Editor Reveals That Not Even 30% of Light Novels Reach Volume 3
K-ing is a light novel author who, through a mix of luck and skill, managed to release volume 2 of his slice-of-life novel. And why do I say luck? Because what he revealed sheds new light on the light novel industry.
I don’t think I’ve covered it on the site, but the light novel industry is going through problems. The number of readers is decreasing, the number of authors is increasing, sales are dropping, and many publishers are looking for ways to boost revenue.
Editor Reveals That Not Even 30% of Light Novels Reach Volume 3
Because of that, the number of canceled light novels is huge, but the surprising part is that many are canceled before even reaching volume 3.
And it was K-ing who revealed this:
“By the way, at a light novel meeting, I asked an editor: ‘What percentage of works manage to reach volume 3?’
The answer was: ‘At our company, not even 30% of new works manage to release a third volume.’ When I heard that, I was shocked 🙄
Yeah… that explains why so few reach volume 3 lol”
As we can see, this applies to his publisher, but it is likely the same across other publishers as well. So when you see a light novel ending after 1 or 2 volumes, it was probably canceled.
Then, taking advantage of his tweet going viral and people becoming interested, he nervously promoted his own light novel, titled When I Moved Into a Rural Secondhand Property, Somehow a Young Girl Was Living There, which recently had its second volume released.
Synopsis:
Kouji worked daily as a hotel employee, but he was fired for a completely unfair reason.
With no idea what to do, he comes across a suspicious advertisement:
“30,000 yen rent with government subsidy. If you live there for five years, the house becomes yours.”
Clinging to his last hope, Kouji moves to the countryside. However, what awaits him is none other than a zashiki-warashi—
A zashiki-warashi addicted to cup noodles, a tsundere nekomata constantly trying to curse him, and neighbors full of secrets.
Thus begins a peaceful rural inn life alongside cute—and sometimes frightening—yokai.