The other day I wrote about the possibility of authors creating their own publishing house, and it seems that such new attempts are being made all over the place.
Some time ago, it was Sanctuary Publishing, and “Densho Bato” by Shuho Sato, a manga artist famous for “Give My Regards to Black Jack”.
Furthermore, not limited to Tokyo, small publishing houses are being formed in local areas to bring works they like to the world. We often see articles about such publishers in this NOTE as well.
Among them, the most talked-about one is Hiro-nobuto K.K., created by Mr. Yasunobu Tanaka.
I was also a fan of Mr. Tanaka’s Twitter feed under the title “Youth Unemployed,” and enjoyed it a lot. Looking back, I think that Mr. Tanaka’s series of tweets were not only flattering, but in a sense, a work of literature.
And then one day, he said, “Just write what you want to read.” and “To meet and talk. Both of them became bestsellers. Both books became bestsellers, and I am sure many of you are familiar with Mr. Tanaka’s name.
And now, he has launched his own company. What kind of company? A publishing company. The name of the company is Hironobuto K.K., after Tiffany & Co.
I watched a video of the company’s stock meeting on YouTube, and I could clearly sense the enthusiasm of the company to publish good books and at the same time guarantee the income of the authors. I don’t think there is a single creator who wasn’t thrilled to see this.
And the first book to be published was a collection of short stories by Banri Inada titled “When Love Begins Without Betting Everything” (I’ll write about it later). This seems to be a work that Mr. Tanaka decided to publish on paper after noticing a short story he had written under the name Cosmo Onan on NOTE. It became a topic of conversation because it was in heavy print even before the publication date.
Next is Atsushi Tadokoro’s travelogue “Slow Shutter,” which was also serialized in “note. Seeing writers being born one after another from NOTE in this way, I think it brings a certain hope to those who are working hard to write in this NOTE.
The two books mentioned above are not advertised through newspaper ads, magazines, and other media like major publishers, but through social networking sites such as Twitter, YouTube, and this notebook (sorry if I am wrong).
Of course, it is not only about SNS, but also about the work itself, and it is not enough to advertise the book excessively, but I think this approach will create a stir in the future management of publishing companies and the way they advertise their books.
Anyway, good books should be able to reach the hands of readers who are looking for them, and as a result, they should sell well and the authors should receive a fair amount of remuneration (royalties). If possible, he/she will be able to make a living from it (i.e., he/she can devote himself/herself to writing better novels).
This situation used to be the natural state of affairs. Somewhere along the way, however, the number of publications has been rising steadily despite the publishing slump. Novels are not selling like they are dying. There are no more than ten full-time writers. I hope that the current negative cycle of the publishing industry, in which “bad money drives out good money,” can be broken.
If the literary world can be revitalized, and not only those who are thinking about becoming novelists someday, but also bubbling novelists like myself can think, “Oh, I can make a living writing novels,” then they will become more enthusiastic about writing good novels. I feel that people who have drifted away to other industries, such as animation and film, will come back to the world of literature.
This is a bit of a stretch, but I believe that Japanese novels will be recognized as interesting in the world, just as Japanese movies were in the world a short time ago.
See you soon!
