat the relevant services of the publishing house was also a disguised test. If the other party couldn't explain this clearly, even with Imamura Yuto's recommendation, he would turn around and leave immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Anjiu Jin Gangyi heard the name Akiwara Yuto, he felt it sounded a bit familiar for a moment, but he didn't pay much attention to it. After all, the most important thing now was to do business well; given the current operating situation of the publishing house, every bit of extra money earned was worth it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took a sip of tea and began to explain everything in detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After more than 20 minutes, Akiwara Yuto had heard almost everything the other party had to say and found that it was not much different from what he had learned from Imamura Yuto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he still didn't fully believe it, so he politely asked, \"President Anjiu, have others self-published books at your company before? Could you show me some samples?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this request, Anjiu Jin Gangyi's expression became strange for a moment. Just as Akiwara Yuto wondered if he had said something wrong, Anjiu Jin Gangyi added, \"About half of the books displayed in the bookstore downstairs are.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but complain to himself. No wonder there were no customers in the bookstore downstairs except for children; it turned out to be the books themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he also felt relieved. He had flipped through quite a few books just now and found that there was nothing wrong with them; at least the print quality and such could be guaranteed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anjiu Jin Gangyi took a sip of tea and continued to ask, \"Akiwara-san, how many characters is the work you want to publish, what are your requirements for the paper size, how many copies will be printed, and do you have any requirements for the cover?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"150,000 characters, 32-mo size, 30,000 copies. As for the cover...\" Akiwara Yuto pondered for a moment, recalling *The Devotion of Suspect X* he had seen in his previous life, and said, \"Just use a basic gray-black background tone, and put the book title and author's name on it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the number \"30,000 copies,\" Anjiu Jin Gangyi became excited. This was a big client!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately opened a drawer, took out a small calculator, and started pressing the buttons. After estimating for a long time, he finally gave a quote.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-san, do you think 7.8 million yen is acceptable? It includes plate making, printing, and paper costs. If it's okay, I'll have someone draft the contract.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto agreed and asked for a detailed breakdown of the costs. Although this cost was even lower than what Imamura Yuto had told him, he didn't intend to sign the contract immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planned to wait until he got the contract from the other party, then go find more publishing houses to make a comprehensive comparison, and then go to a law firm to see if there were any legal traps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, having experienced a series of encounters at Mantan Society, he was now cautious in everything he did, feeling that one should think thrice before acting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One shouldn't fear failure, but what one should fear is failing to learn a lesson from the same failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, he still had to make a trip to the bank to consult about copyright loan services—he planned to borrow 6 million yen. It wasn't a large sum, so it shouldn't be hard to get approved, right?\u003C\u002Fp>",1457,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","311fb95abf0cf16fd9511d458b5629aa9c50c3804352297f9013beada781622c","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-86","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-84",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]