[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-91":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},2354940,4607,"Chapter 91: Channels and Promotion","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-91",91,"\u003Cp>Seeing that Akutsu Goichi agreed, Akiwara Yuto smiled, but just as he prepared to take out the standard contract provided by the law firm, Akutsu Goichi said something else that left him astonished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-san, although I agree to accept your terms, I request that the 5% royalty be changed to 8%.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto frowned, \"President Akutsu, I believe the figure of 5% is already within a quite reasonable range.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was not lying about this; the 5% figure sounded small, but it was calculated based on total sales revenue, not merely on net profit. Furthermore, in addition to this fee, Akiwara Yuto still needed to pay the deferred payment costs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi took a sip of tea and then said unhurriedly, \"Akiwara-san, as for the extra 3%, it is actually for your own good.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused here, then added, \"May I ask if you have any understanding of the distribution system in the Japanese publishing industry, Akiwara-san?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto did not expect to hear this response and was somewhat surprised for a moment, but he still politely replied, \"Please, go ahead and explain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before this, Akiwara Yuto's work had only been submitting manuscripts to the *New Novel* editorial department every week; as for subsequent distribution, he had never been in contact with it, so he was truly in the dark regarding this aspect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi set down the teacup in his hand and began to explain. Through his explanation, Akiwara Yuto learned about the book distribution model of Akutsu Bookstore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Generally speaking, there are two main book distribution models: direct sales and consignment sales. The former involves the publisher providing a book list directly to the bookstore, with the bookstore placing orders and the publisher being responsible for delivery. The latter involves providing books to a distributor (book agency), which purchases them first and then sells them in batches to bookstores in various regions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, regardless of the model, as long as the sales of the books at the bookstore are unsatisfactory, the bookstore can initiate returns and demand that the publisher refund the corresponding book purchase payments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto quickly realized that this extra 3% might be related to distribution, so he asked, \"President Akutsu, please tell me your plan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi coughed lightly and then said, \"Akiwara-san, have you ever thought that without additional promotion, even if this batch of books is printed, it might only...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Only?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Only be stocked in small quantities by bookstores and distributors, and after being stocked, be stuck on the bookstore shelves. At that point, it is very likely to be ignored by readers, thus failing to sell for a long time and ending up with the fate of being returned.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto was stunned. He had originally thought that as long as he could write the masterpieces from his past life, they would sell as well as they did then; he hadn't expected there to be so many complications involved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after thinking for a while, he found that what this President Akutsu said was not without reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, when Keigo Higashino wrote *The Devotion of Suspect X*, he had already published many works such as *Journey Under the Midnight Sun* and *After School*, and had won the Edogawa Rampo Prize and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, the other party already had considerable fame in the literary world and had a group of very loyal fans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On these foundations, the large publishing houses he collaborated with further promoted it, which resulted in the work's sales exceeding one million copies and gaining a good reputation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto thought for a while and soon made up his mind, asking, \"President Akutsu, I understand what you mean; this extra 3% is an additional item for promotion, right? But I would like to ask you, what is your plan?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this question sounded a bit amateurish, he had to ask clearly to avoid being cheated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi smiled and explained the plan: in addition to the 8.5 million yen for the initial production and distribution of the books, Akutsu Bookstore would provide an additional 7 million yen. Of this, 2 million yen would be used to open up direct sales channels with bookstores, including poster printing and the production of trial reading booklets; 4 million yen would be provided as a guarantee deposit to distributors to encourage them to stock more copies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was still a bit puzzled: \"Then what about the remaining 1 million yen?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It will be used to invite a specialized design company to remake the book cover,\" Akutsu Goichi said solemnly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto said, \"President Akutsu, wouldn't it be fine to just use the simplest black-gray background as the book cover?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, he had seen both the Chinese and Japanese editions of *The Devotion of Suspect X* in bookstores and found that the Japanese version had a black background with white text, while the Chinese version had a gray background with white text.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This proved that even the simplest monochromatic cover would not affect the book's sales.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi shook his head and asked a question: \"Akiwara-san, do you know what the main purpose of a monochromatic cover is?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I would like to hear your explanation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi replied, \"It is to highlight the work and the author's name. Therefore, if you were a popular author, Akiwara-san, I would naturally be willing to adopt this proposal, but...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, an awkward smile appeared on Akiwara Yuto's face; didn't this mean he wasn't very famous?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had a mind to explain that he was called a \"genius writer\" by some critics, but he felt that would be self-aggrandizing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto struggled for a while but still agreed to the 1 million yen cover production requirement. Mainly, he had his own considerations, feeling that the cover of the Japanese version of *Suspect X* he had seen in his past life was a bit ugly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, perhaps changing the cover would help it sell better?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the two parties reached a consensus, they left Akutsu Bookstore and headed to the Kitaoka Law Firm to sign the contract. In the contract, in addition to the 8% sales royalty, the extra promotional expenses and cover production costs that Akutsu Bookstore had to pay were also stipulated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking out of the law firm's door, Akutsu Goichi looked at the contract in his hand with mixed feelings. After all, for him, this was no less than a high-stakes gamble; if his judgment was wrong, Akutsu Bookstore would lose at least ten million yen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he hoped his decision this time was correct!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Akiwara Yuto looked at the traffic on the road outside and thought about other aspects: speaking of promotion, should he find some book critics to help promote it? But how could he move these critics?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he was no longer publishing works in *New Novel*, and he lacked the backing of a big tree like the Mantan Society, which meant he lacked a direct channel to newspapers and other media.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Akutsu Goichi stepped forward, patted Akiwara Yuto on the shoulder, and asked, \"Akiwara-san, I will address you as Teacher Akiwara from now on. Do you have time the day after tomorrow morning?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto didn't mind the address and instead asked, \"I am free, but may I ask what is the matter?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Teacher Akiwara, in order to design a better cover, please accompany me to the design studio.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded. Even if the other party hadn't mentioned it, he would have brought it up himself; after all, as the author, he still hoped the designed cover would be to his liking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Come to think of it, with the era, target audience, and promotional methods of this version of *Suspect X* being different from his past life, could it still be a big hit?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He watched the sunset falling in the distance and couldn't help but ponder this question...\u003C\u002Fp>",1333,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","938c6935e968b26dd015e17b6a4b9b13790e888bd8f4973d8cabdefb7073d597","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-92","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-90",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]