Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 63 Vicious Business Warfare

Because the release of "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" was a last-minute decision, Kodansha did not have time to do any publicity or pre-release promotion.

Therefore, Yasunori Mikoshiba naturally believed that "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" would not be sold out under these circumstances.

Unfortunately, the sales manager, whom Kodansha called the "King of Sales," miscalculated.

Not long after "The Astrological Murders" was taken out by the sales department staff.

The first sales department employee called:

"Minister Mikoshiba! Even though we limited each person to one copy, all five hundred copies of 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murder Mystery' I brought have already been sold out at the bookstore!"

"It seems that Ms. Maishiro is very popular. Although some people are buying the book because of the trend, most buyers are those who were moved by Ms. Maishiro's poignant writing after reading 'A Bellflower,' and decided to purchase her debut work!"

The subordinate on the phone was still chattering on about things at the bookstore.

Mikoshiba Yasunori, however, was in no mood to listen to his subordinates. He looked up at his watch and realized that less than twenty minutes had passed since "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" left Kodansha!

Excluding the time spent traveling to the bookstore?

Doesn't that mean that five hundred copies of "The Astrological Murder Mystery" were delivered to the bookstore and sold out in less than five minutes?

As Yasunori Mikoshiba was pondering this, other phone calls began to ring one after another.

No need to guess, all these calls were reporting that "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" had sold out at lightning speed!

Seeing how popular "The Astrological Murder Mystery" is.

Mikoshiba Yasunori naturally understood that Maijo Kyosuke's "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" already had the potential to become a bestseller!

Thinking of all this, Yasunori Mikoshiba answered the phone while rushing out of his office and running towards the president's office.

"Bang!"

Yasunori Mikoshiba pushed open the door to the president's office.

I saw Noma Genjiro eating and drinking in his office.

Mikoshiba Yasunori's sudden intrusion caused Noma Genjiro's eyes, which had been squeezed into slits by his fat, to widen in surprise.

Seeing this scene, Mikoshiba Yasunori realized that he had forgotten to knock because he was too emotional.

However, this is a crucial moment in the business battle, so there's no need to get bogged down in these minor details!

With these considerations in mind, Yasunori Mikoshiba immediately used his extensive sales experience to make the most suitable judgment.

"President Noma! With only 500 copies available at each of Tokyo's 100 best-selling bookstores, 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders' sold out in just about five minutes!"

"Furthermore, according to information from my subordinates, although a few readers bought it because of the trend, most readers were drawn to Maijo Kyosuke by the article 'A Bellflower' in the 'Top Hat' magazine, and that's how they decided to buy it!"

When Noma Genjiro heard that "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" was sold out in just five minutes, he also showed a shocked expression.

It's worth noting that the last book to achieve this level of popularity was Makoto Tendo's masterpiece, "The Great Kidnapping," which won the 32nd Japan Mystery Writers Association Long Novel Award in 1979!

In just one month in 1979, Guangwen Publishing House's "The Great Kidnapping" achieved an impressive sales figure of 300,000 copies! It was an instant sensation!

Thinking of all this, Noma Genjiro didn't mind Mikoshiba Yasunori's rudeness and asked directly:

"Tai Dian, sales are your strong suit. Given the current favorable situation, how do you think we should seize this opportunity?"

On his way there, Mikoshiba Yasunori had already devised a plan. Upon hearing Noma Genjiro's words, Mikoshiba Yasunori immediately spoke:

"President, the fact that 500 copies of 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders' sold out in about five minutes shows that the public's expectations have been raised to the maximum."

In this situation, I think we should immediately print an additional 150,000 copies of the existing "New Book Judgment"!

"Since the typesetting and proofreading of these 150,000 copies have been completed, they will definitely be printed before Wednesday. These 150,000 copies are our basic cards."

"At the same time, we asked the design department to expedite the design of 200,000 inexpensive and portable 'paperback' copies in order to boost Ms. Maishiro's sales and reputation."

"We'll also produce another 50,000 'Collector's Edition' copies to sell to Maishiro-sensei's die-hard fans, so they can collect them!"

Mikoshiba Yasunori took a whiteboard marker from his suit pocket, walked to the whiteboard, drew a detailed plan, and explained his plan to Noma Genjiro.

"President Noma, today is Monday. Half a million copies of Top Hat magazine have already been sold out as soon as they were released."

"So we plan to release another 300,000 copies of 'Top Hat' on Tuesday to further promote Teacher Wucheng! At the same time, we'll put pressure on other publishers!"

"But now, Teacher Mai's popularity has reached an unprecedented level."

"Therefore, the additional 150,000 copies of the 'New Book Judgment' edition of 'The Astrological Murders' were printed in two batches, on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, to continue putting pressure on other publishers."

"Once the market for 'The Astrological Murder Mystery' is saturated, we will continue to release the 'paperback version' of 'The Astrological Murder Mystery' on Fridays and Saturdays to attract casual readers and increase Ms. Mai's popularity!"

"If all goes well, the sales of 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders' will reach an astonishing 400,000 copies by Sunday!"

"This gives us the opportunity to invite Mr. Mai Cheng to hold an autograph session for our 400,000 copies sold!"

"A 'Collector's Edition' priced as high as 5,000 yen will also be available for sale on-site!"

"Only by purchasing the 'Collector's Edition' can you receive a personal autograph from Mr. Maishiro!"

"And next Monday, the second issue of Top Hat magazine will be released!"

"In this way, we managed to crush other publishers for eight days using Top Hat magazine and The Astrological Murders!"

"And next week, the Japanese mystery writer challenge launched by Kyosuke Maijo in the magazine 'Top Hat' will begin in full swing!"

"If we seize this opportunity, we can successfully take over the market share currently held by many other publishers!"

When Noma Genjiro heard Mikoshiba Yasunori's words, he first opened his mouth in shock.

When they came to their senses, they couldn't help but applaud:

"Yasunori, you truly live up to your title as Kodansha's 'King of Sales.' This is a truly vicious business war!"

"If I were any other publisher, I would definitely be cursing you out!"

"But the business war is a brutal war without gunpowder. What if Maijo Kyosuke, this 'supernova' of the mystery genre, is discovered by other publishers?"

"I don't think any publishing house would pass up this opportunity to suppress other publishing houses!"

Noma Genjiro smiled smugly, then took out a contract from the drawer and quickly began writing on it.

"Trust those you employ, and don't employ those you don't trust. Only those who can create value for me are useful, and we cannot treat them unfairly."

"Tashinori, take this letter to the personnel department and tell them that Akimoto Naoki will be promoted to deputy director of the Literature and Art Publishing Department next month, and Uyama Hideomi will be promoted from deputy editor-in-chief to editor-in-chief."

"As for Jiang Liumei, she's already the editor-in-chief, so let's give her a 0.1% commission on magazine sales."

After Noma Genjiro finished speaking, he tossed the letter to Mikoshiba Yasunori and picked up his rice bowl again to eat and drink heartily...