After introductions, Machida Sonoko sat down in the seat opposite Lin Mu.
"Well, Twilight Sky-sensei, I have carefully reviewed your submission.
I believe your work has great potential, so I intend to sign it. Regarding your work, do you have any other special requests?"
Facing the editor's question, Lin Mu smiled calmly and replied, "I only hope that the manga adaptation rights and film and television adaptation rights for this work are retained. If a manga is to be released in the future, the manga artist for the adaptation must be selected by me."
Machida Sonoko raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "That goes without saying. We highly respect the rights of authors, and these adaptation rights naturally belong to you, Twilight Sky-sensei."
"Seeing that you have such confidence in your work, I believe our future collaboration will certainly be very pleasant."
"Haha, then I'll take that as a good omen, Miss Machida."
Lin Mu smiled and pushed his laptop towards her. "Actually, I'm already preparing for the creation of the second volume. You can take a look at my beginning and outline to judge the potential of my work."
"This is my first time writing, so regarding things like signing contracts and promoting the work, I'll leave it to you, Miss Machida."
"No problem, this is what a responsible editor should do. Hmm, let me see the development of your second volume."
Upon reading it, she was astonished.
The first volume of Lin Mu-san's light novel focused on depicting the Senior Sister with black stockings and the tsundere blonde twin-tailed classmate, two female leads invited by the male lead to participate in game development.
Then began the 'Shuraba' (love triangle/rivalry) of a youthful romantic comedy, with them vying for his attention.
But in the second volume, a third female protagonist appeared, adding another layer to the competition between the two.
Facing a love triangle with three female protagonists, Machida Sonoko couldn't help but wonder who the male lead would ultimately choose.
Mainly, it was so sweet, even mixed with scenes like "But I was here first," which would later be dubbed "White Album Syndrome."
It made people incredibly envious, their hearts touched.
For a moment, Machida Sonoko didn't even want the male lead to make a choice.
Because Lin Mu-san, this guy, had portrayed each female lead exceptionally well.
Each female protagonist had her own endearing qualities, making it impossible to stop reading, and making one wish they could replace the male lead and choose their favorite character.
Machida Sonoko finished a portion, but the rest wasn't there.
Because Lin Mu-san hadn't written it yet.
Then, Lin Mu-san felt that Machida Sonoko's gaze towards him was a bit off.
It looked sparkling, filled with an intense heat that made him somewhat uncomfortable.
"Is something wrong, Machida-san? Is there anything that needs revision?"
Machida Sonoko sighed and shook her head.
"We can talk about revisions later, Twilight Sky-sensei, I really want to lock you in a dark room and make you write non-stop! Hurry and show me the rest!"
"Uh… even if you're so confident in my work, I can't just stay in a dark room writing all day, can I?"
Lin Mu-san looked at her, exasperated, and retorted.
Machida Sonoko scratched her head and cleared her throat, looking serious.
"Ahem, just kidding, Twilight Sky-sensei, I've thoroughly read the content of your second volume, and the conclusion is that as long as you keep writing at the current pace without faltering, it will definitely be a huge hit!"
"Oh, if every new author was as easy to manage as you, I'd have it easy."
Machida Sonoko said, hinting at something, as she thought of a certain distinctive black-stockinged beautiful young female author.
Ever since the first volume sold 500,000 copies, Kasumi Utako's love metronome had stagnated; the second volume completely lacked the soul of the first, and it wasn't as stunning.
Although Machida Sonoko was reluctant, she had sternly advised her to just cut it short.
Preserving an excellent work and then writing new ones would sell better.
Once an author's reputation declines, it's very difficult to improve it again; readers won't buy into it.
What frustrated Machida Sonoko was that no matter how she guided her, Kasumi Utako just couldn't capture the feeling of the first volume anymore.
She could only tell her to truly experience a romance before writing the second volume.
However, it seemed there was now an even more excellent person who could guide Kasumi Utako.
And many elements in this person's light novel could be used as reference for love metronome.
Thinking of this, Machida Sonoko's eyes shone even brighter as she looked at Lin Mu-san.
"Ahem, let's get back to the main topic, Twilight Sky-sensei, your work is excellent, and I have high hopes for it."
"But if it's directly printed and sold, the sales will flop. So, we usually promote it, releasing some content for readers to preview. Once enough popularity has accumulated, we then sell the complete book."
"Our company will handle this aspect; you just need to register a Twitter account, occasionally pop in, reply to reader questions, or show up at signing events for autographs."
"I'll contact you about the specifics later."
"And to maximize the promotion of the work, I suggest you first submit it to our company's Light Novel Newcomer Award to help the work gain wider recognition as soon as possible."
Machida Sonoko earnestly explained the various procedures to Lin Mu-san, patiently clarifying the key points.
Finally, they confirmed the single-book pricing for the work.
After all, he was a newcomer and couldn't set a high price like well-known authors.
But Machida Sonoko still gave him the highest single price she could at the moment, as she had great confidence in Lin Mu-san's potential.
Hehe, she gave Lin Mu-san such good treatment; if he wrote good works in the future, she, as his editor, would also benefit. It was a win-win situation.