INDEX
Becoming a writer for the prize money
Takano: But being a musician or a novelist is a narrow path for both. Now that you are active as a novelist, it is amazing, isn’t it? Did you originally start out trying to write mysteries?
Sato: At first, I didn’t even know about those genre divisions at all. It wasn’t until I learned that the prize money for new mystery writers is extremely high that I decided to become a professional.
Celeina: You are a businessman after all (laughs).
Sato: In the pure literature prizes, even if you win a very famous prize, it’s only about 1 million yen. But for mystery newcomer awards, the “This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize, for which I debuted, is 12 million yen, and the Edogawa Rampo Award is 10 million yen (5 million yen from 2022).
Takano: I was wondering if you get that much for the “This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize?
Sato: That’s right. So when I was about to beat the deadline, I kept chanting in my head, “12 million, 12 million ……” as I wrote (laughs).
Takano: Then (in 2009), you won the Grand Prize of the 9th “This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize (in 2009).
Sato: It was an Excellence Award, so I didn’t get the 12 million in the end.
Takano: But it is a very brilliant achievement.
Celeina: How long did it take you to make your debut as a novelist after you started writing novels?
Sato: Personally, it was tough, but it took me about five years, so I think I’m doing well.
Takano: I heard that Sao Ichikawa of “Hunchback” also made his debut after 20 years of writing. But 5 years is also pretty tough, isn’t it?
Celeina: How did you keep your motivation at that time? You mentioned money earlier.
Sato: Money (laughs). But you were doing music until then, and then you decided to become a novelist because music was not going to work out.
Takano: I have the image of a person who is not good at anything, or rather, I have the image of someone who has difficulty in both areas.
Sato: I was almost 30 years old and had failed at music, so I was motivated to achieve results no matter what.
