Having arranged to meet Miyuki at 3:30 PM sharp, Ren, who detested lateness and waiting, entered the administrative area of Red Violet Publishing at 3:28 PM, heading to the room where he had last met with Miyuki.
There was a characteristic smell of air conditioning mixed with freshly brewed coffee, and the sound of keys and muffled conversations created the usual atmosphere of a publishing house in the middle of a workday. Ren advanced with determined steps, maintaining a perfect pace. He hated being late and hated wasting his time waiting; his entire life had been guided by this rigid sense of punctuality.
At 3:30 PM sharp, he knocked lightly on the door of the office where he had met with Miyuki two days before. That was the exact time agreed upon.
The door wasn't locked. Ren turned the doorknob and entered.
The office had transformed. That morning, it was just a clean, organized space, with a discreet sofa, a meeting table, and a few framed book covers hanging on the wall. Now… It looked more like a cosplay storage room than a publisher's office.
He saw large and small shopping bags, overflowing with newly purchased clothes, shoes, figures, and toys. On one of them, he recognized the logo of a store known for selling costumes of popular characters at events. From the labels on the bags and the styles of the partially displayed clothing, there were maid uniforms, a doctor's uniform, a nurse's uniform, and a giant robot uniform.
If Ren wasn't mistaken, these were the cosplay costumes frequently seen at anime conventions.
After all, in his spiritual memories, Ren had imagined himself as the girl named Mizuki Ito, wearing similar clothes and enjoying the applause of the crowd at a huge anime convention. Mentally, he had not only seen these similar cosplay outfits, but had also worn them.
As for the elements incorporated into these outfits, most were costumes of popular anime and game characters that had been recently released.
"Did I come to the wrong place?" Ren's mind went blank. He had left just two days ago, and the style of the room was completely different.
He looked around a second time, confirming the room number. Yes, it was indeed where he had met with Miyuki before. His gaze fell on Miyuki, who was sitting at the desk in the office, her beautiful face puffy, her hands supporting her chin.
The first section dealt with Ren's royalties.
'Momentary Blossoms' is a serialized romance magazine published twice a week, with a print run of over two hundred to three hundred thousand copies per issue.
His royalties naturally increase proportionally.
The amount offered to Ren was 6,780 yen per chapter as a base manuscript fee.
This is a standard base fee.
And it will increase according to the novel's popularity after serial publication; it's not fixed. If reader support is extremely positive, the fee will certainly increase. If a chapter is long, the fee will also increase.
Furthermore, the contract specified that this amount would never be reduced, only increased according to the novel's performance. For a beginning author, this was almost surreal.
Ren did some quick calculations.
Considering that a month has approximately four weeks, with two issues published per week, theoretically, there will be eight or more chapters published per month.
Multiplying that by 8, we get that when "Ao Haru Ride" begins serialization, its monthly fee will be at least 54,240 yen!
That's quite a generous rate. The average income is only four to five thousand yen per month. At that rate, one month's income is equivalent to the annual salary of an average person.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
For serialized novels, royalties represent only a portion of the revenue: copyright is fundamental.
The longest part of the contract dealt with copyright and adaptation rights.
Although Ren was a newcomer, the terms of the contract with Red Violet Literature were within the norm. The copyright and authorship of the novel would belong entirely to him.
However, Red Violet Literature wanted the rights to commercially exploit the work.
In other words, if the novel becomes popular after serialization and there are other adaptation possibilities, Red Violet Literature will be involved in all aspects of that process, such as adaptations for games, animation, comics, product distribution, and single-volume releases, and will have decision-making power. Furthermore, the publisher will receive 20% of the revenue generated by these commercial activities.
But this money isn't free. Frankly, how can an average light novel author afford to develop their work or find partners? All of that is done by partner publishing platforms, which connect authors, manage operations, and promote their work.
That was fair.
If you're a veteran author, you can negotiate with the publisher, and it's not impossible to obtain full copyright and all the revenue. But beginners shouldn't dream too much.
Red Violet is a commercial organization, not a charity.
Miyuki watched as he read, the tip of her foot discreetly swinging, a sign that she was already starting to get impatient again with the credit card drama, not with him.
"Any questions so far?" she asked.
Ren raised his head.
"Um... I wanted to ask, are there examples of novels previously serialized in 'Momentary Blossoms' that have been adapted into comics, anime, games, etc.?" Ren asked, curious.
Miyuki crossed her arms and thought for a few seconds.
"Yes, but the probability is very low, almost once a decade. For our publisher to get those adaptations, the novel still needs to be serialized in the main magazine to eventually develop and achieve that kind of influence."
Ren nodded slowly. The influence of a novel is determined as much by the popularity of the serialization platform as by the quality of the work.
It wasn't a disadvantage, just the reality of the industry.
"However, the release of standalone volumes is quite common. As long as popularity isn't too low and reader response is good, the publisher will arrange for the release of standalone volumes. In fact, many books end up selling tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of copies. Based on the 7% royalty share stipulated in the contract, this amount will likely be one or two times greater than the royalties received during the serialization of the novel."
"A work's revenue is a combination of multiple channels: part comes from serialization royalties, part from single-volume light novel royalties, and part from sales of licensed products, which ultimately makes it quite substantial."
"A publishing house in the capital of a province, whose highly prestigious periodicals generate revenue through so many channels, owes its success to the flourishing of anime and manga culture in this world, to the public's strong awareness of copyright, and to the recognition of the value of cultural products."
If, as in a parallel world, everyone were searching for pirated copies of films stored in the cloud, the income of these cultural creators would plummet.
Ren took a deep breath.
It was a lot of information and a lot of responsibility all at once.
But it was also the first real door that had opened in his life since he started writing.
So, without hesitation, he signed the contract.
It was a simple gesture, but full of meaning: the official transition from someone who "wrote independently" to a professional author.
These contracts are practically the same in all publishing houses; there is no room for negotiation. To make a living this way, you have to respect market prices.
Miyuki smiled slightly, but genuinely.
And he extended his hand to him.
"Congratulations! From this moment on, you are officially a contracted writer for Red Violet Literature."
End of Chapter 11