Yukinoshita Shizuku's hands unconsciously gripped the arm of Tsushima Kagami, who was standing beside her.
"Re... Really? Kobayashi-san."
The joy for Tsushima Kagami was undisguised on Yukinoshita Shizuku's face as she sought confirmation from Kobayashi Tomoaki once more.
Her voice was calmer than one might expect, but if one listened closely, a trace of subtle excitement could be detected.
"It is absolutely true! The final news came back from the hotel where the jury panel is staying just this afternoon!"
Kobayashi Tomoaki nodded vigorously.
Tsushima Kagami also smiled, gently patted Yukinoshita Shizuku's arm, and whispered a reminder: "Let's invite Kobayashi-san inside to sit down first."
"Right, Kobayashi-san, please come upstairs before we talk more."
Yukinoshita Shizuku finally reacted, nodding hurriedly in apology.
...
Inside the Yukinoshita home.
Yukinoshita Shizuku poured freshly brewed tea into two cups, instantly filling the living room with the overflowing fragrance of tea.
After preparing the tea, Yukinoshita Shizuku smiled faintly and handed the cups to Tsushima Kagami and Kobayashi Tomoaki respectively.
"Thank you."
Kobayashi Tomoaki expressed his thanks before accepting the tea. Unlike before, he did not stand on ceremony and began to savor it carefully.
Tsushima Kagami stroked Yukino, who was 'loafing' on his lap, with one hand, while taking the tea with the other for a small sip.
After finishing her tasks, Yukinoshita Shizuku sat down to the side as well.
At this moment, Kobayashi Tomoaki recovered from the lingering aftertaste of the tea's aroma and spoke with a smile.
"I apologize. I was so happy, and I also wanted to drink the tea Shizuku-chan brews, that I took the liberty of visiting without prior notice today. It was truly rude of me."
"We should be the ones thanking you, Kobayashi-san, for personally informing us of such cause for celebration at the first opportunity."
Yukinoshita Shizuku smiled gently in return.
"So, Kobayashi-san, you have other matters besides this, right?"
Tsushima Kagami also spoke up to ask.
"Ah, indeed."
After speaking, Kobayashi Tomoaki opened his briefcase, took out another sheet of paper and an envelope, and handed them to Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami took them and looked.
The envelope naturally contained the manuscript fee for The Setting Sun this time, while the paper was a contract.
The content of the contract roughly stated that after signing, Tsushima Kagami would henceforth be a debuted author of Shinchosha, and Shinchosha would also dedicate resources to promote his future works.
In addition to the manuscript fee being raised to 10,000 yen, it also offered an 11% royalty split in advance should a tankobon (standalone volume) be released in the future.
It might look like the 11% offered by Shinchosha is one-third less than WANI's, but the nature of the two is completely different.
After all, WANI is just an adult manga magazine. To put it nicely, the artists are respectfully called "Sensei," but the actual gold standard of that title is far inferior to the professions that society truly recognizes as "Sensei." At the same time, even compared to manga artists of mainstream works, there is a significant gap.
Therefore, rather than seniority, they value your drawing skills more; you rely entirely on your ability to put food on the table.
That is why WANI dares to directly offer a 15% royalty split.
In the pure literature industry, however, the prestige of being respectfully addressed as "Sensei" goes without saying. Japan itself is a society that strictly adheres to seniority, and this situation is even more severe among writers.
As a newcomer author, even if your writing is flowery and brilliant, and even if you win an award, you must first settle down and accumulate experience.
As for the royalty split, that concerns the dignity of the seniors even more.
I have been writing for so many years, and as a best-selling author, I only get a 10% royalty split. Yet you come along and immediately get more than me. What is the meaning of this?
So in situations like this, even for authors they value highly, the five major publishing houses rarely dare to casually overstep the rules and offer treatment beyond the standard, precisely for fear of offending those with seniority.
The 11% royalty split in today's contract can be said to be exceptional treatment.
Tsushima Kagami could imagine how much pressure Kobayashi Tomoaki and the Editor-in-Chief who nodded behind the scenes must have faced when offering this deal.
"Ah, right. In addition to that, there is a signing bonus of 100,000 yen."
"It has already been placed in the envelope together with your manuscript fee."
Kobayashi Tomoaki suddenly remembered to add this as he drank his tea.
Tsushima Kagami nodded after listening, picking up the contract to read it through once more.
Yukinoshita Shizuku also leaned her head over from the side, carefully reading the clauses.
After finally confirming there were no problems, Yukinoshita Shizuku handed the prepared seal to Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami took it and stamped the seal bearing his name in the signature space.
Interestingly, in the contract, various adaptation rights for the work remain in the author's hands.
If someone wants to adapt a certain author's work, they must communicate with the person themselves.
Tsushima Kagami recalled that before his transmigration, it seemed that initially, publishing houses and magazines also left various copyrights in the hands of the authors. Later, after the emergence of web novels, various copyrights gradually shifted to being fully agented by platforms. Eventually, physical publishing houses and magazines all followed suit...
Ah, right. No need to look at before the transmigration; just look at now.
The Japanese manga industry is decades ahead of web novels in this regard.
For serialized works in various manga publishing houses, all copyrights already belonged to the publishers as far back as the nineties.
Later, light novels did the same.
With web novel copyrights, it's an agency model at best; if they sell it, they still have to pay you a copyright fee. But in Japan, after manga adaptation rights are sold, the artist doesn't get a penny. It's not even called a copyright fee; it's called a 'co-authorship usage fee' or 'original work usage fee.'
It's basically just for show—a symbolic amount of money tossed out like begging alms.
There were even many manga artists who complained in interviews that the publishers only gave them 1 yen, or sometimes nothing at all.
Among them, the author of Gintama mentioned in a response to fans: "No matter how popular the anime, movies, or merchandise become, it has nothing to do with me financially. So if you want to support me, please buy more of my manga."
This is also why, when Tsushima Kagami engages in literary plagiarism, he never considers serializing manga in places like Shueisha or Kodansha.
Tsushima Kagami has no desire to watch the members of the production committee count money until their hands cramp after he explodes in popularity, while he can only bitterly hold onto that meager ten percent royalty.
As for why he draws adult commercial magazines? After all, he still needs to eat, and he doesn't run the risk of being adapted into a masterpiece and making big money for others!
When Kobayashi Tomoaki had put away the contract, he looked at Tsushima Kagami again.
"There is one more thing. Kagami-kun, please write an acceptance speech quickly."
"This acceptance speech will be published together with your The Setting Sun in the latest issue of Shincho in a few days."
____
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