BXBX NOVEL Chapter 47 - 44:
Naturally, Silver Blue Books didn’t have a player like He Mingxuan who intentionally holed up in bookstores to watch people. After Superstar Publishing’s work was extensively distributed in bookstores across the Qin Continent, the only thing that could somewhat reflect the market results was reader feedback.
It started intermittently.
After all, reading takes time.
For publishers, sporadic comments don’t hold much reference value. However, as the first batch of readers finished reading the novels, the feedback on Superstar’s five works gradually increased on the official message board of Silver Blue Books.
What worried the publishers was…
The top Superstar work, “Demon King of Another World,” which the company had high hopes for, seemed to have mediocre public praise. In a novel scored out of ten points, most readers gave it a score of less than five. It seemed that everyone was unimpressed by the novel’s pattern.
“The same old tricks, just changing the skin.”
“The protagonist has even fucking crossed over to become the Demon King, but he still feels like a waste. Since you’re writing from the perspective of the Demon King, can’t you not make the protagonist so useless? If the protagonist isn’t useless, can’t the author write anymore?”
“Regretted buying this book.”
“Cut it short quickly, not interested.”
Novels on the Qin Continent are published in volumes, so the first volume’s sales are crucial. Novels with poor sales can easily be axed. The publishing house will notify the author to finish writing quickly. The originally planned series of more than ten volumes will be condensed into three to five volumes for a hasty conclusion, as the publishing company also needs to free up resources for more promising works.
Many readers were ranting.
Of course, not all reviews were bad. Some readers felt that the perspective of “Demon King of Another World” was innovative: “Though it may be old wine in a new bottle, at least the protagonist’s identity differs from the traditional Different World adventure model. It’s not bad enough to be axed.”
Maybe it will explode later on?
There’s precedent for such a scenario.
There’s a very popular novel on the market now that didn’t have a great reputation when it was first released, with disappointing sales. The publisher had already notified the author to cut the series short, but who would’ve guessed that after the second volume, the tides turned. The plot of the book reached a climax, and the sales skyrocketed, immediately cancelling the axing plan. That book is still being serialized and is already on its twenty-second volume.
However, such examples are rare.
If a novel can’t attract readers from the first installment, even if it explodes later, it’s hard for readers to stick around until then. Only if the opening attracts readers can the series continue to be stable.
Not only did the top-performing book lack good reviews.
The works that made the second to fourth place in the Superstar competition also received mediocre reviews, with only the second-place novel reaching a score of five points. But a five out of ten score in the novel market can only be considered a barely passing grade, not a good one.
“This year will be tough.”
At a Silver Blue Books department meeting a week later, an editor sighed looking at the comments on the books: “I thought the sales of ‘Demon King of Another World’ would explode, but as readers read more and more Different World adventure novels, their expectations also increase.”
“You’re right.”
“It’s not that this batch of Superstars is worse than before, but the readers’ taste in reading is getting higher. No wonder the chief editor always wanted to support new themes. Readers are fed up with the old ones. Novels must provide new stimuli.”
Early TV dramas could easily include brainless plotlines like car accidents, cancer, abortions, and viewers were still intrigued. However, if such a plot appeared now, viewers would curse the director to his face.
The same is true in the field of novels.
A few years ago, Different World adventure novels could easily become popular just by introducing some gimmicks. For instance, a novel called “In Another World With My Smartphone” told a story about a protagonist with a magical smartphone that could still be used in another world. By today’s standards, that story might be unbearable, but back then, readers loved it.
“It’s not a complete defeat.”
“YangFeng” tried to comfort everyone: “‘King of the Net,’ although the last-placed novel of Superstar, has a good reputation with a current score of 8.5 out of 10. That rating is quite remarkable.”
“YangFeng” was not wrong.
Even though the reviews for the top four Superstar novels were dissatisfying, the rating for “King of the Net” is quite high right now, with most reader responses being positive.
This is the most enjoyable one!”
“Didn’t expect a sports novel about tennis to be so exciting. I picked it up at the bookstore just to have a look, but once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. I’m officially a fan of ‘King of the Net’.”
“A fresh flow in Superstar!”
“Tired of Different World adventures. Occasionally changing the taste turns out to be unexpectedly good. I’ve recommended ‘King of the Net’ to many friends. However, many people are not interested. They, like my past self, don’t understand the charm of sports novels.”
The editors were naturally aware of the high rating for “King of the Net” and the overwhelmingly positive reviews. However, for Silver Blue Books, this novel’s praise could only be considered a consolation prize because the genre of the novel is too niche, making it almost impossible for the sales to skyrocket.
“It’s useless.”
“The genre is too niche.”
“Praised but not popular.”
The editors didn’t seem too excited. Every publisher has acclaimed but unpopular novels. Publishers generally support these types of novels, giving publishing resources even if the sales aren’t great, much like how movie companies also need some art films to gain prestige. However, real profit still heavily depends on novel sales.
“Don’t be so gloomy.”
The editor-in-chief wasn’t happy with the editors’ demeanour. “Look at yourselves. The sales figures aren’t out yet. Reputation isn’t everything. Some novels may not have high ratings but their sales are still very good.”
“That’s true.”
“There’s a chance!”
“It’s just about public opinion.”
A glimmer of hope shone in the editors’ eyes. A good reputation doesn’t mean everything. In the market, some books are praised but don’t sell well, while others are criticized harshly, but their sales continue to soar. Many readers in this day and age play hard to get. While “King of the Net” might fall into the former category, the other books from the superstar writers could potentially be in the latter category!
These people are really easy to hoodwink.
The deputy editor quietly sneered.
Few books are praised without sales, but it’s also rare for sales to be good when the reviews are terrible. In the common rule of the book market, most of the time, reputation and sales can form a proportional relationship…
“Let’s adjourn.”
The editor-in-chief waved his hand.
After everyone had left, the editor-in-chief suddenly became troubled. “It seems we totally messed up with the supernovas this time, unless a miracle happens.”
“A miracle?”
The deputy editor, who hadn’t left either, responded with a bitter smile, “Let’s go together to the statistics department and take a look. The first week’s sales of the supernova should be out by now. Let’s see where this miracle is.”
Editor-in-chief:”
The two of them arrived at the relevant department together, with both the editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief turning to the female manager of the statistics department: “Could the first week’s sales of the supernova be out by now?”
“Are they here?”
The female manager was somewhat cold in her attitude, and it seemed she found the two of them particularly annoying. Just saying one line and then turning back to her work, “Check the statistical tables yourself. Come to me if there’s anything you can’t understand.”
“Did we offend her somehow?”
The editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief exchanged glances. They then picked up the statistical table and had a look. What they saw instantly killed any hopes they had left, because the highest selling was “Demon King of Another World” with only 180,000 copies.
This is supposed to be Supernova!
In the past, any work that was published with the Supernova Award would find it embarrassing to face people if the first week’s sales did not break 300,000. But this year, the best-selling book of the five supernovas was just under 200,000 copies.
At least one thing was right though.
The list of top five from the Supernova matched perfectly with their very names. The editor-in-chief took pleasure in the bittersweet situation, “At least our prediction of sales ranking wasn’t wrong, no matter how poor the sales data is, it’s always the readers’ fault.”
“Right, right!”
The deputy editor nodded along.
The female manager who had left before now returned having heard what they were talking about was instantly furious, and she started swearing at them, “You two think that you haven’t made any wrong judgement? The fucking phone in my office has exploded with calls, do you know that? All the bookstores in Qin Continent are rushing me for stocks. Now as soon as I pick up the phone, all I hear is ‘King of the Net, King of the Net, King of the Net!’ It’s driving me crazy! Do you guys have any idea how busy I’ve been arranging supplies for these past few days? Do you know how close I am to getting an early menopause due to the stress? Do you know how many nights I haven’t been able to sleep soundly!?”
The female manager’s eyes were bloodshot!
Her swearing was like a series of explosions, and her imposing tone had the editor-in-chief and the deputy editor terrified.
“Well…”
They carefully checked the table again, and confirmed earnestly, “‘King of the Net’s’ sales is last among the supernovas, so how could it possibly be out of stock? Ma’am, you seem upset, must be some mistake somewhere, right?”
“A mistake?”
The female manager looked at the two as though they were idiots , “‘King of the Net’ only had a fucking initial 100,000 copies in stock which were not even enough for the big book merchants, the third day after Supernova was published, it was already sold out. How can one compete for sales without stock?”
The editor-in-chief and the deputy editor were stunned.
The two of them were previously only focused on the Supernova sales rankings, completely forgetting that ‘King of the Net’ had only initially published 100,000 copies.
It wasn’t until the female manager’s rant that they remembered.
At this moment, the two of them widened their eyes and finally had a vague realization, the miracle they were eagerly awaiting, really seemed to have happened!
“You two.”
The female manager displayed a dangerous smile, her tone was strangely gentle though, “Please tell me, which asshole decided to publish only 100,000 copies of ‘King of the Net’ initially?”
“Him!”
The editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief both pointed at each other simultaneously..