The Silver Blue Library naturally didn’t have someone like He Mingxuan, who would deliberately stay in a bookstore to monitor people. After the widespread distribution of the Supernova published works in bookstores across Qinzhou, the only thing that could slightly reflect some market results was the reader feedback.

Initially, it was just sporadic.

After all, reading a book takes time.

For the publisher, these scattered comments didn’t hold much reference value. However, as the first batch of readers gradually finished the novels, the feedback for the five Supernova works began to increase on the message board of the Silver Blue Library’s official website.

What worried the publisher was…

The first-place Supernova work, “Otherworldly Demon King,” which the company had high hopes for, seemed to have a poor reputation. For a novel with a full score of ten, most readers rated it below five, indicating that the audience wasn’t impressed with the novel’s style.

“A change in form but not in substance.”

“The protagonist has crossed over to become a demon king, yet still feels like a loser. If you’re writing from the perspective of a demon king, can’t you make the protagonist less of a loser? Is the author incapable of writing unless the protagonist is a loser?”

“Regret buying this book after finishing it.”

“Hurry up and cut it short, no interest.”

Novels in Qinzhou are published in volumes, so the sales of the first volume are crucial. Novels with poor sales are likely to be cut short, with the publisher notifying the author to finish quickly. A work originally planned for more than ten volumes might be compressed to three to five volumes if cut short, as the publishing company needs to allocate resources to more promising works.

Many readers were criticizing.

Of course, not all were negative reviews. Some readers found the perspective of “Otherworldly Demon King” quite novel: “Although it’s old wine in a new bottle, at least the protagonist’s identity differs from traditional otherworldly adventures, so it’s not to the point of being cut short.”

Who knows, maybe it’ll explode later?

Such situations aren’t unprecedented.

Currently, there’s a very popular novel on the market that had a mediocre reputation and sales when first released. The publisher even notified the author to cut it short. But after two volumes, the story took a dramatic turn, leading to a sales explosion, and the plan to cut it short was canceled. That book is still being serialized, now up to the twenty-second volume.

However, such examples are rare.

Because if a novel’s first volume can’t attract readers, it’s hard for them to stick around for later developments. Only by capturing readers’ interest from the start can a novel continue to be serialized steadily.

Not only was the first-place reputation poor.

The works ranked second to fourth in the Supernova also had mediocre reputations. Only the second-place work scored five points, but five points in the novel market is just passing, not particularly good.

“This year is tough.”

At a department meeting a week later at the Silver Blue Library, an editor sighed while looking at the reviews of several novels: “I thought the sales of ‘Otherworldly Demon King’ could explode, but as readers have read more otherworldly adventure novels, their standards have risen.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s not that this year’s Supernova is worse than before, but readers’ tastes have become more refined. No wonder the chief editor has been wanting to support new genres; readers are tired of the old ones, and novels need to offer new excitement.”

“……”

In the early days, TV dramas often featured brainless plots like car accidents, cancer, and abortions, and audiences watched them with relish. But now, if such plots appear, audiences would directly criticize the director.

It’s the same in the novel field.

A few years ago, otherworldly adventure novels could become popular with just a gimmick. For example, there was a novel called “With a Phone in Another World,” which told the story of a protagonist with a magical phone that worked in another world, going around showing off. By today’s standards, that story might be unbearable, but at the time, readers loved it.

“Not a total loss.”

Yang Feng tried to comfort everyone: “Although ‘Prince of Tennis’ is the last in the Supernova ranking, its reputation is very good, with a current score of 8.5, which is quite remarkable.”

Yang Feng was right.

While the first four Supernova books had disappointing reputations, “Prince of Tennis” received very high ratings, and the reader feedback in the comment section was mostly positive.

“This is the best read!”

“I never thought a tennis sports novel could be so exciting. I picked it up in a bookstore just to browse, but once I started, I couldn’t put it down. I’ve officially become a fan of ‘Prince of Tennis.’”

“A refreshing change in the Supernova!”

“Tired of otherworldly adventures, occasionally changing the taste turned out surprisingly good. I’ve recommended ‘Prince of Tennis’ to many friends, but many aren’t interested. They, like I used to be, don’t understand the charm of sports novels.”

“……”

The editors naturally knew that “Prince of Tennis” had high ratings, with rave reviews. But for the Silver Blue Library, the novel’s reputation was just a consolation prize because its genre was too niche, making it unlikely to achieve explosive sales.

“Useless.”

“The genre is too niche.”

“Critically acclaimed but not commercially successful.”

The editors didn’t seem too excited. Every publisher has some critically acclaimed but not commercially successful novels. For such novels, major publishers generally adopt a supportive attitude, providing publishing resources even if sales are poor, much like film companies need some art films to enhance their reputation. However, the company truly makes money from novel sales.

“Don’t be discouraged.”

The chief editor was dissatisfied with the editors’ state: “With your attitude, the sales haven’t even come out yet, and reputation isn’t everything. Some novels, despite low ratings, still sell very well.”

“That’s true.”

“There’s hope!”

“Reputation is just reputation.”

Hope ignited in the editors’ eyes. Reputation doesn’t mean everything. There are books that are critically acclaimed but not commercially successful, and some books, despite terrible reputations, have soaring sales. These days, many readers are tsundere, with their words not matching their actions. “Prince of Tennis” is seen as the former, so the other Supernova books might become the latter!

These people are so easy to fool.

The deputy chief editor secretly smirked.

Critically acclaimed but not commercially successful works are rare, and poorly reputed but well-selling works aren’t common either. In the general rule of the book market, most of the time, reputation and sales can still form a positive correlation…

“Meeting adjourned.”

The chief editor waved his hand.

After everyone left, the chief editor was suddenly worried, in a state even worse than the editors just now: “It seems this year’s Supernova really messed up, unless a miracle happens.”

“Miracle?”

The deputy chief editor, who hadn’t left either, smiled bitterly: “Let’s take a walk to the statistics department. The first-week sales of the Supernova should be out by now. Let’s see where the miracle is.”

Chief Editor: “…”

The two walked side by side to the relevant department, and both the chief editor and deputy chief editor looked at the female supervisor of the statistics department: “The first-week sales of the Supernova should be out by now, right?”

“Here?”

The female supervisor’s expression was a bit cold, seemingly particularly annoyed with these two. She said one sentence and then turned to her work: “The statistics are on the table, take a look yourself. If there’s anything you don’t understand, come ask me.”

“What did we do to offend her?”

The chief editor and deputy chief editor exchanged glances, then picked up the statistics sheet and took a look. This glance directly killed their last hope because the highest-selling “Otherworldly Demon King” only sold 180,000 copies.

This is the Supernova!

In previous years, works published under the Supernova title would be embarrassed to go out and meet people if their first-week sales didn’t break 300,000. But this year, the highest-selling of the five Supernova books didn’t even reach 200,000 copies.

However, at least one thing was correct.

The sales ranking of the Supernova’s top five perfectly matched their names. The chief editor found some solace in this: “At least our sales ranking prediction wasn’t wrong. Anyway, I think it’s the readers’ fault.”

“Yes, yes!”

The deputy chief editor nodded along.

The returning female supervisor, having overheard their conversation, was furious and started cursing: “You two idiots think your judgment wasn’t wrong? My phone has been ringing off the hook, you know! All of Qinzhou is urging me for more stock. Now, whenever I pick up the phone, the other side immediately asks for ‘Prince of Tennis’! It’s driving me crazy! Do you know how busy I’ve been trying to supply the demand? Do you know how many nights I haven’t slept well!?”

“Huh?”

The two were stunned, looked at the statistics sheet, and confirmed: “The sales of ‘Prince of Tennis’ are the lowest in the Supernova ranking. How could it be out of stock? Ma’am, there must be some mistake, right?”

“Mistake?”

The female supervisor looked at the two with an expression as if they were idiots: “‘Prince of Tennis’ had a stock of only 100,000 copies, and it sold out by the third day after the Supernova was published. So, if it’s not the lowest, what is?”

The chief editor and deputy chief editor were dumbfounded.

The female supervisor showed a dangerous smile, her tone eerily gentle: “Then please tell me, which brainless person decided to publish only 100,000 copies of ‘Prince of Tennis’ initially?”

“Him!”

The chief editor and deputy chief editor simultaneously pointed at each other.