The executives at Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore chain, intend to get into a fight against Amazon and other online retailers. They plan to purchase 90% of the first printing of Haruki Murakami’s forthcoming Japanese publication, Novelist as a Vocation.
The Guardian reports that despite this aggressive move, Murakami’s book has taken the number five spot on the Amazon Japan bestseller list. No announcement has been made as to whether or not Kinokuniya will continue with this course of action for future printings of this Murakami title.
According to Publishing Perspectives, “Murakami has not expressed any endorsement of this deal and Kinokuniya is mum on where the author stands.” For this project, the Japanese writer and advice columnist compiled a collection of essays which were previously published in a literary magazine called Monkey and added 150 pages of new content. At this point in time, it is uncertain if an English language edition of this book will be released. (via The Huffington Post)
