Holographic projections floated out, a dozen folders.
"Zhi Jun's first batch of short stories haven't been released to the public yet, but industry insiders have already seen them. When I say industry insiders, I mean people with status, fame, and skill. The riff-raff aren't included," Batu Lu's speech suddenly sped up when talking about work, as if on double speed. "Currently, the industry is full of praise."
He lightly tapped the first folder.
A series of comments appeared.
"Remarkably stunning works, a unique style, possibly enough to pierce the heavens of the literary world."
"The literary world has been silent for ten years, and finally, there's a seedling of great talent. But good short stories aren't enough. If this author releases a full-length novel, I'd be willing to read it immediately and even write a preface for it. I believe it would be my honor to write a preface for this author."
"I read it at eight in the evening, couldn't sleep until two in the morning, took sleeping pills to finally fall asleep, woke up at six in the morning, and my mind was still filled with this novel."
"It can sell well, possessing immense literary and narrative qualities, it's just a bit short. Why not serialize it?"
"Potential blockbuster, the only authors I've given this four-character evaluation to in the past decade are three."
"Damn, amazing. Reading this makes me want to write too, but I definitely can't write it this well. This author's writing style is very strange, not like a man, not like a woman. Could they be androgynous?"
Almost all the reviews were positive, with only a few nitpickers appearing, making them seem out of place.
"It seems the industry reviews are quite good," Jiang Ye nodded. "You didn't pay for them, did you?"
"We wouldn't waste money on that. It's all private, secret exchanges; these comments won't be made public," Batu Lu said. "Please forgive me for correcting your phrasing, these evaluations can't be described as 'quite good.' You know how writers are, always belittling each other. To get these arrogant individuals to lower their guard and say a single good word is almost equivalent to fawning praise! My judgment is not wrong; Zhi Jun's short stories are of exceptionally high quality. Tomorrow is the release of the new issue of 'Literary Cannon's' bi-monthly publication, and within three days, hundreds of millions of readers will have read it. At that time, a rare spectacle is highly likely to occur."
"A rare spectacle?" Jiang Ye was taken aback, wondering what kind of spectacle that could be.
"Reading forums will be swept clean, literary newspapers will request reprints on large pages, it will be in the news, and spread widely online," Batu Lu said. "First, readers will recommend it to each other, then it will attract those who pretend to be cultured, igniting a massive wave of recommendations."
"Is it that exaggerated?" Jiang Ye didn't believe it at all.
"Based on my many years of professional experience, it will be that exaggerated," an old lady next to him said. "Just like a high-quality TV drama becoming a hit, it will take less than a week to form a nuclear-level spread of word-of-mouth."
"Although the entertainment and cultural market seems prosperous, there are actually very few high-quality works," another old man added. "Once a masterpiece appears, the effect is like firing a shot at a flock of birds by a pond, or throwing steamed buns to a crowd of starving people."
"We'll know in a couple of days. I'll be watching," Jiang Ye said. "And then?"
"Then, it's time to strike while the iron is hot!" Batu Lu's eyes lit up.
He clicked on the second folder in the holographic projection, which contained a string of comments, ratings, section-by-section analysis, market forecasts, and so on.
"We've reviewed the 18 short stories and 10 novellas you sent recently. Not only has the quality not declined due to high output, but it has steadily improved!" Batu Lu was excited. "I plan to open an 18-page Zhi Jun literary column in 'Literary Cannon' to continuously update short stories once the first batch of Zhi Jun's novels gains critical acclaim."
"After a few months of short story updates, we can launch the novellas as individual books," Batu Lu said. "Several top publishing houses are willing to do it, and I'm familiar with them, so we can secure the highest quality publication. Two routes: the paperback common route, large volume and best-selling; the hardcover wealthy route, focusing on prestige and reputation. The initial print run is expected to be around one million copies. If the serialized short stories gain good reception, we can aim for a larger print run."
"Please forgive me for talking about money right away. A million copies, how much would that roughly earn?" Jiang Ye asked.
"About fifteen million yuan," Batu Lu said. "If the initial print run sells quickly, the next step will be reprints of ten million, fifty million, and a hundred million copies."
"Still too little," Jiang Ye shook his head. "Even if they print a billion copies and sell them all within a year, earning only fifteen hundred million is too insignificant."
"But there are already 10 novellas. Grouping two novellas into one book, we can produce five books. That's 7.5 billion!" Batu Lu's eyes gleamed like a wolf's. "In the publishing market, this is already a brilliant achievement. Of course, I know this money isn't much to you, so there must be other ways to profit."
"Please elaborate," Jiang Ye was a little disappointed, thinking it was such small money. Hearing there was more, he listened with anticipation.
"Online serialization, because Zhi Jun's short stories are very narrative, they might have market potential," Batu Lu said. "There are many ways to earn from online serialization: subscriptions, where readers pay to read paid chapters; advertising, where some ad posters are inserted into the articles, and advertisers pay; platform subsidies, many platforms, to grab traffic, will provide subsidies of varying amounts. There are also tips, audio adaptations, game adaptations, and so on."
"What is the estimated profit?" Jiang Ye asked.
"It's hard to say. The initial profit might be small, but as Zhi Jun releases more short and medium-length novels, and even full-length and ultra-long novels, the profit from online serialization will experience explosive growth. If lucky, the profit from physical books will be a mere fraction," Batu Lu said. "It's difficult to estimate this; literature, most of the time, relies on luck."
"Many masters died many years ago, their bodies long decayed, and only then did their works become popular," an old lady next to him agreed. "Some people, who weren't popular for decades, suddenly became wildly popular near death, completely inexplicably. They watched their royalties pile up like mountains of gold and silver, crying on their deathbeds in old age."
"But investing in promotion should be able to avoid such a situation, right?" Jiang Ye asked.
"It can avoid it to a certain extent," Batu Lu said. "Many works don't become popular due to limitations of the era and the acceptance of readers at the time, which is unavoidable and can only be overcome by time."
"Will Zhi Jun encounter this situation?" Jiang Ye asked.
"It's hard to say," Batu Lu thought for a moment. "Most likely, they won't be buried, because Zhi Jun's stories are enjoyed by both the refined and the common people, they are very narrative, and most people can get into them."
"Actually..." Jiang Ye thought for a moment. "We could let Zhi Jun try to cross over and write purely entertaining, commercially successful novels."
Everyone present was stunned.
They were all experts in classic and traditional literature, and Zhi Jun's submissions were also works with strong literary merit.
They could actually... cross over?
"Is... is that possible?" Batu Lu was somewhat disbelieving. "Can they just change their style? Honestly, generally speaking, there's a huge barrier between commercially successful novels and literary novels that emphasize artistic merit. An author can only excel at one."
"Zhi Jun isn't one author, but a whole bunch," Jiang Ye smiled. "They can learn, they can adapt, they can write any genre. I have this confidence."