Naturally, Silver Blue Library does not have a player like He Mingxuan who deliberately stays in the bookstore to keep an eye on people. After Supernova Publishing's works are widely distributed in Qinzhou bookstores, the only thing that can slightly reflect some market results is the readers' feedback.
It started out as just bits and pieces.
After all, reading takes time.
For the publishing house, sporadic reviews do not have much reference value. However, as the first batch of readers finished reading the novels, feedback on the five works of Supernova gradually increased on the message board of the official website of Silver Blue Book Library.
What worries publishers is that…
The No. 1 supernova "The Demon King from Another World", which the company had high hopes for, does not seem to have a very good reputation. Out of a full score of 10, the vast majority of readers gave the novel a score of less than 5 points, and it seems that everyone is not impressed by the model of this novel.
“It’s the same old trick, just a new soup.”
"The protagonist has traveled through time and space and turned into a demon king, but he still looks like a loser. Since the novel is written from the perspective of a demon king, can you not make the protagonist such a loser? If the protagonist isn't a loser, would the author not write the book?"
"I regret buying this book after reading it."
"Hurry up and cut it off. I'm not interested."
Qinzhou novels are published in volumes, so the sales of the first volume are crucial. Novels with poor sales are likely to be cut short, and the publishing house will notify the author to finish them quickly. Once a work originally planned for more than ten volumes is cut short, it will probably be compressed by the author into three or five volumes and hastily completed. After all, publishing companies also need to free up resources for works with greater potential.
Many readers are criticizing.
Of course, not all the reviews are negative. Some readers also think that the perspective of "Otherworldly Devil" is very novel: "Although it is old wine in a new bottle, at least the identity of the protagonist is different from the traditional otherworldly adventure model, so it is not to the point of being cut off."
Maybe it will explode later
This situation is not without precedent.
There is a very popular novel in the market right now. When it was first released, its reputation was very average and its sales were also disappointing. The publishing house even notified the author to cut the book short. However, two volumes later, the story took a dramatic turn and reached a climax. Sales exploded, so much so that the plan to cut the book short was cancelled. The book is still being serialized and has already reached the 22nd volume.
However, such examples are rare.
If the opening of the first volume of the novel fails to attract readers, it will be difficult to keep readers going even if you make a blast later. Only if readers are attracted from the beginning can the novel continue to be serialized steadily.
Not only does the first place have a bad reputation.
The reputation of the second to fourth place works of Supernova was also very average, with only the second place scoring five points, but five points is only a passing score in the novel market and cannot be considered very good at all.
“It’s been difficult this year.”
At a department meeting of the Silver Blue Library a week later, an editor looked at the reviews of several novels and sighed, "I thought the sales of "Otherworldly Devil" would be explosive, but as readers have read more and more otherworldly adventure novels, their requirements have also become higher and higher."
“That’s true.”
"It's not that this year's supernovas are not as good as before, but that readers' reading tastes are getting higher and higher. No wonder editors have been trying to support new themes. Readers are tired of old themes, and novels must provide new excitement."
"… "
In the early years, TV dramas often featured stupid plots like car accidents, cancer, and abortions, but the audiences still watched them with gusto. But now, if such plots appear again, the audience will point at the director's nose and curse him.
The same is true in the field of fiction.
A few years ago, novels about adventures in other worlds could become popular with just a few gimmicks. For example, there was a novel called "In Another World with a Cell Phone", which tells the story of the protagonist carrying a magical cell phone that can be used in another world, and pretending to be cool but getting humiliated all the time. From today's perspective, that story may seem horrible, but readers at the time still liked the novel very much.
“Not all of them were wiped out.”
Yang Feng tried to comfort everyone: "Although the novel "Prince of Tennis" is the last one in the supernova, its reputation is still very good. Now the score is as high as 8.5 points, which is very remarkable."
Yang Feng was right.
Although the reputation of the first four books of Supernova was not satisfactory, "The Prince of Tennis" has currently received very high ratings, and the readers' responses in the comment section are mostly appreciative.
“This one is the best!”
"I didn't expect a novel about a sport like tennis could be written so well. I picked it up in a bookstore and read it casually. I didn't expect that I couldn't put it down once I picked it up. I immediately declared that I'm a fan of The Prince of Tennis."
"A breath of fresh air from the supernova!"
"I'm tired of reading adventure novels in other worlds. It's surprisingly good to change my taste occasionally. I have recommended "Prince of Tennis" to many friends, but many of them are not interested. They are just like me in the past and don't understand the charm of competitive novels at all."
"… "
The editors naturally knew that "The Prince of Tennis" had a high rating and could be said to have received rave reviews, but for Silver Blue Books, the reputation of this novel could only be considered a consolation prize, because the subject matter of this novel was too unpopular and it was almost impossible for its sales to explode.
"it's useless."
“The subject matter is too cold.”
"It's a good show, but it doesn't attract viewers."
The editors did not seem too excited. Every publishing house has some novels that are well-received but not popular. Major publishing houses generally adopt a supportive attitude towards such novels. Even if the sales are not good, they will try their best to provide publishing resources, just like a film company needs some art films to gild its reputation. However, the company's real money still depends on the sales of novels.
"Don't be downcast."
The editor-in-chief was very dissatisfied with the status of the editors: "With your status, the sales have not come out yet. Word of mouth is not everything. Some novels have low ratings but still have very good sales."
"Too."
“There’s a chance!”
“It’s just word of mouth.”
Hope lit up the eyes of the editors. Word of mouth does not mean everything. There are some books in the market that are well-received but not popular, and there are also some books that have very bad word of mouth but their sales are rising steadily. These days, many readers are arrogant but say one thing and do another. "The Prince of Tennis" belongs to the former in everyone's eyes, so Supernova's other books may not necessarily become the latter!
These people are so easy to fool.
The deputy editor curled his lips quietly.
There are few works that are well-received but not popular, but there are also few works that have bad reputations but good sales. In the general rules of the book market, reputation and sales are usually proportional...
"Let's adjourn the meeting."
The editor-in-chief waved his hand.
After everyone left, the editor-in-chief was suddenly worried, and his state was even worse than the editors just now: "It seems that this supernova is really messed up, unless a miracle happens."
"Miracle?"
The deputy editor who also did not leave smiled bitterly and said, "Let's go to the statistics department together. The first week sales of Supernova should have been counted there. Let's see where the miracle is."
Editor-in-Chief: “…”
The two walked side by side to the relevant department. The editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief looked at the female supervisor of the statistics department at the same time: "The first week sales of Supernova should be counted by now, right?"
"Coming?"
The female supervisor had a cold expression, as if she was particularly unhappy with the two guys. She said one sentence and turned around to get busy: "The statistics table is on the table. If you don't understand anything, come and ask me."
"How did we offend her?"
The editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief looked at each other, then picked up the statistical table and took a look. This one look immediately killed their last hope, because the best-selling book "The Demon King from Another World" only had 180,000 copies.
This is a supernova!
In previous years, works that were published under the Supernova Award would be embarrassed to go out and greet people if their sales did not exceed 300,000 in the first week. However, this year, the highest-selling book among the five Supernova books was less than 200,000 copies.
But at least one thing is true.
Those are the top five ranked by Supernova, and their sales volume is perfectly in line with their names. The editor-in-chief tried to make a good laugh: "At least our sales ranking prediction was not wrong. If the sales data is not good, it is the readers' fault anyway."
"Yes, yes!"
The deputy editor nodded.
The female supervisor who had left came back and was immediately furious when she heard the conversation between the two. She started to curse: "You two idiots, are you right? My phone has been bombarded with calls, you know that! Bookstores all over Qinzhou are asking me to deliver goods. Now, whenever I answer the phone, the first thing the other end says is Prince of Tennis, Prince of Tennis, Prince of Tennis! It's driving me crazy! Do you know how busy I have been these days just to deliver goods? Do you know that my menopause is about to be brought forward? Do you know that I haven't had a good night's sleep for several days!?"
The female supervisor's eyes were red!
The barrage of words was so rapid that the saliva splashed all over the faces of the editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief, and the momentum was enough to make the two of them tremble.
"that… "
The two carefully looked at the statistics table and confirmed very seriously: "The sales of "Prince of Tennis" is the last in the supernova, how could it be out of stock? Why do you look so scared? There must be something wrong, right?"
"A mistake?"
The female supervisor looked at the two people in front of her as if they were idiots. "There are only 100,000 copies of Prince of Tennis in stock, which is not enough for major booksellers to fill their teeth. Supernova sold out on the third day after it was published. You want people to risk their lives to compete for sales?"
The editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief were stunned.
The two of them were so busy looking at the sales ranking of Supernova that they completely forgot that the initial publication of "Prince of Tennis" was only 100,000 copies.
I only remembered it after being scolded by the female supervisor.
At this moment, the two of them widened their eyes and finally realized something: the miracle they longed for seemed to have really appeared!
"You two."
The female supervisor showed a dangerous smile, and her tone was strangely gentle: "Please answer me, who was the idiot who decided to publish 100,000 copies of Prince of Tennis in advance?"
"he!"
The editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief pointed at each other at the same time.