Chapter 13: The Affectionate and Harmonious Editorial Department
Number Five.
The editorial department at Hundred Reads Literature officially finalized the slots for newcomer recommendations. New novels by fresh authors would undergo a one-month trial period, after which the most promising work would be selected. The ultimate victor would receive the full weight of Hundred Reads Literature’s resources, concentrated entirely on their novel.
Li He received the news from Liu Da, who informed him that his recommendation slot was given to “Battle Through the Heavens.” Before ending the call, Liu Da offered a word of caution: “Don’t get too hung up on the initial results. The ‘useless protagonist, broken engagement’ trope is a new trend—there’s no existing reader base, so early stats might not look great.”
Liu Da stated that he had high hopes for “Battle Through the Heavens” and would devote every resource he could muster to support it. Li He expressed his thanks: “Thank you.”
He wasn’t particularly worried about the novel’s performance. To become a legendary book of an era, it had to possess extraordinary strength. If “Battle Through the Heavens” had stirred up a storm in his previous life, Li He believed it wouldn’t fare much worse here.
His thoughts were already on what to do once the novel became popular—how to end chapters on cliffhangers or kill off a few beloved side characters. Killing off characters couldn’t be done recklessly; it had to be ensured that the plot wouldn’t be derailed.
Meanwhile, Liu Da hung up and entered the conference room.
This was the editorial department’s regular monthly meeting. At the moment, the fantasy editors were all huddled in groups, whispering among themselves.
A middle-aged editor in black-rimmed glasses chuckled, “The newcomer rankings this month are pretty fierce.”
Across from him, a chubby editor held a report sheet in his hands—the official data for new authors. The short-haired female editor, her tone laced with envy, added, “Yeah, I wonder who’ll come out on top by the end of the month.”
“I’m betting on Little Sprout’s ‘Invincible Emperor.’ It’s written in the invincible, all-conquering style that’s so popular right now, and he’s already built up a reader base on Yidian, so his chances are high,” another editor offered.
Someone else countered, “I’ve read ‘Invincible Emperor.’ The beginning is way too similar to Little Sprout’s previous book on Yidian—it’s practically a copy.”
“I’m more optimistic about White Knight’s ‘One Sword Cavalier.’ Same trendy all-conquering vibe, but he’s an old hand with experience.”
The chubby editor set the report aside and said quietly, “Sun Monkey’s ‘Sovereign Emperor’ isn’t bad either—multi-female-lead novel.”
His signing editor is Chen Wei, who works with a level five author—a massive reader base right there. With a level five author drawing traffic, Sun Monkey’s stats would be far from shabby.
The meeting room buzzed with heated debate. Some backed “Invincible Emperor,” others favored “One Sword Cavalier,” and still others thought “Sovereign Emperor” looked promising.
As for “Battle Through the Heavens,” it was rarely mentioned. First, Liu Da didn’t have many resources at his disposal, nor did he have any high-level writers. Second, the subject matter was the polar opposite of current trends—while everyone else started off invincible, delivering non-stop excitement, this one began with a pitiful loser, all frustration and stifled ambition. Who would want to read that?
Wang Ke greatly enjoyed these meetings on the fifth of every month; here, he could bask in the admiration and envy of his colleagues. Perhaps this was what it felt like to be the protagonist.
At the moment, he too held a data sheet of new releases, a satisfied smile on his lips. This sheet listed the top fifty new authors from the start of the month through the fourth. Little Sprout’s “Invincible Emperor” sat at number one, followed by a newcomer from Yidian, with White Knight’s “One Sword Cavalier” in third.
His gaze dropped to the last row, where he spotted a name that made his brow furrow. He looked over at Liu Da and teased, “Liu Da, the newcomer you’re pushing this month is something else—ranked fiftieth. Wonder if he’ll have any staying power.”
The others all turned to look at the fiftieth spot.
“Whoa, ‘Great Master’? That’s a pretty arrogant pen name for a newbie,” one editor blurted out.
The rest exchanged amused glances. A newcomer choosing a name like ‘Great Master’—that was bold, to say the least.
They couldn’t help but compare him to Little Sprout, who now stood at number one, while ‘Great Master’ languished at the bottom of the list.
Well, this would be entertaining. Let’s see who’ll be crying at the end of the month...
Liu Da remained silent, pinning all his hopes on “Battle Through the Heavens.”
A chubby editor who was friendly with Liu Da quietly patted him on the shoulder in comfort. “Don’t mind Wang Ke—he’s always showing off. Just ignore him.”
Liu Da’s expression remained unchanged. He’d experienced this scenario many times—if you didn’t have any big-name authors under your wing, you were destined to be sidelined in the editorial department.
He then asked the chubby editor, “How’s it going on your end? You said last time you had someone promising.”
The chubby editor withdrew his comforting hand and turned away without a word.
His author was ranked fifty-first—a spot not even listed on this sheet, only visible on the official site, right beneath “Battle Through the Heavens.”
Damn it. The clown was me all along.
...
Each month’s competition for the newcomer rankings was critical for every website.
Zeng Ying was a once-prominent author at Yidian Reading, now fallen from grace. She, too, had submitted a novel for the newcomer contest this month, but unfortunately hadn’t received an editorial recommendation slot.
A female writer of male-oriented fantasy, Zeng Ying had switched over from romance four years ago. Her first foray into fantasy was a smash hit, dominating the subscriptions chart for three consecutive months.
But after that novel ended, none of her subsequent books performed well; her latest had nearly flopped entirely. This made Zeng Ying doubt whether she was suited to write male fantasy at all—maybe she should return to romance.
This time, she mustered her courage, registered a new account, and threw her hat into the ring for a newcomer slot—only to lose out again.
The setback left her even more distressed. She hadn’t slept well for several days.
At midnight, lying in bed, Zeng Ying found herself depressed and wide awake. Listlessly, she scrolled through the reading rankings—the very leaderboard she’d once dominated for three long months. Now, her books had long since fallen out of the top hundred, with dismal paid reading stats.
She smiled bitterly. Maybe she really ought to return to romance—her earlier success had probably been nothing but a fluke.
She glanced at the newcomer rankings. After reading a few chapters of the number one novel, “Invincible Emperor,” she quickly lost interest and exited.
It wasn’t that “Invincible Emperor” was poorly written—if it were, it wouldn’t be topping the newcomer chart. Her own entry hadn’t even cracked the top hundred. The real problem was that she’d read too many books of this kind; she even wrote them herself. Although, coming from a romance background, her male fantasy novels tended to have more romance, the general plot structure was the same—so familiar to her it was almost tedious.
Moreover, the plot bore too many similarities to the invincible, all-conquering style so prevalent among top authors. It wasn’t that Little Sprout was plagiarizing, but that the genre had been popular for five or six years, and its tropes were already worn thin.
Readers still liked it, though, because it was pure escapist fun. Punching through all obstacles with one blow, slicing through eternity with a single sword—it was exhilarating. After a long day at work, people wanted to relax with a novel. If you gave them something bleak and oppressive, they’d rather just put in more overtime.
Zeng Ying kept scrolling, clicking on any novel title that caught her eye to read a few chapters. These new books had only been out a few days, so there wasn’t much to read and nothing had reached the paid reading threshold yet. She could jump in and out as she pleased, all for free.
When she scrolled down further, her lips twitched.
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(First post, will revise later)
Newcomer novel seeking your support!
(ૢ˃ꌂ˂⁎) Being cute and begging for votes