I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 79: Teacher Beichuan doesn't seem to be panicking at all, let the bullets fly for a while! (3?, start reversal)
As his future money was concerned, Kitagawa Hideya didn't care about the cafe and directly handed all the work to the employees of the celebration company. He got into the luxury business car driven by driver Kinoshita and went straight to the new headquarters of Kawaide Shobo.

Although it is the weekend when there is no work, the company is still crowded with employees inside and outside. Everyone seems to have reached a silent agreement that I must work overtime on Mr. Kitagawa’s new book today!
Kitagawa Hide entered the elevator under the guidance of the receptionist and soon arrived at the editorial department of "Wenyi".

The editorial office was dead silent and everyone was forcing themselves to smile.

They had imagined ten thousand scenarios for the release of No Longer Human, but they had never considered the possibility that the book would be unsold on the afternoon of the first day.

"Teacher Kitagawa, why are you here?"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Kitagawa."

"Teacher Kitagawa, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Saito is in the data analysis room. I'll take you there!" Saito Rena's little assistant came over and made a "please" gesture, motioning Kitagawa Hide to follow her.

The editors in the editorial department continued to whisper to each other. They were all people who had read the previous part of "No Longer Human". To be honest, just the part they saw that day was enough to make this book a masterpiece!
There’s no reason why it should be unsalable!

"Mr. Kitagawa doesn't seem to be panicked at all. Should I say he is worthy of being the best new writer this year? If it were me, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to say a word right now."

An editor whispered to a colleague.

After all, President Kawade seemed to have spent a huge amount of money to "dig" Mr. Kitagawa from Kodansha, and he resolutely decided to publish a hardcover paperback edition of "No Longer Human" when the specific details of the book were still unknown!
Now everyone in the industry, especially Kitagawa's former employer Kodansha, is keeping a close eye on this book "No Longer Human".

It is no exaggeration to say that it was President Kawaide who closely linked the fate of Kawaide Shobo and Sensei Kitagawa!
Under such heavy pressure, Mr. Kitagawa was not panicked at all even though the opening score was not good?

"Everyone seems to be a little worried about the slow sales?" Before entering the data analysis room, Kitagawa Hide suddenly stopped and turned to the editors of the "Wenyi" editorial department and said.

In fact, on the way to Hechu Study, Kitagawa Hide had figured out the reason for the poor sales.

"Please don't worry too much. I have full confidence in No Longer Human. If you are really worried, I suggest you finish reading it first and then calm down and think about it for a while."

Kitagawa Hide added,
"I guess you haven't had time to finish watching it yet?"

The editors all glanced at "No Longer Human" placed on the corner of the table.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, major bookstores officially started selling "No Longer Human". From then on, they all sat here nervously and anxiously waiting for the sales data. During this period, colleagues from various departments shuttled back and forth, and everyone was so busy that they really hadn't read the book carefully yet.

After watching Kitagawa Hide enter the data analysis room, the editors couldn't help but reach out and pick up the book "No Longer Human" and began to read it.

The entire office area suddenly became extremely quiet, with only the rustling sound of pages turning.

Data analysis room.

"Kitagawa, you're here." Saito Rena had dark circles under her eyes and a swollen face again, but it was obviously much better than when she was at Kodansha.

She stood next to a whiteboard covered with various sketches, data analysis tables, and densely written words.

"Good afternoon, President Saito Kawaide? Why are you here too?" Kitagawa Hide pulled out a chair and sat down, and found that Kawaide Shizuko, who was wearing a black OL suit, was also there.

Shizuko Kawaide said "hmm" and lowered her head to continue looking at the data report in her hand.

"The first-print day sales are so important to the future of a book that we usually work overtime on that day to analyze the sales data sent by major bookstores."

Saito Reina let out a breath, pushed a stack of data sheets in front of Kitagawa Hide, and explained the current situation to him seriously.

"Here are the sales data sheets that were recently sent in from 126 cooperating bookstores in the Tokyo area. These are bookstores in the city, these are near the city, and these are in the suburbs. They are all detailed sales data for different time periods. Oh, and here are also the purchase data of VIP customers of bookstores. It would be great if I could get the data of the first day of publication of "Hear the Wind Sing"."

Kitagawa Hide took the data sheets and looked at them. He couldn't help but admire the systematization and professionalism of the Japanese publishing industry in this area.

No wonder Japanese companies can achieve perfection in everything from TV shows to movies and variety shows to books and comics, especially the top companies in the industry, which have been standing firm in the industry like evergreen trees.

This is the root of the problem.

Their attitude towards the company's business is extremely harsh.

This is probably why, despite the seniority system and lifetime employment system, Japanese corporate slaves still experience tremendous pressure and a very high suicide rate.

In this kind of high-pressure working environment, you can't get a moment's respite at all. If you relax for a while, countless people will replace you.

Kitagawa Hide can understand the feelings of Kawaide Shizuko and Saito Reina. One of them chose himself despite the pressure of the family and the fate of the company, which is equivalent to putting all the chips for the second half of the year on the book "No Longer Human";
The other one jumped over and was eager to prove his ability with a perfect success.

On the contrary, Kitagawa Hide, who everyone thought was under the most pressure, became the one with the most stable mentality.

When he first got on the car, he was a little nervous, fearing that "No Longer Human" would not be accepted by Japanese readers in this world.

But when I thought about the success of the "Youth Trilogy" and the comments of Saito Rena and others on the first draft of "No Longer Human", this worry naturally disappeared.

He pushed away all the data sheets, and this action immediately caught the attention of Shizuko Kawaide.

"Teacher Kitagawa, have you found the reason for the poor sales?" Kawaide Shizuko still looked at him calmly, but in fact she was already very panicked.

She is aware of her poor aesthetic ability, so she never uses her own judgment to determine whether a book is good or bad, but instead firmly relies on "data".

This style of behavior, coupled with her usual icy image in the company, once made the company's employees think that her, the acting president, was an out-and-out "robot workaholic."

Her success gradually set off a trend in Wen Yi that emphasized data and used data as a benchmark to guide authors. The only person who made her not care about data was Kitagawa Hide.

Mr. Kitagawa's book is the only truth for her. Even at this moment, she is still trying to find "irrational" factors in the data instead of denying Kitagawa Hide's book.

"Yes." Kitagawa Hide pushed all those messy data aside and told them in the simplest and most straightforward words, "I think the reason for the slow sales is very simple. First, I moved from Kodansha to Kawaide Shobo, which inevitably caused some readers to be confused; second, the readers who have bought "No Longer Human" now must have discovered that my style has changed dramatically."

"From the initial 'Kitagawa Hidefu' which was based on youthful romance to the current absurd critical style of 'No Longer Human', even if there was some preheating, it was still difficult to accept for a while."

"The third and most important reason is that only after reading No Longer Human can people feel the charm of the whole book. The tone of the book determines that it is destined not to be as popular as Hear the Wind Sing in the past few days, but as time goes by, with the continuous recommendation of old readers, it will become more and more popular."

In short, Kitagawa Hide actually wrote an anti-market book.

"No Longer Human" may be more contrary to the current market than they imagined.

It is not the kind of serious novel that is common in Japanese literary circles, which is lofty and critical of society.

Rather, it is a true critical novel that is rooted in the underground and can resonate with every grassroots reader.

This means that it must spread among the main population over a certain period of time.

Kitagawa Hideya figured this out when he came.

When "No Longer Human" was first released in 1948, Japan was in the period of defeat after its surrender. The whole nation was in decadence, and the entire literary world was filled with this kind of novel, so it quickly followed the trend and fermented.

After that, it actually sold quite well.

The reason why it sold an astonishing 1200 million copies in its original history was mainly because it was continuously spread by old readers. The core values ​​of the book were extracted, accepted, and resonated with by more and more people, thus triggering another wave of hot sales.

Its third wave of hot sales came during the era of the rise of the Internet.

The phrase "I'm sorry for being born as a human being" has become the ultimate representative of the "sorrowful culture circle". It became popular with just one sentence and its sales exploded again.

Saito Rena, who had calmed down at this time, felt a little ashamed.

She was obviously the deputy editor-in-chief in charge of this project, but after the incident, she chose to find Kitagawa Hide to solve her confusion as soon as possible, instead of actively looking for answers herself and cheering up her colleagues outside.

After hearing his reasons, the two of them suddenly understood.

Shizuko Kawaide also threw the data sheet in her hand aside and nodded, saying, "I believe in Mr. Kitagawa's judgment. As for the distribution department, I will continue to print more copies in the next few days according to the established plan, and strive to fill the shelves of all bookstores in Tokyo with "No Longer Human" within a week!"

"Thank you, President Kawaide." Kitagawa Hide smiled and nodded to her.

If it were Kodansha at that time, they would probably start considering reducing the amount of printing.

At Kawaide Shobo, although such a strange situation occurred on the first day of reading, Kawaide Shizuko did not question Kitagawa Hide, but stood firmly on his side.

Just as she said when she signed the contract, if any disagreement arises, she will always follow Kitagawa Hide!

After calming the emotions here, Kitagawa Hide and Saito Rena walked out of the office area together. When they passed the editorial department, the editors who were anxious just now were now immersed in the story of "No Longer Human". However, from their painful and tangled expressions, it was not difficult to tell that they would probably not be able to sleep for several days.

As Kitagawa Hide said, this is a book that needs time to ferment, to be slowly experienced, and then to spread through the redeemed people.

Let the bullets fly for a while!

Everything will be settled!
"Beichuan, I'm sorry. You are the one who is most worried. I shouldn't cause you trouble at this time."

When Saito Reina saw him out, she bowed 90 degrees.

As an editor, she panicked at the critical moment, but was comforted by her own author. She wished she could find a hole to crawl into.

"It's okay. I might be even more anxious in your position." Beichuan Xiu waved his hand. "If there is nothing else, I will go back first. You must come to the opening day next week."

"I definitely want to!" Saito Reina clenched her fists, nodded heavily, and then suddenly called out to him, "Kitagawa!"

"Ok?"

Kitagawa Hide looked back at her.

"The book will definitely sell well, right?" Saito Rena asked in a low voice.

Damn that feeling of uneasiness.

"Of course I will! I have confidence in myself!" Kitagawa Hide responded with a brilliant smile.

Just like when he first learned that his competitor was Yomiuri Okamoto.

Seeing his smile, Saito Rena suddenly felt confidence surge up like a tide.

(End of this chapter)