BXBX NOVEL Chapter 118 - 115: Gone Mad_i
“What are you writing?”
“Let me have a listen.”
“Why won’t you let me hear it?”
“I’d rather not embarrass myself.”
Everyone seemed to be keeping their compositions for this year’s exam very close to their chest, vigilantly guarding their work as though it was something extraordinary. Very few were willing to share their songs prematurely. However, by the end of the month, everyone had handed in their compositions.
Lin Yuan also submitted his song.
It’s easy to understand the mentality of many students in the Music Composition Department. Anyone who chooses this major nurtures an inner “Maestro” dream. And perhaps Lin Yuan was the most knowledgeable about his classmates’ works, as he was involved in the arrangement production of seventy percent of his classmates.
Speaking objectively.
Lin Yuan thought that some of his classmates’ works were quite good. The music environment of Qin Continent could easily nurture promising composers —perhaps one or two industry leaders could emerge from his class in the future.
That being said.
Lin Yuan had a lot of confidence in “Initial Dream”. It was one of the most influential inspiring songs in the Celestial Dynasty, and its brilliance had been proven countless times. However, what some people might not know was that this song was not originally from the Celestial Dynasty. It was a cover of a popular track by Neon’s top diva, Nakajima Miyuki, performed by the Taiwanese singer Christine Fan.
The song was called “Riding on the Back of a Silver Dragon”.
No wonder there was a saying that Nakajima Miyuki was responsible for the livelihood of half the Chinese music scene. Many of the Taiwanese and Hong Kong songs that people loved when they were young turned out to be covers of Neon’s works when they grew up.
Also, at the end of this month.
The publishing department of Silver Blue Books was counting the number of pre-orders for the new book “Zhu Xian” from various booksellers. As the employees reported the numbers, the female department head Shi Yun’s expression did not look very good:
“NewCathay Bookstore: 80,000 copies.”
“Soaring Dragon Bookstore: 50,000 copies.”
“Universal Bookstore: 30,000 copies.”
“Yazhi Book Society: 20,000 copies.”
“Pinnacle Bookstore: 10,000 copies.”
“Time Bookstore: 10,000 copies.”
The counting continued, but Shi Yun’s face was getting worse and worse.
The company’s editorial department was completely confident in “Zhu Xian”.
The editor-in-chief had personally issued the order, so this book had an initial print run of one million copies, seeming quite certain of its potential success.
But the market apparently didn’t feel the same way.
Silver Blue Books had printed a full one million copies of “Zhu Xian”.
However, according to Shi Yun’s calculations, the total orders from the booksellers in the Qin Continent amounted to only about 280,000 copies.
A portion of these orders was made because of Chu Kuang’s performance on his last book.
“Is this too few?”
“We did extensive promotion this time, so logically, the order amount shouldn’t be this low,” one of Shi Yun’s subordinates frowned. “It seems that these booksellers and many other publishers in the industry are of the same thought, expecting ‘Zhu Xian’ to flop.”
Chu Kuang’s new book was a Fantasy-fairy-story.
When this news first came out, various discussions arose within the industry, with hardly anyone optimistic about this theme.
Many people thought that Chu Kuang’s new book would flop.
Silver Blue Books agreed to publish it, possibly because they could not resist Chu Kuang’s insistence.
Even if the book didn’t flop, the sales would certainly be far lower than Chu Kuang’s previous book, “King of the Net”.
Some people on the Internet even carried out a survey targeting the readers of “King of the Net”.
The survey presented them with three choices, asking if they would support Chu Kuang’s new fantasy-fairy-book.
The result was six to three to one.
Sixty percent chose not to support, thirty percent chose to support, and ten percent of the readers chose to wait and see.
This did not look promising for Chu Kuang’s new book.
It seemed that most booksellers held the same view and were not very optimistic about Chu Kuang’s new book, hence the extremely cautious order amounts.
This was a dangerous signal for Shi Yun!
With a print run of one million copies, only 280,000 copies were sold. Could it be that the remaining 720,000 copies would end up unsold?
She decided to talk to the editor-in-chief.
The editor-in-chief, Lu Bei, was surfing the web in his office. Seeing Shi Yun approaching, he smiled and asked, “How are the orders?”
“The total order amount is 280,000 copies.” Shi Yun’s expression was somewhat worried.
Lu Bei was taken aback: had they really only sold that many?
He laughed and said, “I can’t blame the bookstores. If I were in their position, I too wouldn’t dare to commit to large purchases. What if no one buys the books?”
Shi Yun:
Then why had you allowed so many prints?
And you’re grinning ear to ear?
Lu Bei was oblivious to Shi Yun’s grumbling, his smile still brilliant, “The top ten bookstores have all placed their orders with us, right?”
Shi Yun replied, “Tranquility Bookstore hasn’t ordered yet.”
Lu Bei nodded, “I’ll handle Tranquility Bookstore’s order.”
After saying that, Lu Bei made a phone call.
Shi Yun did not speak, quietly waiting on the side.
The call went through quickly, and the first thing Lu Bei said was, “Pei Du, do you want to play bigger?”
“How big?”
Pei Du, the General Manager of Tranquility Bookstore, smirked and said, “You want to persuade me to order more ‘Zhu Xian’, right? I was just thinking of contacting you. How about 100,000 copies?”
“You have such little faith in Chu Kuang?”
“It’s not that I lack confidence in Chu Kuang, it’s that I lack confidence in the fantasy genre. Let’s stop beating around the bush, tell me what Silver Blue Books is really up to.”
Lu Bei put on a nonchalant demeanor, “What I’m selling is the ultimate tonic!”
Shi Yun rolled her eyes. She was only responsible for publishing and sales and didn’t know much about novels.
Pei Du gave a bitter smile, “Tranquility Bookstore is the fifth largest chain bookstore in the country. You know I’ve been the general manager for only one year and my position is not very stable. There are so many eyes waiting for me to make a mistake. If you scam me too much, I might have to leave my position next year.”
“If you want to secure your position as the General Manager of Tranquility Bookstore, believe me, order one million copies!”
Shi Yun really wanted to remind Lu Bei that their company didn’t have that much stock.
But on second thought, the person in charge of Tranquility Bookstore was no fool, how could Lu Bei easily trick him.
As expected.
Pei Du burst into laughter. He and Lu Bei were good friends, so there was less restraint in their conversation, “Are you kidding? Bro, do you dare to print a million copies?”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”, Lu Bei said leisurely.
Pei Du gritted his teeth, “Then I’ll go along with you, let’s place an order for 500,000 copies.”
He didn’t believe that the other party would scam him.
If the other party dared to scam him, they would completely offend Tranquility Bookstore. Besides, they had a good relationship. The value of this relationship was much higher than several hundred thousand copies of the order.
“That’s a bit less. Since you’ve mentioned 500,000 copies why not just make it 700,000 copies,” Lu Bei’s eyes twinkled.
Pei Du exclaimed, “Are you crazy or am I crazy?”
Lu Bei raised his voice, “Neither of us is crazy. If anyone is about to go crazy, it’s those who are prudently watching. This time, I want to let the entire Qin Continent know that believe in Silver Blue Books and you will rule the world, believe in Chu Kuang and you will live forever!”
“Sounds like you’re a cult leader.”, Pei Du’s tone was a little complex.
“Silver Blue Books has developed to its current status from a medium-sized publishing company. I, Lu Bei, may not claim great credit, but at least I have made significant contributions. What do you think I’ve based this on?”
Pei Du did not respond.
There was a silence on the phone for three full minutes.
Lu Bei was silent too, demonstrating his patience.
No one knew what kind of struggle Pei Du was going through in his heart.
After three minutes, he suddenly roared, “God damn it, I’ll trust you once, 700,000 copies!”
“Great. Get ready for your bonus and performance next year. Got to go.”
“Don’t say ‘got to go’. That’s unlucky. I need to face the upcoming storm.”
He hung up the phone.
Lu Bei said, “It’s done.”
Shi Yun, who had been listening to the whole call, was amazed!
A 700,000-copy order right off the bat and it was concluded just like that?
No wonder Lu Bei was the chief editor, his ability to charm people was frightening!
But…
The company did clear its inventory, but what if ‘Zhu Xian’ didn’t sell? In the future, won’t Tranquility Bookstore blacklist Silver Blue Books?
If things go wrong, Mr. Pei Du might be buried alive in the stock of ‘Zhu Xian’!