THE BOOK BUSINESS
After rushing out of Osaka and getting to Tokyo, I have come to a place I rarely ever go.
“Whoooa! Look at them all, Machi! The shelves are all lined with my book!!”
“Completely full. So many copies ……”
We’re in one of those mega bookstores in Shinjuku.
There’s a grand hall in the middle of this nine-story building where they hold events for authors like signings or meet and greets. Since the owner is also a Shogi fan, there’ve been some Shogi events in here, too.
That’s why their Shogi section is well stocked, and Kuzuryu’s Notebook is on full display.
“Thank you so much for creating this magnificent corner for my book!” I bow to a store employee.
“My pleasure! The literary debut of Yaichi Kuzuryu-Ryuo, the youngest dual title holder in history, deserved to have an equally fitting display!”
This employee, who also happens to play Shogi in their spare time, was in charge of putting this corner together. With a foldable Shogi board right in the middle of it, the whole exhibit sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of all these bookshelves.
The problem with the board itself is that the Rook and Bishop are in the wrong places. I guess they’re not the most avid Shogi players, but …… seeing all the time and effort they poured into making this area special warms my heart.
Just wow ……! I’m touched ……!
“Initial sales must not have been that successful when there are piles left over at this point, yes?” says Machi with a grim look on her face as she takes a picture to post on social media.
“Initial ……?”
“Books spoil. The best by date is typically two weeks after release. Sales tend to plummet after that.”
“Huuh?! Two weeks …… That was a long time ago!”
And yet, here are all these books just sitting on the shelves.
The display in front of me takes on a whole new meaning than it had moments ago.
“Then …… my book isn’t selling? The book I worked so hard to write isn’t selling at all ……?”
“B-But you have an extremely passionate fan!!” says the employee without missing a beat. However, they didn’t try to deny the not selling part.
“A passionate fan ……?”
“Yes! They purchased five copies the very moment your book hit the shelves!”
“Really?!”
Grabbing the employee’s shoulders before I realize it, I ask, “What did they look like?! W-Was it …… a girl in grade school, maybe?! With short hair!!”
“Um? A little girl ……? In grade school ……?”
Crap! That came out like I’ve got a thing for grade school girls, didn’t it?!
“No ……,” the staff member finally says. “He was a man, probably in his 40s. He had a suave air about him …… Oh, yes. I remember him clutching the books close to his chest and happily whispering, Hee-hee! Looks like I have this shop’s Yaichi a-a-all to myself close to your ear in the picture on the sleeve.”
“…………”
Tokyo is a big place, but there’s only one person who would ever actually do that ……
And …… this is Shinjuku …… It had to be him ……
“I was sure your book would sell like wildfire after seeing his enthusiasm, so I ordered a few extra shipments, but …… Well, Shogi book sales are hard to predict ……”
After that, I get tasked with signing a mountain of books in the back room.
The staff was being modest, saying three is enough …… but Machi cut them off with, “We’ll happily sign every copy here! Isn’t that right, Ryuo?!”
She was so gung-ho about it that I couldn’t object.
Players sign books using a brush and ink before finishing them off with a personal stamp, just like with autographs. Since it takes time to do each individual book, a full three hours pass before I get to leave the store.
“Our only option now is to depend on social media influencers. Apparently, books that get talked about on TikTok have been selling recently.”
We already left the store, but all Machi is thinking about is how to sell more books.
“The ideal would be to have the Meijin or Sora 4-dan plug the book personally, but the Meijin Title Match and other circumstances are in the way. The timing isn’t right.”
“That’s true. I wonder if the Meijin Title Match will end early this year ……”
“Aren’t you watching the Meijin Title Match?”
“I can’t …… I mean, I sent him a copy of my book, Machi. It’d be a huge letdown if he didn’t use any of the strategies I wrote about, yeah ……?”
I’m curious, of course.
Curious if he’s read the book, curious if he liked my ideas. One look at his Shogi is all I need to find out. The best possible review would be for him to use one of the strategies in my book on a big stage like the Meijin Title Match right after it got released.
But ……
“On the other hand, him using one of my strategies means he absorbed my strength. How am I supposed to fight him the next time we have a match ……?”
“I think you should simply take it as a compliment.”
My book not selling at all feels like the world is rejecting the life I’ve chosen, but spelling out my strategies to my rivals who read it also puts me in a bad spot.
If I had known it would turn out like this, I’d have been better off not writing that thing in the first place.
“At any rate, our only option now is to visit as many bookstores as possible and sign as many books as possible.”
Machi slaps my back to invigorate me out of the doldrums and picks up the pace.
“Will signing copies really help sell more?”
“No. Signed copies can’t be returned to the publisher for a refund anymore, so the store itself pays for each one. At that point, sales figure aren’t our problem anymore.”
“What kind of high-pressure salesmanship is that?!”
“My head will roll if they don’t sell, that’s what!”
However, Kuzuryu’s Notebook would soon start flying off the shelves.
To think that he would be the reason why …… At this point, it wasn’t even in my wildest dreams.
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