Chapter 24: Physical Book Release
After Lin Yun learned that Gu Qingge and her brother could make money through games, she no longer thought that Gu Qingge had "fallen".
After all, Gu Qingge is about to go to an art university, which requires a lot of expenses.
Lin Yun, on the contrary, felt that Gu Qingge and her brother were quite inspiring. Despite their family's difficult financial situation, they managed to find ways to make money in this way.
Gu Qingge did not lie to her. She was very good at guiding her younger brother Gu Wenzhou, which not only helped Gu Wenzhou improve his gaming awareness and skills, but also made him more and more adept at live streaming.
The mysterious "Qian Meng" is also becoming more and more famous in the game "Heroes of Glory".
…
Time passed slowly, and it was already April. Gu Qingge successfully sent the 200,000-word manuscript of "Who Can Compete" to her editor Liu Shutang.
As a result, before "Who Can Compete" was published, there were huge disagreements in the editorial department of Qidian Publishing House, and the atmosphere was extremely disharmonious.
The cause of all this was Pan Liang, a senior editor in his fifties, who went berserk.
The editorial department of Qidian Publishing House holds a meeting of all editors-in-chief before each new work is released, and everyone from the magazine department and the online literature department must attend.
Pan Liang slammed the table in the meeting, pointing his finger at Ye Jingyi. He angrily said, "How can a work by a complete newcomer like 'Who Can Contend' be published as a single volume? You are simply talking nonsense!"
Ye Jingyi rolled her eyes. She didn't even bother to give Pan Liang face. She just sneered, "Just because your own editor is leaning towards me, you even hate 'Who Can Contend With Me'? You old man, your vision for novels is already out of date. If you're not going to publish a single volume of 'Who Can Contend With Me', are you going to publish that 'Wu Dou Tian Xia' that you so strongly recommend?"
When Pan Liang thought of the "backstabbing" behavior of Liu Shutang, the editor who used to work under him, he felt particularly embarrassed.
He was really careless. He didn't expect Liu Shutang to launch such a sneak attack. It was simply unethical. Just because he was not optimistic about "Who Can Contend", Liu Shutang dared to turn around and recommend this work to Ye Jingyi.
But Ye Jingyi really liked this work and insisted on recommending it.
Pan Liang originally didn't want to offend Ye Jingyi, an editor-in-chief who was very young, had a strong background and a bright future.
But he really couldn't swallow this. Besides, no matter where he was in the workplace, if he wanted to maintain his authority and influence, Pan Liang had to fight back against this behavior that was almost a slap in the face!
Therefore, when Ye Jingyi was fully committed to producing "Who Can Compete", Pan Liang also forced out his highly anticipated work "Fighting the World" to prove his vision.
"'Wu Dou Tian Xia' is a new work by veteran fantasy author Bei Hai, who has been preparing for three years. I've already read the first 200,000 words. The writing is fluent, the style is grand, and the plot is full of twists and turns. I don't know how many times better it is than 'Who Can Contend With Me'. When it comes out as a standalone book, its sales will definitely far exceed 'Who Can Contend With Me'!"
Pan Liang said in a very determined tone that he had completely placed his bet on the work "Wu Dou Tian Xia".
In order to promote the direct publication of "Wu Dou Tian Xia" as a single volume, Pan Liang also put in a lot of effort and used a lot of favors.
The other editors in the meeting room were no longer surprised by the conflict between Pan Liang and Ye Jingyi.
Editors in the popular fiction circle are prone to conflicts because the sales of the works they work on are linked to their performance.
In other words, the editor who publishes a work with higher sales will naturally receive more bonuses.
As editors compete for more resources and greater voice, friction and conflicts will naturally arise.
The method to resolve the above contradiction is very simple, that is to compare sales. Whoever launches a work with higher sales will be able to obtain more resources in the future, so that they will have more recommendation opportunities.
The popular fiction circle is so pragmatic. Everything depends on the market and sales. High sales are the bottom line!
While Pan Liang and Ye Jingyi were arguing, the other two editors were also discussing in a low voice.
Mao Ping is also one of the four editors-in-chief of the online literature department, and Jiang Ying next to him is the editor-in-chief of the magazine department.
The two had a good relationship, and Jiang Ying couldn't help but ask Mao Ping, "Old Mao, which book do you prefer?"
Mao Ping actually doesn’t know much about either book, but the veteran fantasy author Bei Hai is undoubtedly more famous than the newcomer author Nan Gezi.
So he said, "Although the sales of traditional fantasy novels have been declining, it is undeniable that the fantasy genre still has a wider audience. Coupled with Beihai's reputation, I feel that "Wu Dou Tian Xia" is more stable."
This is Mao Ping's judgment based on his own experience. He certainly knows that "Who Can Compete" is more innovative, and he uses the title "the pioneering work of e-sports novels" to promote it.
But how many new authors can actually accomplish the feat of creating a new category with their debut work?
Even the top writers in the popular fiction circle, those talented writers, often only become successful with their second book.
After hearing Mao Ping's judgment, Jiang Ying nodded in agreement.
As a magazine editor, he instinctively had great doubts about works like "Who Can Compete" which had not yet been serialized in the magazine to prove its popularity.
As for Beihai's "Wu Dou Tian Xia", although he also published a physical book directly, he is a senior author after all and has achieved success in the past. Although when his works were at their peak sales, he was only considered a god.
In such an extremely disharmonious atmosphere, the meeting finally ended.
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Chen Shuda, who presided over the meeting, kept smiling throughout the meeting. He seemed not to notice the conflict between the two editors-in-chief, Pan Liang and Ye Jingyi.
However, careful people still discovered that he was more optimistic about "Wu Dou Tian Xia" operated by Pan Liang, because the first print run of this work was 200,000 copies, while "Who Can Compete" was only 50,000 copies.
In China's popular fiction market, since there is no piracy, a new work that can sell a million copies per month is generally considered a top-tier work, 500,000 copies is considered an ordinary work, and 200,000 copies is considered a mid-level work.
The fact that the first print run of "Wu Dou Tian Xia" was 200,000 copies is clearly a reflection of Beihai's status in the popular fiction circle.
Ye Jingyi expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the first print run of "Who Can Compete" was only 50,000 copies. She sarcastically said at the meeting, "If they only print so few copies, our publishing house's customer service phone will be flooded with calls, haha."
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Chen Shuda smiled and said, "If this happens, it will be a happy trouble for our publishing house. We can just reprint it when the time comes. Editor-in-Chief Ye, a first print run of 50,000 copies for a debut novel by a new author is already a huge risk. If its sales plummet, it will be a serious loss for the publishing house."
…
It is in such a situation that the physical book of "Who Can Compete", the pioneering work of e-sports novels, is finally on the market!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
