How can longform nonfiction be monetized in Japan?
I am currently considering some improvements to my new project, Reposeed, checking other online platforms that deal with longform narrative nonfiction. As I mentioned in my previous posts, there is still demand for good quality narrative nonfiction in Japan. I have been exploring the crowdfunding platforms where readers can engage in various activities hosted by the writer. They can also read the unpublished articles before the completed book is published. However, some people say that monetizing a book online is a difficult process. Although I have assumed that my primary revenue source will be selling the books after each project is completed, projects that do not attract many readers will not eventually produce a book. In my model, only writers who have celebrity status are likely to be successful. This means that the number of books produced may not expand as expected.
To resolve my concerns, I have decided to divide my audience into two segments. One segment will be made up of niche nonfiction fans, whom I anticipate will be potential customers from the start. In Japan, many people appreciate having a direct relationship with an author, and this leads to the popularity of paid newsletters or some other form of committed business for authors. My own interest in such a market was prompted by the possibility of a platform that many authors can join who have no desire to run such a business. The crowdfunding system will work provided the reader considers the reward to be of value.
At the same time, I have to consider another segment of the audience, those who are not necessarily fans of specific authors or celebrities, but would like to learn what is really happening in Japan by reading investigative reports. Japan is different from the US in this regard. In Japan there are fewer investigative reports in the traditional news media or in online media.
Investigative reporting mainly depends on a unique system, the so-called Kisya-club, which is an association of organizational journalists with exclusive access to press conferences and high-level anonymous sources. As no independent journalist can join this club, it is inevitable that it plays a significant role in investigative journalism. Many exclusive reports on corruption by governmental officials or politicians have been produced by these journalists. Provided the topic and the reporter have been well selected, there will be people who are interested in these investigative reports. The monthly Bungei-Shunju, which is a traditional monthly magazine in which many independent journalists publish their investigative reports on a monthly basis, still sells 300K print copies just from newsstands.
My plan is to combine the two business models. While keeping the idea of crowdfunding for individual projects by niche fans, I will add a subscription system for other people who love investigative reports. The former model is similar to Beacon, a crowdfunding platform that mainly focuses on journalism, or to Big Roundtable, in which the main revenue source comes from the books published as products. The latter model is similar to that used in some European startups, such as De Correspondent or Zetland. These have adopted a total subscription system, while a reader can also register for articles by a specific author, using a paywall system. Each project, whether based on crowdfunding or on a subscription system, has its own inherent advantages and disadvantages.
In Reposeed, bearing in mind the need to balance the topics, six to 12 journalists will publish their longform narrative nonfiction. Subscribers will be able to read the whole articles, while everyone else will be able to read just a portion of them (for example, only the first chapter) for free. Additionally, fans will have the option of becoming a special “supporter” of a particular author. Those who do this will get special rewards, like being involved in the planning, joining a field trip with the author, or some other such event. This is a new feature that I intended to introduce.
However, I know this change will not solve all the problems that concern me. For example, if I adopt the subscription model, one of the most difficult things will be to get the authors to prepare the initial manuscripts before they become funded by special supporters. We may need to involve the authors gradually. I would very much like to hear your ideas about this process.
I am planning to launch the first experimental edition of Reposeed at the end of April. Fortunately, I already have one of the most splendid narrative nonfiction writers in Japan for this first edition. Seiji Fujii is the author of more than 50 books, among them After the crime: What happens for families of crime victims and A violent school in a perverted town. Fujii is so famous for his work, especially that involving crime by youth in Japan, that he appears regularly on TV news programs as a commentator.
Fujii will be publishing a longform story of 200,000 words, which is a hidden story of post-war Japan covering 70 years. He has been doing investigative research on the sex workers in Okinawa, which was a tragic battlefield in WWII. After the war, many in the U.S. military remained on the base in Okinawa. Initially, the sex workers’ customers were the Americans who came to Japan. Hundreds of sex workers lived and worked near the U.S. military base in Okinawa until 2014.
What did the end of WWII represent for the people of Okinawa? Fujii will clarify what really happened through extensive research and interviews conducted in Okinawa. This will be told as a story, and it promises to be very interesting. Crowdfunding supporters of this project will be able to read all of Fujii’s articles before the book is published, and they can join in meetings and trips with Fujii this summer.
Katsunao Ishii is a Tow-Knight fellow in entrepreneurial journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and an editor at Kodansha Ltd in Tokyo. He is launching Reposeed, the first crowdfunding service for Japanese journalists.
