"Oh, how should I address you?"
Akira suddenly asked, feeling awkward no matter how he phrased it.
Furthermore, in Japan , there was no 'great editor' title; in the light novel industry, it was often the editor who took great care of the author.
"Pillow-sensei, you can just call me Haruno."
"Can I call you Haruno-nee?" Akira asked, as it sounded more pleasant.
Haruno Kyoko smiled and agreed, feeling much younger at being called 'older sister'.
Akira took the contract handed to him and began reading it clause by clause.
Most of it consisted of common terms for new authors, with nothing particularly noteworthy; the publishing house had no reason to set traps in these areas.
Akira pointed to the royalty section of the contract and asked, "This share was originally 8%, why has it become 10% in this contract?"
While Akira was naturally happy about the increased royalty share, since it was previously 8%, he still wanted to understand the reason.
"It's like this, Pillow-sensei. After my review, I believe Pillow-sensei's work has a high potential to become a big hit, so I applied to my superiors to increase the share."
I also think this book will definitely be popular, but it's not guaranteed that the first volume will be a hit.
"The clause added to the previous contract is that this contract is not simply for the first volume."
"Instead, it includes a condition for the publication of the second volume, which is to be published preferentially by Dengeki Boy's Literature."
Haruno Kyoko explained, pointing to a clause in the contract.
"Of course, if Pillow-sensei only intends to write one volume, then there's nothing we can do."
It seems there are no other traps.
Akira read through the contract in his hand once more, confirmed he understood almost all the clauses, then took out a pen and signed his name.
After he signed his two names, Haruno Kyoko collected the two copies of the contract and then said to Akira.
"The editorial department's official seal needs to be stamped back at the office; it will be mailed to Pillow-sensei then."
Akira nodded; he hadn't expected to receive the stamped contract on the spot anyway.
After all, an editor carrying the editorial department's official seal with him sounded quite risky.
After the contract was signed, Haruno Kyoko began discussing the publication of the first volume with Akira.
"The publishing house's plan is to print 6,000 copies for the first edition, priced at 600 yen."
"That sounds a bit expensive."
Akira rubbed his chin, saying it subconsciously.
Most light novels are around 500 yen; the price of his book was almost one-fifth higher.
While a higher price means more earnings, a higher price also means fewer buyers!
"Alright, Pillow-sensei, do you have any promotional channels?"
Haruno Kyoko asked, "Because it's a new author's work, the editorial department can't allocate too many resources for pre-launch promotion, so Pillow-sensei will need to do some of the promotion."
Akira nodded. As for promotion, he didn't seem to have any channels.
After all, since he transmigrated, his time had been spent on part-time jobs and dating Sajuna, and he hadn't pursued other endeavors.
However, speaking of Sajuna, Shinju seemed to be managing Sajuna's Twitter account.
There were many followers on it; if worse came to worst, borrowing Sajuna's account for an advertisement should be agreeable.
This would count as him living off Sajuna.
Akira nodded, indicating agreement.
"I will find a way to promote it."
"Then the remaining task is for Pillow-sensei to start preparing for the writing of the second volume."
This touched on the very thing Akira least wanted to hear.
"Pillow-sensei, you haven't started writing the second volume yet, have you?"
A hint of killing intent emanated from Haruno Kyoko, sending a chill down Akira's neck.
He recalled how readers in his previous life would rush him for updates.
Akira rubbed his neck, "I'm already writing it, don't worry."
"One more thing, regarding the light novel's cover, do you have any ideas?"
Akira hesitated, then replied, "For now, just leave it to you all."
He then added, "Actually, I have a specific character design in mind, but I can't draw it out at the moment."
"I feel like the timing isn't convenient right now. My suggestion is to first draw the Bunny Girl image, but leave the face blank, which perfectly aligns with Sakuta forgetting Mai's storyline. This way, the character design illustrations I add later won't seem too abrupt."
"Then we'll go with Pillow-sensei's idea."
Haruno Kyoko took out a small notebook and jotted down Akira's ideas.
The two conversed for an hour, focusing on the plot development of the first volume.
After the discussion, Haruno Kyoko was clearly more confident in the work than when she first arrived.
She extended her right hand and shook Akira's, saying with a wide smile, "Pillow-sensei, it was a pleasure working with you."
"It was a pleasure working with you, Haruno-nee."
"Calling me that sounds so strange."
"Ha."
Both of them couldn't help but laugh, feeling they were unexpectedly compatible.
After his meeting with the editor, Akira checked the time on his phone; Sajuna would be getting out of school soon.
He had originally planned to go to Sajuna's house for dinner.
It seemed it was a bit early; Sajuna hadn't finished school yet.
Akira hesitated for a few minutes, weighing the options of going to find Sajuna or returning home, and finally decided to pick up Sajuna.
Although the two had been together for some time, their usual time together was only in the mornings and on weekend dates.
Days like these, where he no longer needed to work part-time and had ample time, were actually quite rare.
Akira took out his phone and sent a Line message.
『Akira: Are you out of school yet?』
『Sajuna: I'm at art club activities.』
Akira was surprised; he hadn't heard Sajuna mention joining a club before.
Could it be that she joined midway, like him?
But the art club… Sajuna had mentioned wanting to draw manga in the future.
He hadn't expected her to put it into practice so quickly.
However, he wasn't worried that Sajuna's drawing skills wouldn't be able to support her work.
After all, as far as he knew, blockbuster works like "One-Punch Man" and "Mob Psycho 100" were all drawn by ONE-sensei with his eye-gouging drawing skills.
Moreover, Sajuna would have Akira to help her patch things up in the future.
There was absolutely no need to worry about Akira messing up her remastered version.
『Akira: Can I come pick you up?』
『Sajuna: Huh? Pick me up?』
『Akira: You know, a boyfriend picking up his girlfriend after school.』
There was a pause in the chat box for a while before Sajuna's message came through.
『Sajuna: Of course you can come, as long as Aki-Kun isn't shy.』
As if trying to extinguish Akira's courage, Sajuna said something self-deceiving.
『Sajuna: I hope Aki-Kun won't be shy then; I can be very clingy, you know.』
Sajuna covered her cheeks.
What did I just say?
Fujiwara Kyoko, who was practicing next to her, shook her head helplessly.
Sajuna, really, she's hopeless.