Sunmark Publishing Rights Highlights
and NEWS Mail--July 2017 Issue
Hello, my name is Akiko Kuwajima.
I’m an editor and a member of the Rights Department at Sunmark Publishing Inc.
Wrapped in the fresh green leaves on the trees, Tokyo is in its best season of the year. It feels so refreshing to walk around the city these days.
In May, we have some national holidays that come close together and are called “Golden Week”, and this year I went to Okinawa as my annual holiday ritual. Okinawa is an archipelago of tropical resort islands of Japan, about a 3-hour flight from Tokyo. The ocean is breathtakingly blue there, and everything is different from the busy city life of Tokyo.
Within the Okinawa islands, I stayed in Taketomi Island, which is a very small island consisting of a raised coral reef south of the main island of Okinawa. There, I enjoyed snorkeling, fishing, cooking, eating, drinking beer and awamori (Okinawa’s distilled spirits), watching the ocean and the starry sky…just enjoying the time relaxing and refreshing my body and mind.
Coming back to Tokyo now, I think I charged up enough energy to edit my next book.
If you have any questions or inquiries about this NEWS Mail, please contact Ms. Shino
Kobayashi, Rights Manager (rights@sunmark.co.jp).
How Even the Stiffest People Can Do the Splits With Ease by Eiko is now spreading to 12 countries and territories around the world!
Our latest million-seller How Even the Stiffest People Can Do the Splits With Ease has been sold to 12 countries or territories so far. We’re very excited to see how it will be received by readers in other countries. In our domestic market, the second book by this author will be coming out very soon, in June. The next book will be a follow-up for the first one, providing a measurement sheet with which readers can easily see their “splits progress” during the 4-week program.
Editors of the Month
I am one of the luckiest and happiest editors in the world, because I edited the book titled The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Fortunately, that book has become a big hit that has sold over 7.5 million copies in more than 40 countries. I am very happy that I could meet Marie Kondo, who was not known by many people when she started, and help to elevate her to the status of being a world-famous author. There are other reasons that I am lucky and happy. For one, I created the book titled The Enzyme Factor. It sold about 3 million copies worldwide, especially in the USA, Germany, Spain, Mexico, and Taiwan. And let me introduce to you the book I first created as a book editor: a picture book for pregnant women titled Maternity Talking. To tell the truth, I planned the book simply because my wife became pregnant. Unfortunately, she had the baby before I finished that book, so I couldn’t give it to her. It has sold over 120,000 copies in Japan. I love my job because my life becomes richer through my work. Before I met Marie Kondo, I was not organized and my desk was so messy. But now I can find any of my things around my desk and can better control my life, thanks to her. Books can help us to design our lives, and I want to go on producing those kinds of books.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
The Enzyme Factor by Hiromi Shinya
Maternity Talking by Yoh Shomei
I am an editor who likes to produce books related to “invisible energy” or “the energy in our mind”.
For example I have been working on books that have to do with fairies, dragons, and angels, or books that attract luck by the energy inside photos or pictures.
How to Become a “Dragon Whisperer” is the first book not only in Japan but also in the world that explains how to bring happiness into your life. As soon as it was published this book became a bestseller. And Mysterious Pictures That Bring Good Luck is a photo book of lights and orbs from the energy of fairies and angels.
These are the kinds of spiritual books I produced from fresh, new points of view.
How to Become a “Dragon Whisperer” by Hikari Osugi
Mysterious Pictures That Bring Good Luck by FUMITO
Why Successful People Visit Shrines by Ryuhei Yagi
ISBN978-4-7631-3607-7 C0093
303 pages / March 2017 / 1,300 yen (w/o tax)
This is the highly anticipated follow-up to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, which sold over 500,000 copies and was nominated for a Japan Booksellers’ Award.
Four “white lies” used to protect loved ones.
“You can only stay in the past while the coffee is hot.”
Four men who come to a mysterious coffee shop called Funiculi Funicula would do anything to return to the past, and they have requests that are difficult to voice.
This long-awaited new story, which takes place 7 years after the top-selling Before the Coffee Gets Cold, is finally here!
・・・・・・
An urban legend is circulating about a certain seat in a certain town’s coffee shop. If you sit in that particular seat, rumor has it you will be transported back to the time of your choice. But there are some very troublesome rules involved:
1. Even in the past, you can’t meet anyone who has never visited the coffee shop.
2. No matter what you do in the past, you can’t change the present.
3. A customer will be sitting in your seat when you arrive at the shop. You have to wait until they’ve left to sit down.
4. You can’t leave to go anywhere else.
5. Your time in the past starts when your coffee has been poured and ends once the coffee has gone cold.
Those aren’t the only rules, but even today people are still coming to the coffee shop after hearing the rumors. The coffee shop is called Funiculi Funicula. Would you still want to travel to the past under these conditions? This book tells the story of four heart-warming miracles that took place in this coffee shop.
Story 1: A man goes back to visit a friend who died 22 years ago.
Story 2: A son who couldn’t attend his mother’s funeral.
Story 3: A man goes back to visit the one to whom he couldn’t get married.
Story 4: An old detective goes back to give a present to his wife.
If you could go back, who would you see?
The follow-up to Before the Coffee Gets Cold has finally arrived.
I cried just as much while working on this book as I did while working on the first one. I especially liked the second story.
Let us know which one you like the best!
ISBN978-4-7631-3609-1 C0030
205 pages / April 2017 / 1,300 yen (w/o tax)
The latest tips from the author of How Toyota Taught Me to Consolidate Information Into a Single Page.
The “thought organization professional” who has sold over 200,000 copies reveals a groundbreaking, universal method for making the clearest explanations.
“I’m not getting through, no matter how hard I try to explain”.
“I always get asked, ‘So, what exactly does that mean?’”
“I can’t clearly express what I want to say”.
Do you have the same problems? This book contains a secret solution. Mr. Asada, the author of How Toyota Taught Me to Consolidate Information Into a Single Page, has taught more than 5,000 people how to improve their “thought organization”, “communication”, and “clear explanation” skills. This book reveals all the secrets for improving these skills.
In business communication, consolidating everything down to one main point actually makes it harder to get your point across clearly. Asada recommends breaking it down into three points to rapidly improve clarity. It becomes clear when viewing the fold-out at the beginning of the book that he has a knack for organization and clarity, and that only he can help you improve on these skills.
PART 1 Why aren’t my explanations clear?
PART 2 What makes an explanation clear?
PART 3 What can you do to get better?
This is the third book I’ve worked on for Suguru Asada. Ever since we started working on his first book, How Toyota Taught Me to Consolidate Information Into a Single Page, I’ve felt that Mr. Asada is wonderful at giving explanations. He provides clear-cut, comprehensive answers to any question you throw at him. I just figured it was because he is a genius, but after our meetings I began to understand that I could train my brain to work in the same way using his methods. This book will help you provide clear, action-based examples to improve communication and achieve your goals. You will experience positive, rewarding results in both your professional and personal life.