Chapter 118: Chapter 115: Gone Mad_i
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“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 theirpositions for this year’s exam very close to their chest, vigntly 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 theirpositions.
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 ssmates’ works, as he was involved in the arrangement production of seventy percent of his ssmates.
Speaking objectively.
Lin Yuan thought that some of his ssmates’ works were quite good. The music environment of Qin Continent could easily nurture promisingposers —perhaps one or two industry leaders could emerge from his ss 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 popr 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.
Thepany’s editorial department waspletely 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 sess.
But the market apparently didn’t feel the same way.
Silver Blue Books had printed a full one million copies of “Zhu Xian”.
However, ording to Shi Yun’s calctions, 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 hisst 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 Inte 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?
Heughed and said, “I can’t me the bookstores. If I were in their position, I too wouldn’t dare tomit torge 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 ced 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 y 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 Ick confidence in Chu Kuang, it’s that Ick 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 nonchnt 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 fifthrgest 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 theirpany 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 intoughter. 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 ce 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 wouldpletely offend Tranquility Bookstore. Besides, they had a good rtionship. The value of this rtionship 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 eximed, “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 littleplex.
“Silver Blue Books has developed to its current status from a medium-sized publishingpany. I, Lu Bei, may not im 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 uing 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…
Thepany did clear its inventory, but what if ‘Zhu Xian’ didn’t sell? In the future, won’t Tranquility Bookstore cklist Silver Blue Books?
If things go wrong, Mr. Pei Du might be buried alive in the stock of ‘Zhu Xian’!