The time came to January.
The weather in Xingning City is gradually getting cooler, and the maple leaves are turning red layer by layer. When schools large and small announce holidays, the students, who are the main buyers of comic weekly magazines, finally have a long vacation after a long absence, and "Huaying Comics" has also been released to its fourth issue.
As usual, Huaying Comics quickly posted the results of the last issue of "Huaying Comics" popularity survey on its official website -
Unlike other comic magazines, which use a reader survey to decide whether a comic should continue to be serialized, in other words, even if a comic is ranked last for a long time, as long as the quality of the work itself is still within the standards required by Huaying Comics, it will not be discontinued for this reason.
In a nutshell, as long as the quality of the work is online, high or low popularity will not have much impact. The official Huaying posted this data, which is actually just a simple popularity ranking in accordance with the practice of traditional comic magazines.
As a comics fan for nearly a decade, Ye Shulin knows this very well. This is also the reason why he has a better impression of the new "Huaying Comics", which is also a comic magazine.
but-
He looked at the results of the fourth popularity survey posted on the official website:
1. "Taking Vegas" --- 60.1%
2. Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet -- 25.7%
3.…
Strictly speaking, compared with the voting results of the first period, the fourth period of the Sherlock Holmes series actually has a significant increase in popularity.
Considering that the voting method adopted by "Huaying Comics" is a corresponding method - in simple terms, only readers who have purchased the current issue of the magazine are eligible to vote, one weekly magazine corresponds to one vote, and the voting option itself is single choice, that is to say, at least more than 40,000 new readers chose to vote for the Sherlock Holmes series in the fourth issue.
Since the voting share of "Taking Las Vegas" has even seen a slight decline, it can be said that at least half of the extra votes for Holmes were snatched from the former.
But Ye Shulin was not satisfied.
He looked at the comments section of the official website full of expressions of love for Ben Campbell, the protagonist of "Taking Vegas", and curled his lips in disdain.
Handsome? Isn't it just counting cards? Isn't it just sitting at the gambling table and acting cool, leaving the casino group helpless? My Sherlock Holmes not only has a superb IQ, amazing observation and logical reasoning skills, but also swordsmanship and boxing. Not only is he good at both literature and martial arts, but even his stage disguise and acting skills are top-notch!
Today's readers really don't know how to appreciate it.
Ye Shulin shook his head, feeling deeply sad for the general readers who could not appreciate his new idol. He thought for a moment and opened his chat software again.
As a senior mystery novel lover, in order to avoid falling into a situation where there is no mystery novel to read, Ye Shulin certainly has his own circle. At this moment, he opened a mystery lover chat group that he joined a few years ago:
“Has anyone read Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet?”
Less than three seconds after Ye Shulin sent out his message, someone immediately responded: "Who wrote this? Old author or new author? Is it good?"
"I seem to have heard this name somewhere before? Is it because it stepped on the old mystery novel that many people complained about?"
"??? Is this true? There is such a thing? What kind of weird operation is it to diss previous mystery novels in mystery comics? Ye Zi, was your account hacked or are you just making a living by cheating? You are also promoting something like this?"
Ye Shulin quickly replied, "No, it's really not! I guarantee with my reputation of promoting books for five years that this is definitely not a false recommendation! And it's definitely not a gimmick! Words are not enough, you will know after you read it. The beginning does give people the feeling that it is not a serious mystery comic, but it is completely different after the case unfolds."
Fearing that the other party would not believe him, Ye Shulin tried to hold back his excitement, but he still couldn't hold back his excitement, and he typed on the keyboard loudly: "Believe me, Sherlock Holmes is really not sensational!! He is just more awesome than the protagonists in the previous detective novels! Do you know about deductive reasoning? Do you know about psychological simulation? Do you know about footwork tracking? If it doesn't look good, I'll hang my head on you with a hammer, okay!"
As soon as he said this, everyone in the chat group became interested.
This is not the first time that Ye Shulin has recommended a novel or comic, but it is the first time that he has given such a high evaluation and said with certainty, "If it's not good, I'll give you a beating." If the other party's account was not hacked, then this mystery comic is indeed very good, so much so that Ye Shulin, who is used to reading mystery novels, also praised it highly.
"Okay, I'll take this recommendation first. If it doesn't look good, just wait for me to come back to Xingning City to settle the score with you! [Evil smile]"
"It just so happens that I'm really out of ideas lately, so I'll give it a try. I hope I won't be disappointed."
—
As the topic of Sherlock Holmes gradually spread among mystery enthusiasts, more readers and media have focused their attention on the currently popular "Taking Las Vegas".
"Campbell is really a little cutie! The contrast is really adorable. He is usually cute and adorable at school, but he turns on his acting skills at the casino and unlocks all kinds of weird personalities. It's so fun!"
"Let's be frank, I can't wait to see the little cutie in women's clothing, hahahahahahaha!"
"Why are you all confessing your love to the male protagonist? Girls are also super cute, okay? Oh no, I should say that our Miss Taylor is also very handsome, okay? When girls are handsome, you guys have no chance. Ah~ Today is also a day to indulge in the beauty of the little sister and can't extricate myself!"
…
Readers read the comic plot, while peers focus on sales and influence.
"The sales of the fourth issue of "Huaying Comics" are almost two million, right?"
"The third phase has already exceeded two million. If there are no unexpected events, the fourth phase should also be stable."
"… It's really scary. This result should be at least in the top four among similar weekly magazines, right? It took us almost two years to reach this sales volume for Baiyun Comics, but Huaying reached this sales volume within less than a month after its launch. It's really frustrating to compare yourself with others…"
"We can't help it. After all, the popularity of Kaei Animation is very high. Even if their comics are shit, there are still a lot of anime fans who buy them. This is completely different from our situation at the time."
"I took a look and found that the average quality of the serialized works in Huaying Comics is actually quite average. Except for the two stories about casinos and mystery, the other comics are completely unimpressive. If they were put on our magazine, they would only be ranked in the bottom two or three. Most of the sales are supported by "Taking Over Las Vegas"."
"I've watched it, too. The subject matter is quite interesting, and the plot is very novel, and it's well-known. I heard that many film and television companies are now asking Huaying about the film copyright..."
"Is this true? It's only been serialized for four chapters? Buying the movie rights now, isn't that too much?!"
…
The editors' low-pitched discussions came from not far away, and Jing Huahao's eyes flickered.
The editors were generally skeptical about the news, but Jing Huahao, who had more channels and sources of information, knew that it was neither a rumor nor hype, and that several large Blue Star film and television companies were interested in the film and television rights to "Taking Las Vegas" - this was true.
Among these film and television companies, there are even some Western companies that have no interest in Eastern IPs due to cultural differences.
It is undeniable that "Taking Las Vegas" is indeed a very good popcorn comic, and perhaps it will become a good popcorn movie in the future.
It is precisely because of this that it took on the heavy responsibility of carrying the sales of the magazine at the most critical moment in the development of Huaying Comics. Even though Huaying no longer gave away any peripheral products starting from the fifth issue, Jing Huahao had no doubt that as long as "Taking Las Vegas" was there, even if the sales of "Huaying Comics" were reduced to its original state due to the discontinuation of the free peripheral products, this so-called "original state" would most likely be something that other comic magazines could not even dream of.
But...
Jing Huahao looked at the white paper full of handwriting in his hand, smiled lightly, slowly tore it into pieces, and then threw it into the trash can beside him.
"What a pity..."
—
At the same time.
The black car glided silently along the street and finally stopped in front of a building.
The young woman sitting in the passenger seat pursed her lips. Her right hand was already on the handle to open the car door, but her face was full of hesitation and uneasiness. She hesitated and said, "Should we really do this?"
"It's just normal business competition," the man sitting in the driver's seat said calmly, "If you want to blame someone, blame Huaying for choosing the wrong subject matter and giving us this opportunity."
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for his colleagues, he opened the car door and got out, walking straight towards the building not far away.
It says: Xingning Province Culture, Media and Publishing Bureau.
—
Five days later.
There is only one day left until the deadline for "Huaying Comics".
Mu Suxing rubbed his forehead, feeling as if he had found the long-lost tension of rushing to finish his homework in high school. He shook his slightly sore right hand and sighed helplessly.
I hope that "Huaying Comics" can get back on track as soon as possible, so that he can put aside the comics and continue to do his job.
Putting aside his inner depression, Mu Suxing regrouped and planned to finish the rest of the fifth chapter in one go. Suddenly, a vague and noisy sound came from outside the door.
He frowned and was about to ask Du Yutang to inquire about the situation, but the next second, the door of his office was suddenly and rudely pushed open without any warning.
What's going on
Mu Suxing frowned and just stood up from his seat when the middle-aged man who pushed the door open also stood in front of him.
The man was wearing a neat suit, and his expression was not so much indifferent as arrogant. He glanced at Muxuxing casually, and then said in a commanding tone - or more accurately, in a notification tone:
"I am Director Zhang from the Xingning Provincial Publishing Bureau. Recently, a large number of parents in Xingning City have reported to the Bureau through phone calls and other means, and submitted a joint letter. They believe that comics like "Taking Las Vegas" that instigate gambling will inevitably have a great adverse impact on the physical and mental health of minors—"
"In order to prevent the consequences of bad comics from further expanding, it is recommended that Huaying Comics immediately stop updating and remove the comics, or revise them until they pass the second review."
"above."