Kyosuke Hojo raised his eyelids and counted the number of people in the venue, fifty-six, five more than the information that Misaki gave him.

One of the most familiar is the Kinokuniya Bookstore, which he has been familiar with several times, and it is natural that the president of such a large bookstore chain will not come in person, but the employees of the department in charge of purchasing new books, and the owners of some small bookstores are not simple, they are usually representatives of regional bookstore associations.

Yes, in the neon everywhere in associations, how can there be no association in such a thing as a bookstore? Although most associations have changed their original intentions after their establishment, from uniting to protect everyone's interests to squeezing the bottom to protect the interests of the boss, it is undeniable that the existence of associations is still beneficial.

For example, if it is a small bookstore with no name, it will suffer a little bit in the distribution of interests with the publishing house. The general situation is 10% for writers, 40% for publishers and 40% for bookstore distributors, and the remaining 10% for delivery fees. A royalty rate of 15 like Kyosuke Hojo will have to squeeze his share from elsewhere. The same is true for small bookstores, which can only be taken from publishers or distributors at a high purchase price without the help of the association to negotiate with the publisher.

If you join the association, you can even take advantage of the publisher's hand, such as various merchandise, or ask the writer to hold a book signing. But don't think about these benefits in the general member bookstores.,For example, the last time Kyosuke Hojo's book signing,I basically went to the store of the president or committee member of the association.。

To sum up, it is the store bullying the society, and the society bullying the store. The publishing house has to rely on the bookstore to collect the money, and the bookstore wants the publishing house to supply new books, and both sides want to make more money, so it depends on who has the bigger fist and who is better to bully.

So although there were only about 50 people in the conference room, as long as they were managed, almost all of the 500,000 copies of the first printing could be digested. In addition to the representatives of the association who will confirm the number on the spot, the bookstores behind them also only need to contact the publisher to report the number according to the usual practice.

The bookstore owners greeted Hojo Kyosuke warmly, and Hojo Kyosuke also enthusiastically agreed, not only calling out each other's names in one mouth, but also asking the clerk he saw in the bookstore last time how he was doing. Although it can't be said to be approachable, at least it's like a family and friend. His familiar style made even the shopkeepers who were accustomed to fake politeness a little stunned, and began to wonder if they were really so familiar with this Hojo sensei?

"Ah, Amamiya has been promoted, congratulations, and then I have to make up for the promotion gift, I have been taken care of too much by her in the first few times......"

Kyosuke Hojo held the hand of a man in a gray suit and said in a friendly tone.

In just a few minutes, he has become the center of everyone. Superior memory and excellent social skills made everyone present admire, and those who had crossed paths with him in the past satisfied their vanity, feeling that they were really not a small character, and didn't see that after so long, Hojo Sensei still remembered himself? The bookstore owners who met him for the first time were overwhelmed by the witty words of the writer who was not at all silent, and wondered how they could convince him to come from his bookstore to hold a book signing.

The writer is obviously a polarized group, some of them are taciturn and extremely socially phobic, which makes people wonder if the perverted murderer in him is based on himself. Some are eager to stand in the spotlight, and as long as there is any social hot spot, they will be the first to talk about it in the newspaper media. If the character of writers from other countries is faithfully reflected in their works, then the personality of neon writers is faithfully reflected in their suicide.

There are people who take a large amount of sleeping pills on a gloomy rainy day and quietly go to death, and achieve endless life through wordless death. There are also those who were slashed three times in a row after disembowelment, and the writer who wrote the play finally died like a play.

The tastes of the masses are varied, and there is a reason to like each one, and bookstore owners, who are businessmen, naturally prefer the styles of the social elite like Kyosuke Hojo.

Even if you don't, you don't know anything about the content, just getting along with Kyosuke Hojo, a bookstore owner has a "What kind of work will such a good person write?" Curiosity.

His gorgeous appearance may be ruined, but he is good-looking! You don't see that the content doesn't make sense, take an inexplicable title and then market the author's book can also deceive a bunch of fools, bookstore owners don't want how profound the content of the book is, what they want is to sell well.

For a moment, without mentioning a word, Kyosuke Hojo provided strong confidence to bookstore owners and distributors through his strong personality, and several of them had already patted their chests and said the number of orders, and promised to put it in the most conspicuous place.

Tetsuta Shisaki stood in the corner of the hall, looking at the eldest brother with pride in his eyes. This is the man he chose to follow all his life! Powerful in all directions without dead ends! No matter how impossible it is, it can be easily accomplished in his hands.

If you change to Tesaki Tetsuta himself, the whole thing will be a different style of painting.

First of all, cut off the head of the puppy raised by Kurokawa Toyoya and put it at the head of his bed, and give a new puppy when the other party was in shock, so that again and again, directly tied the other party's neck with the fear of death. The recommendation of the bookstore is even simpler, just disperse the hundreds of people under him, each bookstore stuffs a few boxes of books, guards the door, and everyone who enters the store asks them to buy a copy.

"Hojo-sensei's work, others don't know about it, don't I know? Not to mention the new generation, I don't think there is a better writer than you in the past 20 years! ”

A somewhat simple shopkeeper, this will have been praised by Kyosuke Hojo with a few kind words without a trace.

"Hehe, you're overrated, I still have a lot to learn." Kyosuke Hojo, who was walking towards the speaker, stopped, turned around, and bowed slightly in thanks.

Today's publishing houses are in a hurry, not only for the staff, but also for the presentations. The people in the audience were not even finished products, but crude products bound on printing paper. But this did not affect the enthusiasm of the atmosphere of the promotion meeting, and as soon as Kyosuke Hojo stood on the stage, the people below began to applaud enthusiastically.

Kyosuke Hojo smiled and bowed in thanks, he hadn't actually experienced this kind of thing, but he knew that whether it was a promotion meeting or something else, everything in this society could not escape the word "human". And when it comes to dealing with people, there is no one better at it than he is. There is no reason why a person who can easily navigate a group of women cannot cope with a group of men.

After the scene quieted down, he first briefly introduced the content, although the sample has been sent to the people below, but he estimates that most of the people have not seen it, this kind of promotion meeting is also a time for major store owners to gather, they are more keen to connect with the new book. After that, he talked about the original intention of the creation and several interesting plots and characters, his words were witty, and there were bursts of applause from time to time, and everyone obviously listened very happily.

In a joyful atmosphere, as Akamatsu greeted him, an employee of a publishing house came in with a stack of forms and handed them out to the bookstore owners in turn, which was to write the number of orders.

Anyway, if you can't sell it out in the end, you can return the publishing house, but if you return too much, the money you make is not as good as the cost of returning it.

The simple shopkeeper who had just spoken was about to fill in the numbers without even thinking about it, but at that moment he heard someone speak again.

"Well, I'm sorry, Hojo-sensei, I'd like to ask." A man in a black and gray suit raised his hand.

"It's Mr. Yanohara, Shimayama Bookstore, please tell me."

Kyosuke Hojo, who was interrupted from speaking, had no change in his smile, although everyone knew that the person who jumped out to speak when the atmosphere was right was definitely going to tear down the stage, but his attitude was still gentle.

The bookstore owners turned their heads and looked, it turned out to be Mr. Noboru Yanohara, this gentleman has always been decent, just now when everyone was chatting, he was one of the people who bowed their heads and concentrated on reading, as a cadre of the headquarters of the fourth largest chain of neon bookstores, he had extremely strict requirements for quality.

In the past, when everyone participated in the promotion meeting, there were often writers who were speechless when asked by him, even if there were publishing houses that played a round, and even there were cases where they participated in the promotion meeting but did not order a book, which can be called a wonderful flower in the publishing industry. But in the same way, his performance is also terrifying, as long as he approves and signs the order book, not to mention that all of them are sold out, at least they will be on the best-selling list.

Thinking of this, the simple shopkeeper, who had already filled in the name of the bookstore just now and wanted to fill in the number column with two thousand, stopped his pen and wanted to listen to what this senior had to say.

Kyosuke Hojo's personality charm is terrifying, everyone here is a master of reading air, even if the level is a little lower, at least he knows how to follow others, and the Yanohara Norishi who dares to raise his hand to speak is obviously not an ordinary person, but this is the kind of person, when he saw the very friendly smile of Hojo Teacher on the stage, his serious face showed a trace of hesitation, and his mind couldn't help but think of the scene of the cordial conversation with Hojo Teacher before.

But this serious man still took out the posture of a cadre of a large chain bookstore, and asked with a straight face:

"Hojo-sensei, as far as I know, you are the most popular candidate to win this year's Neon Mystery Writers Association Award, and at such a critical moment, you would choose to release such a work, and the most important thing is that you are still in such a hurry?"

As he spoke, he picked up the draft in his hand and gestured, and as he spoke, his tone was a little more stern:

"With all due respect, it's like a Molotov cocktail made in a hurry at a critical moment."

Molotov cocktail? It's amazing and apt. Kyosuke Hojo was happy in his heart.

Yes, doesn't such content cause discontent in the association? Aren't you afraid of influencing the award? Why is there such a hurry? Why don't you officially win the award before releasing it? Shouldn't it be easier to sell more with the momentum of winning awards?

Many of the people present came for the terrifying sales of Kyosuke Hojo's last book and his name as a candidate for the award, and at this time, he was reminded by Nobuchi Yanohara, like taking an antidote and freeing himself from the personality charm of the humanoid aphrodisiac Hojo Kyosuke, and a bunch of questions suddenly popped up in his head.

"Yes, Hojo-sensei, I originally wanted to ask if "The Devotion of Suspect X" won the award, what arrangements would be made for the subsequent republication." The simple bookstore owner also asked aloud, and everyone else asked aloud.

The smile on Akamatsu's face, who was standing next to the podium, disappeared, and he stepped forward to help his writer out of the siege, but was quietly stopped by Tesaki Tetsuta on the side.

What are you doing?

Tetsuta Sasaki's eyes were displeased, but it was not Mr. Yanohara, who was asking questions from the audience, but the editor Akamatsu next to him.

Want to steal the limelight from Big Brother? I wonder if the more times of crisis this are, the more I can show the charm of my family's Aniki's personality? Stand aside and watch and study well, and your only task is to give me reverent glances and warm applause!

Looking at the eldest brother who seemed to be overwhelmed by the problem, Samisaki didn't have the slightest worry in his heart, because ......

Everything is in the big brother's calculations!

The smile on Kyosuke Hojo's face remained unchanged, and he raised his hand to signal quietness.

"Why did you choose to post at such a time? Why don't you wait until you win an award before releasing it? There are many reasons, but the main one is my irrepressible desire to talk. Such a story came to my mind, and I couldn't help but want to share it with the world!

Because of my willfulness, I have caused a lot of trouble to the editors and the publisher, and I must thank you for your support. ”

Kyosuke Hojo said a few small things that he saw at the press house at noon today to liven up the atmosphere, and when he saw that Mr. Yanowara was still standing motionless, he knew that his answer would not satisfy the other party. But it doesn't matter, he knows what the other party really cares about.

"Everyone, please see." He raised his hand and motioned for Shisaki to step forward and operate the projector.

The simple store manager raised his head and saw two reports on the big screen.

"I know that everyone is concerned about whether I can win the award or not, and I believe that Toyoya Kurokawa and Hiroki Naganuma are familiar with it. Both of them are elders in the association who take great care of me, and I was able to write this book thanks to the guidance of two teachers. ”

Kyosuke Hojo smiled, the two reports on the screen can't be said to be reports, they are completely praises to him, yesterday's efforts were not in vain, the two judges were not only frightened by him, but also directly turned into a well-behaved puppy in his flexible storage room, and took the initiative to start doing things without him talking, and it was only a little time since he had already shown him favor in the magazine.

Mr. Yanoha frowned slightly, concentrating on reading the report on the screen quickly, and the more he looked at it, the more strange his expression became.

If he remembered correctly, that Kurokawa-sensei had bombarded Hojo-sensei in the newspaper three days ago, and sprinkled a large article about it, which probably meant that Hojo-sensei was a complete moth in the reasoning world, and something bad would happen if he wasn't kicked out again.

How to ...... now?

Thank you to the bigwigs for their monthly passes, recommended tickets and reward support, thank you~

(End of chapter)