Because the new book was released just a few days before the New Year, many industries basically closed down, and the publishing house also went on holiday. Therefore, the specific sales figures for the new book were only compiled and reported after the holiday, and sent to the editor-in-chief's office.
After seeing the specific sales data, Editor-in-Chief Zhang of the Wuxia magazine was very happy and ordered another print run of 200,000 sets. Editor-in-Chief He of the Si Wuxie Romance magazine, after reviewing the data, immediately convened a meeting of editors.
As soon as everyone arrived, she distributed the sales data report for "The Man Deep in My Heart" to each editor present:
"Take a look at this data first. Then, tell me what you see, what are your thoughts and suggestions, and speak your minds."
Since this was not the first time such a meeting had been held, the editors present quickly reviewed the sales data, quickly grasped the key points, and began to think. After a long while, someone tapped the table and said:
"The 30,000 copies of the hardcover novel were all sold out within a day. If we look at the detailed data, we can see that before the 30,000 hardcover novels were sold out, only 20,000 copies of the paperback novel were sold. It was only after the hardcover novels sold out that the sales of the paperback novels began to increase. A part of this was likely due to people who couldn't get the hardcover version and had to settle for the paperback out of necessity. If we had printed more hardcover novels, they would have sold as well. It seems we were too conservative before. So, are you saying that the hardcover novel market can be deeply explored, and that's why you called us here for a meeting?"
"Yes and no. The hardcover sales of Ding Yun's novels are indeed quite good, which is a fact. However, we have also published hardcover and even signed editions for other authors before. The sales were quite disappointing. Only a few older authors with a large readership could manage to sell out. Since then, we have basically not published hardcover editions for new generation authors. Until this time, author Xiao Ding took charge of the entire design herself. I also really liked her design sense, which is why I took the risk to try again, and it was a rare success. What we need to do is to summarize the successful experience and turn unexpected success into inevitable success. We have collected some feedback from purchasers. I don't have time to read them one by one, so let's take this opportunity to review them together. Summarizing our experience is how we create new successes."
After saying this, Editor-in-Chief He distributed the feedback she had collected into over a dozen portions, asking everyone to look at them together and then discuss. Consequently, there was another period of silence. Many people nodded thoughtfully as they read.
After a long time, Editor-in-Chief He finished reading the feedback she had in her hands with a hint of confusion and muttered, "What people praised more was actually how exquisite the books were and how beautiful the cover illustrations were. Fewer people praised the content. Some even felt heartbroken about corner damage and worried if our publishing house would reprint it so they could buy a perfect copy."
"Isn't this like buying the casket and returning the pearl?"
"Editor-in-Chief, I think we may have overlooked a very important factor before. Jewelry can be exquisite, and art collections can be exquisite. Why can't books be exquisite? In fact, as long as we are willing to invest, we can produce books as works of art. It's just that we always thought no one would be willing to spend an extra few dozen yuan just because a book was prettier. But now, the facts prove that there are people willing to pay extra for exquisiteness. The reason why some of our previous hardcover editions didn't receive feedback on this issue, and their sales were relatively poor, is likely because we only considered making the hardcover editions sturdier than the regular ones, so they could last for decades without damage. However, this idea might be outdated. It's no longer the past where a book is passed down through generations and the more durable it is, the better it sells. Nowadays, people might care more about appearance, the exquisiteness of the book itself, and its design sense, rather than how long the book can be kept at home without moisture or insect damage. This is roughly my idea. Perhaps we can develop in this direction."
None of the editors present were slow-witted. Sometimes, things just need a reminder or a flash of inspiration. Therefore, someone quickly understood the crux of the problem and put forward their own ideas, and other editors also took the opportunity to offer their speculations.
"To be honest, if you put this book alongside the hardcover books our publishing house has published before, not considering the content, I would definitely prefer to buy this one. The appearance of a book is really important. After all, the appearance of a book is like a person's face. While many people say they care about the soul and inner beauty, in reality, most people see the face first. No one can see someone's heart at first glance. Only when one is interested in the face will they consider inner beauty and so on. Books are the same. If a book is so beautiful that passersby want to pick it up and take a look, then the sales volume will definitely increase. After all, only by picking up the book to read it first can there be a possibility of purchase. If others don't notice it at all and it doesn't pique their interest to pick it up, then purchasing it is even out of the question."
"The works of many other publishing houses nowadays are not much inferior to ours, and there are also many famous authors. Therefore, if we want to increase sales, besides ensuring quality, we probably have to put more effort into these aspects. Also, the feedback on the posters is very good. Perhaps in the future, we can also appropriately include some peripheral products such as posters and postcards. It won't increase costs much anyway. I suggest we can try it."
Just as several editors were excitedly discussing and even envisioning a beautiful future, Zhang Hongyu from the book design department couldn't help but say, "Stop for a moment, please allow me to interrupt. Your ideas are all very good, but have you considered one problem? Not all designs are liked by readers, and not all illustrations and covers can satisfy readers. Some can even be detrimental. Don't think that book design is a simple, easy task that can be done with a mere word. All I can say is that our design department does not have book designers who can compare with author Xiao Ding, nor do we have illustrators or original artists who can compare with Xiao Ding. The fact that her novel's design is beautiful and sells well is her skill, and it has little to do with us. If we were to design it ourselves, to reach her level, or even just eighty percent of her level, we would need to recruit more designers with innovative abilities in the design industry and poach a few highly skilled original artists with high salaries."
"In addition, author Xiao Ding did not ask for any design fees this time, nor did she ask for any fees for the illustrations. However, based on my understanding of the industry, the design fee for a book of Xiao Ding's caliber would be at least thirty thousand yuan, and each illustration would likely cost no less than eight thousand yuan. If she were famous, charging twenty thousand yuan would not be impossible. The eight thousand yuan I mentioned is for those without fame. If these costs were added, the price we are currently selling at can only be said to break even, not make a profit. Therefore, if our magazine genuinely wants to develop in this direction, there will inevitably be a large upfront investment, and we will also have to take some risks, as we are not sure if readers will accept other people's designs."
Zhang Hongyu was not intentionally pouring cold water. The key was that she had to point out these issues. Otherwise, they would be full of enthusiasm, thinking that things were easy and that illustrations and designs were free. Later, a large number of tasks would be thrown onto her, and if sales were not good, they would be blamed on their department. That would be unfortunate for them. So, it was better to burst their bubble early and truthfully describe the difficulties they would face.