Chapter 117: Magazine Connoisseur
Surprisingly, the expectations for the novel were almost nonexistent, despite TMY's track record of success.
After all, in reality, when it comes to literature that requires spending real money, a mere bit of gossip or news and rumours won't attract a swarm of readers rushing to buy and boost sales. It's just not possible.
So, for the so-called "Dragon Clan I: Dawn of Fire," there aren't many optimistic expectations, especially just from the name alone; it doesn't reveal much.
The situation isn't looking great.
Soon, the release date of the new app arrived. It's the last hope for a dying publishing company, its previous brilliance having faded over the years.
Swiftly, the clock shifted to Monday, December 13th.
Early in the morning, the Qiyue Bookstore had just opened its doors, and a customer walked in, holding freshly purchased breakfast.
"Hey boss, you got anything interesting coming in? There hasn't been anything good since 'Blood-Stirring Literature City' went under." The customer appeared to be middle-aged, slightly overweight, and his eyes were hopeful as he stared at the boss.
The "Blood-Stirring Literature City" he mentioned was actually a literary magazine that focuses on serializing long and medium-length blood-stirring youth novels. It was one of the more popular series in the industry, with fixed contributions from one or two well-known authors in the field, and the quality of the writing was quite high.
"Oh, Xiao Li, are you here so early this morning? Taking a day off?" Recognizing the familiar customer, the boss smiled and pointed to the prominently displayed "Explosive Recommendations" shelf.
The boss was quite familiar with this customer named Xiao Li, who came to buy magazines and novels regularly and appeared to be a middle-aged man, but the boss knew he had just turned 25 a few days ago...
This Xiao Li had been a devoted reader of "Blood-Stirring Literature City" for many years and lived in a nearby residential area. Every week he had come down to boy the next copy. Both of them were shell-shocked when the next volume never arrived.
As Xiao Li went to search through the rows of books and magazines from the shelf as directed by the boss, he happened to notice a poster above the less conspicuous shelf beneath the counter. The poster was for an app, and it seemed new, probably just received in a recent shipment; the date on the poster matched the current date.
"Oh, boss, you have an ad by 'Tangrenyi Culture' here? Hasn't that publishing house gone bankrupt yet?" Xiao Li paused for a moment and spoke up.
In fact, Xiao Li was a seasoned lover of novels and had been reading for many years. He particularly liked those grand, mind-opening, and epic long novels. He remembered that a few years ago, he quite liked a few 'Tangrenyi Culture' works. Although it was a small publishing house without any famous authors, the company was exceptional at discovering new talent, and the quality of the writing was excellent.
Many loyal readers appreciated it.
But the problem was that, as the status of famous authors in the literary world became increasingly important, a strange phenomenon emerged - "If it's not written by a famous author, it's not worth reading." As a result, "Tangrenyi Culture," a small publishing house without any famous authors as a selling point, had a hard time. Additionally, many new writers who started there chose to leave, leaving very few behind. Consequently, the company gradually lost readership.
Additionally, when "Blood-Stirring Literature City" was still running, some of the famous or established authors there were once contributors to "Tangrenyi Culture" when they first started, though that connection no longer mattered now.
So, some bookstore owners, seeing the declining sales of "Tangrenyi Culture" and their unsold copies piling up, decided not to order more or to reduce the number of copies they stocked. As a result, this Xiao Li had not seen their name in stores for a long time.
Surprisingly, he saw it again in this bookstore. It's truly a rare sight.
The boss seemed a bit helpless and said, "That's not true. They're still going, though not as strong as they used to be. A few regulars actually requested some of their works, and that poster came with the shipment. They're advertising it pretty hard, so I figured I'd give them a hand and actually put it up. After all, I remember their glory days. Each week, I would have at least twenty copies pre-order from me."
"I'm purely doing it as a favour to those old customers. It's just a poster anyways, I can take it down whenever. I haven't had the time to actually check out the app myself, but I've heard good things from some early customers, so I'm hopeful."
"Well, alright then." Xiao Li thought about it for a moment, realizing that he hadn't read this publisher in a long time. It wouldn't hurt to take one home and have a look. So, he nodded and said, "Sure, I'll check it out, if only to remember the old days."
After purchasing an old copy of "Blood-Stirring Literature City," Xiao Li returned home, finished his breakfast, and casually tossed it on the sofa. He then opened the newly bought "Blood-Stirring Literature City" to read.
However, as he read on, Xiao Li's brow furrowed, and he seemed somewhat displeased.
The reason was quite simple, as this issue of "Blood-Stirring Literature City" disappointed him a bit. The works published, even by well-known authors, appeared somewhat stiff and clichéd, lacking the excitement he had hoped for.
He had some hope that the older issues of this magazine would satiate his desire, but the quality was nowhere near what he remembered it being. Even with the blinders of nostalgia firmly over his eyes, the writing quality was too low to appeal to his experienced eyes.
For Xiao Li, he could still find enjoyment in these works, but it seemed more like a chore than an escape...
After finishing the magazine, Xiao Li put it down with a sigh, feeling somewhat disappointed.
For instance, he had high expectations for one of the famous authors named "Mad Blade Cursing Scold." However, ever since the magazine shut down, he had been forced to read other works. With this new perspective, the magazine he used to love grew bland, but he already had too much experience to be truly surprised by any other novels either. When Xiao Li read his books, he couldn't find that same awe he had experienced before.
But with his new sophisticated taste, he soon realized that over the years, the growth and progress of these well-known authors had slowed down!
They had reached a plateau and had discovered a formula that allowed for fast releases without care for quality. Instantly, tropes became more common, premises were overused, and for some reason "system" novels were everywhere.
When he was about to get up to cook, the disappointed Xiao Li remembered the poster he had seen earlier.
Oh right, there's still the new app to go over. He grabbed his phone and swiftly used the QR code he had taken a picture of to move to the app store.
This app featured a black and gold embossed cover with a strong and high-quality texture. The illustrations depicted an ancient Western dragon, emanating a formidable aura, flapping its massive wings. At the bottom of the logo was gold embossed text reading 'Tangrenyi Culture.'
Below the app were some preview images of the interface. One such image was a banner for a new novel;
"'Dragon Clan I: Dawn of Fire.' - TMY. Embark on a journey to Casell, a new era unfolds."
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