The other day, a conversation between Mr. Minowa of Gentosha and Mr. Misaki, aka Prince Aojiru, was distributed on YouTube. The content of the program was about Mr. Minowa, a genius editor, going to Mr. Misaki to ask him to teach him how to sell his own book written by the Prince of Aoshiru.
Although the book was a business book, it was very informative. At the same time, imagining what it would be like if it were a literary book, I realized how difficult it would be to get people to read and buy it.
Even for a business book, which sells much better than a literary book, the author has to visit bookstores all over the country and directly sell the book to the sales staff, and somehow get the book stacked in the best places in the bookstores. The author would also give up royalties and ask for the full amount of the book to be advertised in newspapers and on train hangings. Even with this kind of dole out, there is no guarantee that the book will sell, and the author must be a celebrity and the content must be good to begin with.
Even then, if the book sells 30,000 or even 100,000 copies, it will be a big hit. And, of course, no one will pay attention to a book written by an unknown person. If that is the case, then we should take a guess about literary books.
And at the end, when asked how to get a book out of an unknown person, Mr. Minowa said, “First of all, do NOTE and TWITTER. And first of all, build a large number of followers” (sorry if this is wrong). In other words, if you don’t have a social reputation, you can’t even compete.
As I listened to this, I felt dizzy. I felt like I was being confronted with a harsh reality. And I don’t care if this is an entertainment novel, it is children’s literature, which is said to be even harder to sell. I would say that I am totally out of my depth with this.
And looking at my current situation, the number of followers on NOTE and Twitter is also hopeless.
In this NOTE magazine, I set forth a bold challenge with the conscious title of “How to Eat as a Novelist,” but it is obvious that I will fail if I don’t do something about it.
I would have to go from being unknown to famous, then to producing good work, and then to dying to sell more. It was as if an unclimbable mountain loomed before me (although in truth, I may have had a faint glimpse of it).
After all, to gain that all-important reputation, should I take the high road and aim for a famous literary award first, or should I continue to work hard on notebooks and Twitter and seek other measures? Or should I continue to work hard on notebooks and Twitter and explore other avenues? To be honest, I was torn.
I could say that it is just a YouTube program, or that I am too much influenced by it, but after three months of working on “notebook,” I honestly feel that this is the real world.
In an article I wrote just the other day, I said that children’s literature has unlimited potential, but it can’t be talked about without first getting people to read it. I even wonder if I am qualified to do literature before I can make a living at it.
However, no matter how much I write, it will probably be nothing more than the whining of an unknown person. I think this is true not only in the world of literature, but also in the world of music and movies. And that, again, may be “serious reality.
It may be “serious reality.”
See you soon.
