129. The Stubborn Li Daniu

Promotion and marketing are crucial for any work.

For different works, the first step is to accurately identify the target audience; only then can the effects of promotion and marketing become more apparent.

When Li Daniu’s new book, "Harry Potter," was first released, he paid it little mind. Aside from attending a few book signings and appearing on a single program, he never offered any input on its promotional strategy.

In his view, having become a world-renowned author thanks to "The Lord of the Rings," why would his new book require the kind of effort only novice writers need to make? Moreover, since "Harry Potter" had created countless miracles in its previous life and was essentially a copy of "The Lord of the Rings," which had already succeeded, why wouldn’t "Harry Potter" find success as well?

Reality, however, dealt Li Daniu a harsh slap. When the book’s performance faltered and it was labeled a flop, only then did he realize he had once again been overconfident.

As a former underdog in his previous life, Li Daniu had achieved many accomplishments since crossing over, but he had also made numerous mistakes. Though none led to irreparable consequences, they still caused losses.

For example, his earlier fan benefit event went awry because he hadn’t fully considered the possibility of identical answers. What was meant to be a fun giveaway of $100,000 potentially escalated into tens of millions in payouts.

This time, with the new book, Li Daniu failed to consider the differences between readers of "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" in terms of their interests, which led to the book’s poor reputation.

In the internet age, while there are cases where negative reviews are used as marketing tools to earn money, overall, a good reputation is the greatest asset a work can have.

Because the overall word of mouth was poor, many middle school students and adults who might have been interested simply chose not to pick up the book.

As a result, the new book sold only a mere 150,000 copies in three weeks. This might be an incredible figure for a new author, but for someone like Li Daniu, who had once created miracles, it was nothing short of a disaster.

For outstanding individuals, people’s expectations are naturally higher.

Li Daniu shamelessly called himself an outstanding individual and felt no guilt over his mistakes. "I’m not Zhuge Liang," he said to himself; "You have to give me a chance to grow. Besides, it’s not too late to fix this."

“Focus the main promotional efforts on the 6 to 15-year-old age group. I believe the content of this book will have great appeal to them,” Li Daniu instructed Louis.

Louis was momentarily taken aback. “Your Majesty, um... do six-year-olds even recognize that many words?”

Li Daniu paused. Indeed, how could a six-year-old recognize so many words? Had he misremembered the book’s target audience?

Still, he refused to admit any mistake and simply relaxed his tone.

“If they can’t read, won’t they still listen? Didn’t your parents tell you bedtime stories when you were young? But on second thought, let’s adjust it to 6 to 19 years old.”

Louis smiled wryly, unable to argue with Li Daniu’s stubbornness. Fortunately, Li Daniu was not entirely unwilling to listen; although he wouldn’t admit it outright, the fact that he changed the target age showed he was capable of acknowledging his errors.

“No problem, Your Majesty. We have extensive experience promoting children’s and young adult literature. After all, our publishing house has released many books in this category. But are you sure that wager with the Hollywood Daily wasn’t a bit rash?”

“I’m confident,” Li Daniu replied without regret about the bet, only rueing that he had boasted too much. Selling 350,000 copies in just one week and four days to reach 500,000—while feasible globally—was rather risky if relying solely on the American market.

This impulsiveness, though somewhat tempered by past incidents, was not entirely gone.

Still, Li Daniu consoled himself: no one is perfect. Compared to the past, his current recklessness was much milder. At the very beginning, he might have even claimed he could sell 500,000 copies a week.

“Very well, Your Majesty. Rest assured, we will spare no effort to promote this book during this week.”

Louis could only make such a promise to Li Daniu. If Li Daniu stopped writing, it would directly affect him. Yet, in his heart, Louis resolved that if things went awry, he would manipulate the sales figures by some means. For a publishing house, such tactics were hardly unusual.

After entrusting Louis with the promotion, Li Daniu did not call on his followers on his own social platform to buy the book. To him, that would be humiliating. Besides, since he had promised rewards based on sales guesses, it was unthinkable to urge fans to purchase through that channel.

Whether fans would try to influence sales to match their guesses was beyond Li Daniu’s concern.

Moreover, with millions participating and tens of thousands of possible answers ranging from small to large numbers, how could one manipulate the outcome? Perhaps they would just be sewing someone else’s garment.

With one week and four days ahead, Li Daniu wasn’t worried. He even had the leisure to participate in the final recording of "The Voice of America."

The season was set for twelve episodes, airing two per week, so six weeks had nearly passed. Naturally, the last episode was being recorded.

This show, which Li Daniu proudly claimed to have created but was actually a copy, had become a staple topic among Americans, especially as the final championship battle approached. Fans eagerly awaited the victory of their favorite contestants.

Consequently, the ratings were constantly breaking records. According to media analysis, the final episode would undoubtedly set a new record for talent show viewership.

Because most contestants were amateurs, the mentors had recently been providing professional training to their team members.

Though many possessed natural vocal talent, singing techniques were crucial for any singer. Even ordinary people could enhance their singing with proper technique; for these gifted contestants, it was even more important.

Li Daniu’s so-called participation in the recording did not mean he was appearing on the show—though that would be effortless for him. Instead, he aimed to familiarize himself with the contestants’ vocal characteristics and singing styles to select suitable songs for them.

In the studio, Li Daniu discussed matters in turn with several mentors. Since these professionals knew the contestants best, their insights were invaluable.

Li Daniu’s interest extended beyond just the top contenders for the championship; he wanted to identify all contestants with potential and talent for singing.

All of these contestants had signed priority contracts with TC Entertainment, meaning that if they wished to enter the music industry under equal conditions, they had to sign with Li Daniu’s TC Entertainment. This was standard practice: after investing so much money into the show and essentially launching their careers, TC Entertainment didn’t force contracts but secured priority rights—a far more humane approach compared to other talent shows.

Thus, Li Daniu had the right to sign every contestant from the show who wanted to break into the music scene.

When Li Daniu shared his ideas, one mentor voiced a different opinion.

“I know you want to leverage these contestants to enter the music market. My advice is to sign just two or three of the most popular ones and let the others go to other record companies in exchange for resources.”

Seeing Li Daniu’s expression as if suspicious of betrayal, the mentor explained, “Talent alone isn’t enough to become a singer. Besides professional packaging and promotion, you need good songs. I believe TC Entertainment’s ability to scout talent and its financial resources can handle the former, but the latter is truly difficult. Most quality songwriters have already been monopolized by other companies. Even new songwriters emerging are just a drop in the bucket and can’t meet the demand for the number of singers you want to sign. Remember, an album typically requires at least eight songs—you can’t have each singer release only a single.”

Li Daniu nodded. “You make a very valid point, but I still want you to mark all the potential contestants and their styles for me.”

The mentor, hearing Li Daniu acknowledge his argument, thought he had changed his mind—only to find Li Daniu remained stubbornly self-willed.

“You...” the mentor began.

Li Daniu didn’t believe this mentor was truly looking out for him. When they signed the mentors for the show, the contract required them to provide objective evaluations of every contestant. Wasn’t all this reasoning just an attempt to claim the contestants for themselves?

“Make it quick. I have to meet with the next mentor,” Li Daniu said, unconcerned about offending him. With four mentors offering opinions, plus the input of TC Entertainment’s music director and his own listening, Li Daniu was confident he could grasp the singers’ styles.

Having obtained what he wanted, Li Daniu retreated to a private room. He pulled out a large-capacity USB drive from his pocket, plugged it into an offline laptop, put on headphones, and began listening and selecting songs.

The drive was filled with classic English songs from another world.

“I don’t have good songs? Not just English—what language’s songs can’t I find? I even have songs in Chinese dialects, believe it or not?”

(To be continued.)