Society fears that young people don’t want to be literary godfathers

With this atmosphere and tone, maybe Kurihara Saki would have to stand up and offer a toast to them both.

Fortunately, the courtesy did not last long. After only half a minute, the young man and the middle-aged man took their seats and resumed their original expressions and demeanor.

"Cough cough......"

After taking a few sips of coffee, Miki Kazuma's smile faded, and his expression returned to his usual working mode at this moment.

He just looked at the talented newcomer in front of him and said seriously:

"Okay, that's the end of the joke... All in all, I hope you can pay more attention to light novels, Ali. After all, the popularity of "Zero - Starting Life in Another World" is soaring now. At the same time, maintaining stable updates can stimulate readers' activity and topicality, and can also better promote mutual benefit and win-win results - so I am talking, what are you doing with your mobile phone?"

"I'm typing on my phone because you were urging me to finish my manuscript."

"........"

Looking at Mochizuki, who behaved in an abstract manner, Miki Kazuma, who was still a little angry, suddenly didn't know what to say.

"..........Okay, okay."

Gently pulling down Mochizuki's cell phone, which was typing in characters, Miki Kazuma's voice was a little strained:

"I'll wait until I get back to write the code... I'm not just meeting you for coffee this time just to rush the manuscript, don't get me wrong."

"Ah...so you didn't come here this time to urge me on my manuscript?"

Mochizuki held his chin blankly for a long time before snapping his fingers like a flash of inspiration:

"Since it's not just about pressing the manuscript, does it mean that I can stay at home for a few more days to rest?"

"you dare?"

"...I will try my best to finish it."

The library president has a natural suppression of light novel authors, so Ali had no choice but to bow his head and admit his mistake——

Of course...after all, there seemed to be some important information in the words of the president sitting opposite him. After bowing his head to admit his mistake for three seconds, Mochizuki raised his head slightly with some curiosity:

"...Well, since it's not a deadline, would you like to ask President Miki to invite me here for coffee? Is there really something special going on?"

"Humph, this is a big event."

"...President Miki wants to send me a succubus?"

"?"

"Sorry, I was joking."

"roll."

After flicking Mochizuki, who was still talking seriously, Miki Kazuma was somewhat embarrassed by this sultry young man who seemed a little shy at first, but became more and more uncomfortable after getting to know him better:

"Can you fill your abstract mind with normal things... What I want to tell you is obviously the follow-up plan for "Restarting Life in Another World from Zero"."

"Oh... What are your follow-up plans?"

Hearing Miki Kazuma's words, Mochizuki couldn't help but be slightly startled, but then his expression lit up unconsciously:

"Wait... Is it possible that the follow-up plan for the light novel is——"

"Yes."

Seeing that Mochizuki's expression finally changed, and her mouth no longer burst out some embarrassing words, seeing that the time was finally ripe, Miki Kazuma then, like magic, handed over a stack of freshly baked information. Watching the Moon:

""Zero - Starting Life in Another World" is going to be animated."

...........

When did Japanese animation begin to animate a large number of light novels... This may be traced back to the time when the magician was teased 20 years ago.

To put it simply, animation makes no money at all or even loses money.After all, watching animation itself is theoretically free - so the IP must be cashed out in places other than animation, and then invested in animation to expand its influence, thus driving sales of the original work.

The cost of creating light novels is much lower than that of comics. There is no need to buy painting tools, learn art, or have assistants. A writer can just write at home. Therefore, the publisher has accumulated a large amount of IP, which can be discounted and invested in On animation.

As for the two-dimensional animation industry, making money mainly depends on selling characters.

The power of this business model was proven decades ago by Show Magician. Various distinctive characters under this IP, the wave of voice idolization during Hayashihara Emi's period, voice actor CDs, character songs, advertisements, overseas income, concerts, etc. The external promotional elements, etc., created unparalleled commercial results - so the major publishing houses came forward directly after smelling the smell, and adapted the numerous light novel IPs into animations, which directly led to the prosperity of the entire industry. and development.

It can be said that the animation is the foundation for the IP industry chain of a popular light novel. If the animation effect is successful enough, "Life in Another World from Zero" will also bring considerable benefits to Mochizuki and Chichi Bunko. fame and great wealth——

It is precisely because of this that Miki Kazuma, the president of Zhichi Bunko, takes this matter very seriously:

"...I must say that although your novel is indeed very underworld, very abstract, and very subversive of my understanding of otherworld light novels, at least you have not forgotten your roots and left some behind." It has cute female characters and some elements that are very relevant to the market, so if it were animated, I think the benefits would be pretty good.”

"of course."

Mochizuki was expressionless, but he politely helped the middle-aged president make a cup of coffee, highlighting the legacy of the wine table:

"Because the female characters in "re0" really poke my XP system, I still have to leave some room for self-satisfaction."

"Fortunately, you still have some Two-dimensional elements, otherwise it would be difficult for me."

Gently stirring the coffee mixed with milk, the legendary editor in the light novel industry also slowly spoke at this moment:

"All in all, the progress is going very well now. I have also helped you negotiate an animation company that can adapt it - have you heard about the White Fox Club?"

"...White Fox Club?"

Hearing this familiar name, Mochizuki couldn't help but be slightly startled.

WHITEFOX, the official name of WHITEFOX (full Japanese name: ホワイトフォックス Co., Ltd.), is a Japanese company independently founded by producer Iwasa Gaku that focuses on animation planning and production. Its employees include "The Legend of Monopoly" launched in the early 21st century. main production staff.It is said that the company's economic situation does not seem to be optimistic, but its cooking skills have always been outstanding, and it has also launched many familiar masterpieces. It is regarded as a superhuman existence by a considerable number of viewers——

In the original world, White Fox Club is also responsible for the adaptation of "Zero - Starting Life in Another World". With the super power and the enthusiasm of the entire production team, this light novel adaptation shows a very strong quality. With limited funds, it has achieved [-]% effect, and it has become a classic in the eyes of many people that is not to be missed in other world dramas.

.......In this world, is the White Fox Club still responsible for "Zero - Starting Life in Another World"?

Silently holding his chin, the young man thought thoughtfully.

"What's wrong? Do you think this company is not good enough?"

Seeing Mochizuki's expression, I thought this little guy was a little dissatisfied with the animation company. Miki Kazuma said quickly:

"Okay, don't choose like that. As a new library, we have limited funds and can't find a particularly large animation company to help produce animations, so choosing Baihu Club is a choice based on the actual situation. Although he seems to have nothing Money, many works sometimes seem very poor, but all the members of this production team are full of energy for "re0". Seeing that the quality of their production is stable enough and they also like your work quite a lot, I think This cooperation can at least be considered. As for adaptation, the most important thing is actually the intention. Sometimes it doesn’t mean you can’t do it if you have more money, and it doesn’t mean you can’t create good enough works if you don’t have enough funds. So, I think you can do more Thinking about it, I think White Fox Club is really good—"

"...I think it's good too."

Lifting his chin and looking at President Miki sitting opposite him, Mochizuki said:

"Why don't we just settle it like this? I'll rest assured if the White Fox Club is responsible - after all, I'm also a fan of theirs."

"?"

Seeing Mochizuki thinking for a moment and suddenly speaking like this, Miki Kazuma's expression couldn't help but be a little dazed.

"Wait, wait a minute."

Some people did not follow the boy's thoughts, and thought that Mochizuki's silence just now was because President Miki was not satisfied with the White Fox Club, and his expression was slightly embarrassed:

"What does this mean? Why did you think of it so quickly? Wait a minute, aren't you just losing your temper? Are you starting to rebel because I spoke for the White Fox Club?"

"...Who does President Miki think I am?"

Seeing this middle-aged man speak like this, Mochizuki couldn't help but narrow his eyes:

"Am I like a child having a tantrum?"

"Aren't you just a child?"

"?"

"Okay, don't be impatient..."

Seeing that Mochizuki's expression seemed to be slightly warmer at this moment, President Miki couldn't help but waved his hand:

"You are a mature and steady adult, so this is all right... Let me confirm again. Are you sure you just confirmed that the White Fox Club will adapt it without giving it a second thought?"

"confirm."

"Are you really not in a mood?"

"I'm really angry when you say that, President Miki."

"Ahem, okay..."

Seeing Mochizuki talking to him so seriously, Miki Kazuma really couldn't say much.

And to be honest... it's actually quite good to agree so readily and directly. At least the follow-up work will be much smoother and a lot of effort will be saved.

"Okay, I don't know what you think, but since you don't have any objections, let's go through the process."

In the night after that, Mochizuki followed Kazuma Miki and went through many of the tasks that the animation author had to do in the early stage.

During this process, he also learned some details about his income after animation.

As a light novel writer, royalties are Mochizuki's main and most fundamental source of income.

In contrast, animation is an additional income for the original author.

Let’s not mention the sales boost brought by the animation’s publicity effect. After all, this is not the income that animation can definitely bring, and it cannot be counted as “how much money can be made by animation.”

Therefore... regardless of the special situation of the original author completely transferring the copyright of the work to the publisher, usually an original author, after his work is animated, can get the following two categories from the animation itself income:

One-time usage fee.

Secondary usage fee.

The one-time royalty means that if the animation producer adapts that work into animation and then premieres it on a TV station (or other platform), the original author must pay money.This amount varies based on the popularity of the work, the medium (e.g. TV and movies will differ), the author's own fame, etc.On a per-episode basis, it can range from tens of thousands of yen/episode to hundreds of thousands of yen/episode, and NHK can give you more.

For example, the one-time usage fee for the TV animation "One Piece" is 30 yen | episode.There will be more movies than TV. The one-time royalties paid for each "One Piece" movie are 100 million yen.But it should be noted that after the original author gets a one-time royalty, it has nothing to do with how much the movie box office earns - although it is somewhat unreasonable and there are voices who disagree with this method, most of the current works are like this model.

Obviously, works of this level like "One Piece" are at the top of the pyramid, and ordinary works obviously cannot get this number.

Of course, the author often does not get all the money, because the publisher is a joint copyright holder, so they will take a little bit of it, leaving about 60% to 80% in the hands of the author.

The second use fee means the second use of the original work.

Although this sentence sounds nonsense at first, if you want to analyze it in depth, it is not that simple.

The one-time usage fee is the cost of broadcasting the original work on a TV station after it is adapted into animation. After this broadcast, if the TV station wants to rebroadcast it, it is called secondary use.

In addition, selling to other TV stations, making CDs, and selling to overseas companies are all typical secondary uses, and the original author must be paid - in this case, the charge is usually based on the sales, and the rate is about 10%. .

For example, if a BD is sold for 7000 yen, then the secondary usage fee is 700 yen.Similarly, the author does not get all of this 10%. The publisher is also a co-author and will share a large portion.The author usually gets 2% or 3%, which is about 140 yen.If you sell 10000 units, you can get 140 million 8 yuan.That's probably how it feels.

To sum up, suppose there is a 12-episode animation adapted from a light novel, and it will be broadcast on TOKYOMX and 23) at 05:22 in the middle of the night. There will be no national coverage of NHK or simultaneous broadcast on 5 TV networks, and there will be no Nico or the like. There are only two terrestrial TV stations on the online platform.So assuming that the author gets 60 yen per episode, the author can get up to 1 yen in one-time royalties for this animation, which is roughly equivalent to the publishing house printing [-] copies of the original work.

After that, BD/DVD was released. The BD was priced at 70008 yen, with a total of 6 volumes, and each volume sold 3000 copies, totaling 18000 copies, with sales of 1.26 million yen; the DVD was priced at 4000 yen, with a total of 6 volumes, and each volume sold 1200 copies. copies, a total of 7200 copies, with sales of 2880 million.The secondary usage fee is calculated based on the author's 3%. The BD income is 378 million and the DVD income is 86.4 yen, totaling 464.4 million yen.

So before and after the animation, the author received 524.4 million yen from the "animation" itself.

"It doesn't sound like a lot of money."

Crossing his hands on his chest, the young man couldn't help but say:

"I feel like it's not as good as making money by shooting special photos... Selling toys."

"...You kid, I said the light novel is being animated, why are you trying to sell me toys?"

Being offended by Mochizuki's abrupt words, Miki Kazuma couldn't help but complain:

"If it's too little, just give me all the money... Really, do you really think you can make hundreds of millions of dollars by writing light novels?"

"I feel like I can't."

"That's not right."

After snapping his fingers, he became more and more familiar with Mochizuki. Miki Kazuma always felt that he and this kid were about to become brothers:

"Be content. The market is only so big. If you can make money, make as much as you can. Otherwise, why don't you eat meat? The market is gradually not so good. So, cherish the days when you can still make gold coins. Maybe one day the light novel market will be over. It’s been sent, don’t you think?”

"...Why do you feel like a big shot like President Miki always talks about light novel pills?"

"Hai, don't worry about it. Just think of it as my emotion as an old man."

Shaking his head slightly, seeing that the coffee shop was gradually becoming deserted, Miki Kazuma turned around:

"By the way, now that some of the work has been explained and implemented to you, Ali, there is one more thing I would like to ask you for help with."

"Please say."

"Didn't you play well with a certain white-haired girl in a wheelchair and formed a music group called Slothfish?"

It was as if he finally got to the point of what he wanted to say most.

President Miki, who has always had special thoughts about Mochizuki's identity as a musician, also slowly spoke at this moment:

"That is to say, for the sake of gimmicks and cost-saving, as a sloth fish, do you want to sing the theme for the upcoming animation "re0" with your girlfriend? Phew, what a good partner. Where’s the song and the ending song?”