Chapter 99: Sensation in Japan
"One hundred thousand copies are not enough, we need at least two hundred thousand copies, otherwise we will be scolded to death by the bookstore managers! A book like this will cause a sensation in Japan once it is released!" Ren Shengping's face turned red with excitement.
The Japanese workplace is very particular about hierarchy, and Heita Mibu's current behavior was really rude, so Yasuki Wada, the director of the book publishing department of Tokuma Shoten, subconsciously scolded him.
"You must control your emotions. As an editor, you must not act impulsively because of personal preferences. When I was your age, even if I encountered a work by my favorite author, I would calm down after reading it and re-evaluate the sales of the book from the perspective of a professional editor. You are too impulsive now. Get out now and come back to report after you have thought it over."
"Hi, Simi Masai!" Ren Sheng Pingtai bowed and apologized quickly, but did not leave. Instead, he handed over the manuscript like a treasure. "I still stick to my judgment. You will understand after reading this manuscript."
Editors are all capable of speed reading. After just one hour, Wada Yasuki had finished reading the manuscript of more than 200,000 words. At this time, he had long lost his previous calmness and became more enthusiastic than Mibu Heita. "200,000 copies are not enough. Notify the printing factory and print 300,000 copies for the first time! Distribute the goods to all bookstores in Japan. Immediately contact Kinokuniya, Maruzen JUNK-do, and Yurin-do to ask them to take out the best display space."
The bookstore chains he mentioned are all top-ranked in Japan and dominate the Japanese book retail sector. It is not easy to ask them to provide the best display booths, but Yasuki Wada firmly believes that as long as the managers of these bookstores see the sample books, they will make the same decision.
“Go visit Mr. Komatsu Sakyo, Mr. Toriyama Akira, and Mr. Buronson, and invite them to write a recommendation for Showa U.S. Story!”
“Invite the best designers to design the cover and waistband, and the best illustrators to draw the illustrations!”
"The Publicity Department should immediately come up with a publicity plan. I want to see advertisements for Showa America Story in both Yomiuri Shimbun and Shonen Jump! We must let all Japanese people know that this book will be released soon!"
Such a big move even scared Heita Mibu a little, "Boss, this will cost a lot of money, will the president agree?"
"The money I spend now will be earned back ten or twenty times in the future. I will apply to the president now. This book may become the best-selling work in our Tokuma Bookstore! No, not maybe, but definitely! Gentlemen, let us work together for this great goal!"
"Hi!" Everyone stood up and bowed in unison. It was such a Showa-style scene.
The manuscript also conquered Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who decisively provided the most generous budget and personally contacted those chain bookstores to secure the best display and advertising positions for "Showa American Story".
Those writers and cartoonists also accepted the invitation and wrote slogans for Tokuma Shoten, and the staff of Tokuma Shoten's publicity department immediately put these recommendations full of middle school temperament in newspapers and comics.
"The bulldozer of the Japanese science fiction world, Mr. Komatsu Sakyo, highly recommends: "Showa American Story" - a miraculous "super impossible science fiction novel" born at the Lagrange point where the gravity of the "three bodies" of universality, entertainment, and literature is perfectly balanced!"
"Manga artist Akira Toriyama: I was so immersed in reading that I forgot the deadline and almost missed the update of the next issue of Dragon Ball."
"Mr. Buronson, the author of Fist of the North Star: Compared with the world created by this genius Chinese writer, the world in which Kenjiro lives is simply too boring and too shallow."
“This is a masterpiece full of fantastic ideas. You can’t stop turning the pages. It is the greatest apocalyptic work since the birth of science fiction. If you want to see what will happen after Japan buys the United States, please look forward to the official release of “Showa U.S. Story”!”
“.”
Hey, Japan bought American science fiction stories? This is so interesting? I must buy it and read it! Many readers had the same idea when they saw the above advertisement.
Some Japanese people questioned that how can Japan buying the United States be considered science fiction? Is this going to become a reality soon? But the Statue of Liberty in a kimono is really interesting. I wonder if there will be a large poster for free when I buy the book?
The publicity staff of Tokuma Shoten knew how to arouse readers' expectations. They would publish a new promotional poster in the newspaper every one or two days. The content was what Gao Jialin described in the book: the Statue of Liberty in a kimono, the Golden Gate Bridge hung with red lanterns, the Torii Gate in the sea off the coast of California, and the President of the United States watching Japanese cartoons in the White House . When Japanese people saw these posters, they were like a young woman who had been lonely for a long time being stuffed into a small toy that was running at full power. They immediately trembled and were immersed in uncontrollable desire.
They quickly ran to the nearest bookstore, asking when they could buy Showa U.S. Tale while looking at the large poster on the wall of the bookstore, "Are the posters for sale?"
"I'm sorry, sir. This poster is for display only and cannot be sold." The bookstore clerk immediately bowed and apologized.
"What? How do you do business?" The customer had no choice but to leave unwillingly.
At night, someone plucked up the courage to sneak outside the bookstore and prepared to secretly tear down the poster and take it home to collect it. Unexpectedly, someone had already done it before him, leaving only an empty space on the wall, and the poster had long disappeared.
"How could this be possible! Are these shameless guys still Japanese? How could they do such rude things?" He cursed with gritted teeth, seemingly forgetting why he came here.
That night, fights broke out in several places in Tokyo over posters, which added a lot of workload to the Tokyo Police Department.
Upon hearing the news, many tabloid reporters rushed to take pictures of them scrambling for the posters, and published them in their own newspapers the next morning, which was actually free publicity for Tokuma Shoten.
In the printing factory, workers print, cut, bind and load books day and night. As soon as the new books with the scent of ink come off the production line, they are loaded into large trucks and sent to various bookstores.
The day of official release finally arrived. Editors such as Heita Mibu were sent out to inspect major bookstores to collect first-hand sales data, while Yasuki Wada sat anxiously in his office, waiting for news from the front.
Before lunch, Wada Yasuki received a call from Mibu Heita, "Boss, this is bad!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
