Tokyo Girlfriend Illustrated Book

Chapter 539 The charm that has nowhere to be placed

Hojo Kyousuke raised his eyelids and counted the number of people in the venue, fifty-six, five more than the information Kisaki gave him.

Among them, the most familiar one is Kinokuniya Bookstore, which he has worked with several times. Naturally, such large chain bookstores cannot be visited by the company president in person, but by department employees who are responsible for purchasing new books. In addition, some small bookstores The identity of the shopkeepers is not simple. They are usually representatives of regional bookstore federations.

Yes, with all the neon signs everywhere, how could a bookstore not have an association? Although most associations have changed their original intentions after their establishment, from uniting to protect everyone's interests to squeezing the bottom to protect the interests of the boss, it is undeniable that the existence of associations is still beneficial.

For example, when purchasing new books, if it is a small and unknown bookstore, it will suffer a little loss in terms of profit distribution with the publishing house. The general situation is that the author gets 10% of the royalties, the publisher and the bookstore distributor each get 40%, and the remaining 10% is the distribution fee. For someone like Hojo Kyosuke with a royalty rate of 15, his share needs to be squeezed out from other places. The same is true for small bookstores. If there is no association to help negotiate with the publishing house, they can only get it from the publishing house or distributor at a high purchase price.

If you join the association, you can even take advantage of the publishing house, such as various peripherals, or ask writers to hold book signings. However, these benefits are not available to general members in bookstores. For example, for Hojo Kyosuke’s last book signing, he basically went to the store of the association president or committee member.

To sum up, the big store bullies the company, and the big society bullies the store. The publishing house depends on the bookstore for payment, and the bookstore relies on the publishing house to supply new books. Both parties want to make more money, so it depends on who has the bigger fist and who is easier to bully.

Therefore, although there are only more than fifty people in the conference room, as long as they are dealt with, almost all of the first printing of 500,000 copies can be digested. In addition to the association representatives who will confirm the quantity on the spot, the bookstores behind them only need to be contacted by the publisher and will report the quantity as usual.

The bookstore owners greeted Hojo Kyosuke enthusiastically, and Hojo Kyosuke responded enthusiastically. Not only could he call out each other's names, but he would also care to ask how the clerk he met last time in the bookstore was doing. Although I cannot say that he is approachable, at least he is like a close friend. His familiar demeanor made even the shopkeepers who were accustomed to false politeness a little stunned and began to wonder if they were really that familiar with this Hojo teacher?

"Ah, Amamiya Xie was promoted. Congratulations. I have to make up for the promotion gift later. I have taken too much care of her in the past few times..."

Hojo Kyosuke held the hand of a man in a gray suit and spoke in a friendly tone.

In just a few minutes, he had become the center of everyone's attention. His superior memory and excellent social skills made everyone present admire him. Those who had interacted with him in the past were satisfied with their vanity and felt that they were indeed not a small role. It had never been so long before Mr. Hojo still remembered him. alone? The bookstore owners who met him for the first time were conquered by the witty words of this writer who was not silent at all, and they began to think about how to persuade him to hold a book signing in their bookstore.

Writers are obviously a polarized group. Some are taciturn and extremely sociophobic, which makes people wonder whether the perverted murderers in his novels are based on themselves. Some people are eager to stand in the spotlight and will talk about it in newspapers and media as soon as any social hot spots arise. If the personalities of writers from other countries are faithfully reflected in their works, then the personalities of neon writers are faithfully reflected in their suicides.

There are those who take a lot of sleeping pills on a gloomy rainy day and quietly go to death, achieving endless life through silent death. There are also cases where the person was chopped three times after being disemboweled but failed to cut off the head. The writer who wrote the drama ended up dying like a drama.

The tastes of the public are ever-changing, and you can find reasons to like them no matter what. As businessmen, bookstore owners naturally prefer the styles of social elites like Hojo Kyosuke.

Even if he has not read the novel and does not understand the content at all, just by getting along with Hojo Kyosuke, a bookstore owner has a curiosity in his heart: "What kind of works will such an outstanding person write?"

His gorgeous appearance may let him down, but he looks good! Don’t you see, those contents are nonsense. A book with an incomprehensible title and then marketing the author’s persona can also deceive a lot of fools. What bookstore owners want is not how profound the content of the book is, but how popular it is.

In just a short while, without even mentioning a word in the novel, Hojo Kyosuke used his strong personality to provide strong confidence to bookstore owners and distributors. Several of them had already stated their order quantities and promised that they would definitely buy them. Put it in the most conspicuous place.

Tetsuta Kisaki stood in a corner of the hall, looking at his elder brother with eyes filled with pride. This is the person he has chosen to follow his whole life! Powerful in all directions without blind spots! No matter how impossible it is, he can accomplish it easily.

If Tetsuta Kisaki had done it himself, the whole thing would have been completely different.

First, cut off the head of Kurokawa Toyoma's puppy and place it on his bedside. When the other party is still in shock, give him a new puppy. Repeat this again and again, directly tying the fear of death to the other party's neck. . The promotion of bookstores is even simpler. Just send out the hundreds of people under your command, stuff a few boxes of books into each bookstore, stand guard at the door, and ask everyone who enters the store to buy one.

"Don't I know the works of Mr. Hojo if others don't know them? Let alone the new generation, I don't think there has been a better writer than you in the past twenty years!"

A somewhat down-to-earth shopkeeper, he was already blushing at Hojo Kyousuke's few nice words without leaving a trace.

"Haha, you're overestimating me. I still have a lot to learn." Hojo Kyosuke, who was walking towards the speaker's seat, stopped, turned around, and bowed slightly to express his thanks.

Today's publishing houses are in a hurry. Not only the employees are in a hurry, but even the promotion meetings are also in a hurry. What the people in the audience were holding in their hands were not even finished novels, but crude products bound with printing paper. But this did not affect the lively atmosphere of the promotion meeting at all. As soon as Hojo Kyosuke stood on the stage, the people below began to applaud enthusiastically.

Hojo Kyosuke smiled and bowed to express his thanks. He had never experienced such a thing, but he knew that no matter it was a promotion meeting or something else, the word "human" cannot escape everything in this society. And when it comes to dealing with people, no one is better than him. There is no reason why someone who can handle a group of women with ease should not be able to handle a group of men.

After the scene calmed down, he briefly introduced the content of the novel. Although he had already sent the sample to the people below, he estimated that most people still hadn't read it. This kind of promotion meeting is also a time for major shop owners to gather. , they are more interested in connecting with each other than new books. After that, he talked about the original intention of the creation and several interesting plots and characters. His words were humorous, and there were rounds of applause from time to time. It was obvious that everyone enjoyed listening.

In a joyful atmosphere, following Akimatsu Yuki's greeting, an employee from a publishing house came in with a stack of forms and distributed them to bookstore owners one after another. This was to write down the order quantity.

Anyway, you can still withdraw from the publishing house if you can't sell all the items in the end, but if you return too many items, the money you make won't be as much as the cost of returning them.

The simple shopkeeper who just spoke was about to fill in the numbers without thinking, but at this moment he heard someone speaking again.

"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Hojo, I would like to ask." A man in a black and gray suit raised his hand.

"This is Mr. Yanohara from Shimayama Bookstore, please tell me."

Hojo Kyousuke's smile did not change after he was interrupted. Although everyone knew that anyone who jumped out to speak when the atmosphere was just right was definitely trying to cause trouble, his attitude remained gentle.

The bookstore owners turned around and saw that it was Mr. Nobashi Yanohara. This gentleman has always been a decent man. When everyone was chatting just now, he was one of the people who lowered his head and concentrated on reading. As the headquarters of Neon's fourth largest bookstore chain As a cadre, he has extremely strict requirements on the quality of novels.

In the past, when everyone attended promotion meetings, there were often writers who were left speechless by his questions. Even if a publishing house tried to smooth things over, there were even cases where they attended a promotion meeting but did not order a single book. This is called a miracle in the publishing industry. A strange flower. But equally, his performance is also terrifying. As long as he approves and signs the order, not to mention that all the books will be sold out, at least they will be on the bestseller list.

Thinking of this, the simple shop owner who had just filled in the name of the bookstore and wanted to fill in two thousand in the quantity column stopped writing and wanted to listen to what this senior had to say.

Hojo Kyousuke's personality charm is terrifying. Everyone here is a master of air reading. Even if the level is lower, at least they know how to follow others. Yanohara Noboshi who dares to raise his hand to speak is obviously not an ordinary person, but he is such a person. Watching When he saw Mr. Hojo's friendly smile on the stage, a hint of hesitation appeared on his serious face, and his mind couldn't help but think of the scene of his cordial conversation with Mr. Hojo.

But this serious man still took on the posture of a cadre of a large bookstore chain and asked with a straight face:

"Teacher Hojo, as far as I know you are the favorite to win this Neon Mystery Writers Association Award. At such a critical moment, would you choose to publish such a work, and most importantly, in such a hurry?"

As he spoke, he picked up the draft-like manuscript in his hand and gestured. As he spoke, his tone became more severe:

"With all due respect, this is just like a Molotov cocktail rushed out in a critical moment."

Molotov cocktail? What a wonderful and apt description. Hojo Kyosuke felt happy.

Yes, won’t such content cause dissatisfaction from the association? Aren't you afraid of the impact on winning awards? Why such a rush? Why not publish it after the official award? Shouldn’t it be easier to sell more with the momentum of winning an award?

Many of the people here came here because of the terrifying sales volume of Hojo Kyosuke's previous book and his reputation as the winner of the award. At this time, Nobashi Yanohara reminded him that it was like taking an antidote. From the humanoid aphrodisiac Hojo Kyosuke As if being freed from the charm of his personality, a bunch of questions suddenly popped up in his head.

"Yes, Mr. Hojo, I came here originally to ask about the arrangements for subsequent reprints if "The Devotion of Suspect Asked aloud.

The smile on Akamatsu Yuki's face, who was standing next to the podium, disappeared. He took a step forward and wanted to help his writer out, but was quietly held back by Tetsuta Kisaki on the side.

What are you doing?

Kisaki Tetsuta's eyes were unhappy, but it was not Mr. Yanohara who was asking questions in the audience, but the editor Akamatsu next to him.

Want to steal big brother's limelight? Don’t you know that the more critical moments like this, the more the personality charm of my aniki will be revealed? Just stand aside and watch and learn from me obediently. Your only mission is to give me respectful gazes and warm applause!

Looking at her elder brother who seemed to be overwhelmed by questions, Qisaki didn't feel the least bit worried because...

Everything is in Big Brother’s calculations!

The smile on Hojo Kyosuke's face remained unchanged, and he raised his hand to signal for silence.

"Why did you choose to release it at such a time? Why didn't you wait until after winning the award? There are many reasons, the most important one is my uncontrollable desire to talk. Such a story appeared in my mind, and I couldn't control it. I can’t help but want to share him with the world!

Because of my willfulness, I have caused a lot of trouble to editor Akamatsu and everyone at the publishing house. I must thank everyone for their support. "

Hojo Kyosuke talked about a few small things he saw at the publishing house at noon today to liven up the atmosphere. Seeing that Mr. Yanohara was still standing motionless, he knew that his answer would not satisfy the other party. But it doesn't matter, he knows what the other person really cares about.

"Everyone, please take a look." He raised his hand and motioned for Xisaki to come forward and operate the projector.

The simple store manager raised his head and saw two reports appearing on the big screen.

"I know that everyone is concerned about whether I can win the award. I believe everyone is familiar with Toyoma Kurokawa and Hiroyuki Naganuma. These two are elders in the association who take good care of me. I can write this novel It’s also thanks to the guidance of two teachers.”

Hojo Kyosuke smiled. The two reports on the screen couldn't be called reports at all. They were completely praises of him. Yesterday's efforts were not in vain. The two judges were not only frightened by him, but also swayed by his flexible collection. Fangjian even turned into a well-behaved puppy, taking the initiative to do things without him having to say anything. It had only been so little time and she had already expressed her love for him in the magazine.

Mr. Yanohara frowned slightly and quickly read the report on the screen with concentration. His expression became weirder the more he read.

If he remembered correctly, Mr. Kurokawa had criticized Mr. Hojo in the newspaper three days ago, writing a long article, which probably meant that Mr. Hojo was a complete worm in the world of mystery novels. If he didn't get kicked out, If so, something bad will happen.

Why now...

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