In front of an izakaya near Asakusa, Tokyo.
Parked were a red BMW sedan and a black Jaguar.
Beautiful Eryu, Hidoku Uyama, and Kyousuke Maijo sat around the wine table, celebrating that "Astrology Killing Magic" won the Edogawa Ranpo Dragon Award!
Winning the Edogawa Ranpo Climbing Award is cause for celebration.
But for Maijo Kyousuke now, what is really worth celebrating is the birth of "Top Hat" magazine.
After all, I have already learned from Jiang Liumei that the first circulation of "Top Hat" was half a million copies!
Coupled with the joint comments of the five judges and the challenge he issued on the awards stage today, Maijo Kyousuke believes that there will be many writers who dislike him and will come to "Top Hat" magazine to submit articles and kill them. My own spirit!
Although the risk of this challenge is extremely high, it can quickly increase your popularity, from a new mystery writer to a well-known writer!
Thinking of this, Maijo Kyousuke looked at Eryumeimei with a satisfied smile on his face:
"Miss Jiangliu, with the challenge I issued tonight, the number of submissions to "Top Hat" magazine will definitely increase. If there are well-known writers among them who come to challenge, it will definitely increase the magazine's sales!"
"How about increasing the circulation of the second issue of Top Hat magazine to 600,000 copies?"
Maijo Keisuke's words made Uyama Hinodeomi, who was eating noodles beside him, choke and beat his chest!
Wiping the sauce on his face with paper, Uyama Hinideomi looked at Maijo Keisuke and said doubtfully:
"Teacher Wucheng, when I first met you, I remember that you were a very calm person, right?"
"Why is it that after only ten days, it's like a different face?"
"Increase the circulation of Top Hat magazine to 600,000 copies?"
"Do you know what crazy talk you are talking about?"
Uyama Himideomi threw the tissue into the trash can, crossed his fingers together, and said to Maijo Keisuke and Eryumi with a solemn expression:
"Although I am the deputy editor-in-chief of the publishing department, I also held an important position in the magazine department for a period of time. I know the magazine department as well as Miss Jiang Liu."
"Everyone thinks that the magazine department is much easier than the publishing department."
"But in fact, the magazine department is the place full of bloodshed!"
"Because the publishing department only needs to be responsible for a series of tasks such as proofreading, typesetting, binding, and painting the cover of the book. The rest depends on the writer's personal reputation and the quality of the book."
"The readers who buy the book are also loyal mystery fans."
"To put it simply, there are only two issues that the publishing department needs to consider, one is the quality of the book, and the other is the author's reputation."
"After statistics from the sales department and publishing department, the approximate number of copies a book can sell and the size of the market are all very controllable. If it doesn't sell well, we'll stop printing it. If it sells well, we'll continue printing it!"
Uyama Himideomi drank the wine in the glass, poured it for Maijo Keisuke and Eryumi, and continued to speak:
"Compared to the publishing department, the magazine department faces many more problems!"
"Because people who read magazines are not necessarily loyal mystery fans. They just buy a magazine to kill boring time during their commute to work."
"So, magazines need to consider not only proofreading, cover, typesetting, quality of work, and reputation of the author."
"There are other enemies to consider!"
"For example, Shogakukan's ace comic magazine "Big Comic Original", Shueisha's dark horse "Weekly Young Jump" just released last year, Takarashimasha's "Novel Mystery", Kobunsha's "Novel Gems", Bungeishunsha's "ALL Reading" , various literary magazines from Xinchaoshe, as well as countless gossip news magazines, and long-form literary serial magazines, these are the opponents that the magazine department needs to consider!"
"Although Miss Jiangliu received the comments from the five judges, Mr. Wucheng, you are also on the podium, using your own methods to make a big gamble. You want to use the works of other writers to build momentum for "Top Hat" and let "Top Hat" magazine Increase circulation!”
"But Mr. Wucheng, you need to know that a magazine is not a publication, and the higher the circulation, the better. What a good magazine needs is a long-term reputation and almost no fluctuations in sales!"
Uyama Himideomi saw Maijo Kyousuke's puzzled expression and continued to speak:
"To put it simply, for a weekly magazine, if the circulation of the first issue is 50,000, then the circulation of the next issue may be 51,000. If it can be maintained, then the third issue will be released, and the circulation of the next issue will be 51,000. Twelve thousand copies, if it can be published continuously for a whole year, that is fifty-two issues, then the magazine will have a circulation of 100,000 copies."
Maijo Kyousuke took a bite of ramen and asked:
“What if the next issue doesn’t sell well enough compared to the last one?”
Jiang Liumeili took over the conversation and said with the same solemn expression:
"If the latest issue of the magazine does not reach the sales volume of the previous issue, it will be scrapped!"
"In other words, if Top Hat magazine has a circulation of 500,000 copies, even if it sells 490,000 copies, Top Hat magazine will be canceled immediately!"
Maijo Kyousuke didn't understand the reason at all, and said in confusion:
"Will the publication be canceled if it fails to meet expectations? Isn't this a bit too arbitrary?"
"A magazine that can sell 490,000 copies is much better than a magazine that can only sell 50,000 copies, right? And? It's not often seen in newspapers that the sales of a certain magazine have dropped sharply and the circulation will be reduced. quantity?"
When Eryumei heard what Maijo Kyousuke said, she smiled bitterly and shook her head:
"Teacher Wucheng, most of the magazines you mentioned that can reduce circulation are old magazines. Even if the expected sales cannot be achieved, as long as the circulation is reduced, they can continue to sell."
"But as for a new magazine, especially a magazine that cannot be stable for even a year, President Noma will not give you such a chance!"
"As long as there is a fluctuation in sales, the problem will be cut quickly! Directly stop the magazine from continuing to suffer losses!"
"As for why? Mainly because the money-making channels of magazines and publications are very different. Many people think that magazines make money by circulation. The larger the circulation, the more money they will make. But in fact, this is a misunderstanding. Because the money you can earn from selling magazines is just a drop in the bucket compared to the advertising fees from advertisers!”
“To put it simply, a publication earns readers’ money so that readers are willing to buy a writer’s entire work.”
"Magazines use the articles in them to attract corresponding readers to buy the magazine, and then incorporate advertisements into them to increase the advertiser's brand value."
"So, the problem arises. These advertisers are all businessmen after all, and they are very cautious in their choice of advertising."
"Although a magazine with a large circulation will attract more people to read it, the relative advertising price will also increase with the circulation."
"Magazine advertising prices are generally charged on a quarterly basis. If our first issue of Top Hat magazine has a circulation of 500,000 copies, the advertiser will pay us a quarter's advertising fee in one go."
"But if our magazine's sales fluctuate a lot, for example, the first issue sells 490,000 copies and the second issue sells 450,000 copies."
"Then it's a loss-making deal for advertisers. After all, advertisers have paid for a circulation of 500,000 copies. When they notice the fluctuation in sales, advertisers will naturally withdraw their investment in advance and ask us to conduct a series of compensation."
"So, in fact, a magazine that can stably sell 50,000 copies per issue is far more stable in making money than an unstable large-circulation magazine!"
After listening to the patient explanations of Uyama Hiideomi and Eryome Mijo, Maijo Kyousuke finally understood the reasons for the operation of the magazine department, but at the same time, new doubts arose:
"In that case? Why would Miss Jiangliu increase the number of copies of "Top Hat" magazine to 500,000 and take such a big risk?"
"With Miss Jiangliu's ability, can she control a magazine with a circulation of 100,000 copies?"
Jiang Yumeili heard what Maijo Kyousuke said and bit her lower lip lightly without saying anything.
On the contrary, Uyama Hinodeomi who was standing aside took a sip of sake and explained the reason:
"What else could it be for? Of course it's to increase Mr. Wucheng's reputation!"
"Although an unstable large-circulation magazine will face the risk of being suspended at any time, it is not as good as a stable small-circulation magazine in terms of improving the popularity of a writer!"
After Uyama Himideomi finished speaking, he seemed to realize that he had made a mistake.
He repeated his old tricks and shouted that he had drunk too much, and fell down on the wine table.
Maijo Keisuke was speechless when faced with Uyama Hinodeomi's poor acting, but he felt sweet in his heart:
"Ms. Jiang Liu, in order for our "Top Hat" to never come to an end, from now on, I will participate in every issue of "Top Hat"!"
Maijo Kyousuke held Eryu's beautiful hand with a sincere expression.
There must be love in this, but what is greater than love is gratitude.
After all, in this parallel world, Maijo Kyousuke has no relatives or friends.
Faced with Eryumi's romance of being willing to fight the world with him, Maijo Kyousuke has already made up his mind. No matter what happens in the future, he will never let her down!
