Chapter 127: Riho Morikawa’s “Good Intentions”
Perhaps for most laymen, it doesn’t matter whether the time is in the 60s, 80s, or even 00s.
After all, "Norwegian Wood" is mainly a best-selling romance novel.
But from the perspective of industry insiders, the difference in generations is huge.
The first is the characteristics of the 60s, what culture was popular at that time, and what people’s general living conditions were like.
It is these insignificant little details that are the key to bringing out the flavor of the era of the entire book.
Fortunately, judging from the current 50,000 to 70,000 words, Sawayama Haruno has brought out the flavor of this part to the fullest extent, and it has been infinitely close to the level of the original work.
This is also what makes Morikawa Riho secretly frightened.
So young, and so good at writing?
This is the first time she has encountered this in all her years of working.
Before the formal meeting, she thought a lot and thought that the other party might be a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, with slightly gray hair but mature and steady.
He never expected that when they actually met, the other party turned out to be a handsome young man who looked younger than his brother.
This contrast is too strong.
"Mr. Kiriyama, you seem to have a deep understanding of that era."
While trying to organize her words, Morikawa Riho couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Can I ask how many words Mr. Kiriyama has written so far?"
"For now, what I sent to you is all I have."
"What about the follow-up?"
"The subsequent writing will probably reach more than 200,000, but I'm not sure about the exact number." Sawayama Haruno said perfunctorily.
"so."
Morikawa Riho immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the sweetness in front of her swayed a few times.
What she was most worried about was that the other party did not have the ability to actually complete the task. After all, just looking at the contents of the first few chapters, it was not difficult to see that the requirements for literary level and literary literacy were very high.
Especially since Sawayama Haruno said that he wrote similar stories because of what his grandfather said, she was even more worried that the other party might not have thought about how to deal with the subsequent content when he started writing.
Fortunately, judging from the other party's appearance, he seemed to be prepared, which made him different from ordinary young people.
As an online editor for Kodansha, she actually received quite a few submissions, most of which were from naive young people who were still wet behind the ears but dreamed of becoming great writers.
"Only caring about the head but not the butt" is the best way to describe that group of young people.
That's why she asked more questions.
"Then, shall I introduce the current literary market and the situation of Kodansha to Mr. Kiriyama?"
Riho Morikawa lifted the hair near her ear. It was just a simple action, but when she did it, she was able to show the charm of a mature woman.
She smiled faintly and said, "Before we confirm the cooperation, we have to let Mr. Kiriyama know what the current situation of the physical market is like."
"I understand."
Sawayama Haruno nodded slightly, his face normal. These were all very common things. After all, before confirming the cooperation, they always had to implicitly talk about the conditions that Kodansha could offer, and what level of cooperation contract Sawayama Haruno could get.
Long before he officially started writing, Sawayama Haruno had already learned some knowledge about this subject.
It’s just that researching on your own won’t be as good as hearing from industry insiders in person, not to mention that many things can’t be found online.
In the next ten minutes or so, Morikawa Riho analyzed with him in detail the current physical market and their Kodansha's market planning for this part.
But the more he listened, the more disappointed Sawayama Haruno became.
The reason is very simple.
"That is to say." Sawayama Haruno looked at him helplessly and said thoughtfully, "Editor Morikawa meant that I should try not to publish it in physical form."
"Correct."
Morikawa Riho smiled bitterly and said, "If possible, I don't want to say this, but the current domestic physical market is basically publishing light novels or suspense books. There are almost no books like "Norwegian Wood" now."
"Of course, it's not that the physical literature type is no longer popular, but it means that Mr. Kiriyama is a newcomer and it will be very difficult for him to achieve success."
"If I use this book as a blueprint and write a medium-length light novel and submit it online, it will actually be more convenient than going directly to the physical route, and there is still a chance that it will be published as a physical book later."
"."
Sawayama Haruno's face didn't look good.
What Morikawa Riho said was very good, but the difference between them is worlds apart.
Taking a well-known work from his previous life as an example, it is easy to understand the difference.
That is Makoto Shinkai's previous work "5 Centimeters per Second". This book actually entered the market as a physical publication. Its popularity when it was first released and the movie was popular was not lower than other works.
But this is fundamentally different from romance novels like "Norwegian Wood". The two cannot be said to be of the same level.
It’s like he was holding Mo Yan’s work, but someone told him “you’d better revise it and make it into a work of the level of Battle Through the Heavens before publishing it.”
From this perspective, it is no wonder that Sawayama Haruno's face looks so ugly. It can be said that he has a very good temper now that he did not just turn hostile and leave.
"I understand what Mr. Kiriyama means."
Seeing Sawayama Haruno's livid face, Morikawa Riho became more helpless and patiently explained again: "But I am just giving you a more appropriate suggestion, because if you want to go for full physical publishing, you must have a certain degree of popularity."
"If you are a new author without any fame, your book won't sell at all. Not to mention that it won't sell, but I'm afraid it will be a problem as to when to publish it and how many copies you can publish at a time."
"Teachers should also know that young people nowadays are less and less interested in reading physical books. Mobile phones, videos, live broadcasts and other new things have completely taken over the past as a means of entertainment."
"If Norwegian Wood had been published before the 21st century, or even in the early 21st century, it would have achieved considerable success, but now..."
As she spoke, Morikawa Riho looked at the other person with an embarrassed expression.
She made the suggestion sincerely for the other party. Although the book might not be a big success in reality, Sawayama Haruno's writing style and ability were there. If she changed the way of writing, it was only a matter of time before it would be successful.
(End of this chapter)
