Chapter 302 Sales Miracle!
Chapter 302 Sales Miracle!
"Clubs?" Shu Rou nodded and said, "The club activities of No. 8 Middle School are the most famous in Fog City. There are many types. Literature club, food club, dance club... there are so many."
Shurou obviously did some research. She shared, "Dance Club, Time Radio, National Flag Guard and Model United Nations are the most popular. I am planning to join the Model United Nations. Last year, our school ranked first in the city, and this year we will participate in the Southwest Division. Joining in will broaden my horizons."
To be honest, Gu Jiayu didn’t know what Model United Nations was until her good friend explained it to her.
"Model United Nations? Isn't that the debate club?" said another friend, Tang Tian, who was wearing thick glasses. "That seems to be a good fit for you."
The implication is that Shu Rou has never lost in an argument.
You know, even the people in Fog City think that the girl is good at talking, she is really good at it...
"I don't know what the requirements are for Model United Nations. I heard it's difficult." Shu Rou changed the subject and said, "Tang Tian, you are suitable for the Shuren Literature Club. You love reading so much."
Tang Tian shook her head. "I've looked into it. The Shuren Literature Club is a drama club. I can't rehearse on stage. I want to join the publication club."
"Publication Society?!" Shu Rou gave the other party a thumbs up upon hearing this. She admired the other party's courage. According to the information she had obtained, the Publication Society was a special existence among the Eighth Middle School.
Moreover, who doesn’t know the school magazine “Youth” and the inaugural article “On Youthful China”?
"Speaking of this, I thought the representative of senior students this year was Gu Lu, but I didn't expect it wasn't him. I got so excited for nothing." Shu Rou said.
"The senior student representative must be a senior student, and Gu Lu is only a sophomore." Tang Tian said. She noticed that the other student didn't say much, so she took the initiative to change the topic.
"Jia Jia, you and Gu Lu are from the same family! Do you like Gu Lu?" Tang Tian would pay attention to the situations of all the friends to ensure that no one would be left out.
"Of course not! I hear my junior high school Chinese teacher talking about Gu Lu every day, and my ears are all callused. I don't believe anyone would like him." Shu Rou said.
"I still like them very much." Gu Jiayu became more talkative when she heard her brother's name. "The Little Prince, Flatland, and the latest new book are all really good."
Neither Tang Tian nor Shu Rou thought that their classmate had any relationship with Gu Lu.
Because in the minds of most students, Gu Lu is far more famous than a star, and no one would think that a classmate they know is a relative of a certain star.
"Indeed, I suspect Gu Lu is an alien like Einstein." Shu Rou said.
"Is Einstein an alien?" Gu Jiayu widened her eyes.
"I read in a book, it is said to be true." Shu Rou shared the news she had seen from somewhere in a serious manner.
The conversation among the three of them suddenly went off topic.
Gu Jiayu wanted to join the dance club, not because she liked dancing, but because she loved watching others dance...
Gu Jiayu, who was living in a boarding school for the first time, was a little uncomfortable at first. She felt reluctant and happy at the same time.
The mood is complicated, but Gu Jiayu will try her best to overcome it! She has never been a delicate child.
"High school is really much bigger than junior high school." Gu Jiayu sighed.
The afternoon class starts with mathematics.
In class, some students were not paying attention. Maybe they were still not in the mood for the holiday, or maybe they were not interested in mathematics. No matter what the reason, there were many students who were distracted.
The tall math teacher was angry and threw the textbook hard on the desk, which made a loud noise.
Do all teachers like to smash the desk with teaching materials?
The sound is a trumpet call of rebuke:
"If you don't want to go to class, go out and don't disturb other students in class."
"You came to No. 8 Middle School to have fun?"
"Do you really think you are so great? If you are great, you should learn from Gu Lu. The teacher doesn't care about you during class or after class. Do you have what it takes to be like him?"
"Even Gu Lu doesn't affect other students during class. Are you better than Gu Lu?!"
The math teacher originally just wanted to teach the students a lesson, but who knew that he would bring up a student that could not be avoided in No. 8 Middle School.
The teacher was angry, and the students were as quiet as quails. But there was one exception - Gu Jiayu.
In Fog City No. 8 Middle School, the legend of my brother is everywhere. Gu Jiayu is happy.
She was happy partly because she felt proud of it, but more because "her brother has suffered so much, and he deserves all this."
"But are you really that busy? You said you would come to my class after school starts, but you didn't even come!" Gu Jiayu was a little dissatisfied.
Even though it's understandable, since she just published a new book, the heroine still has a bit of a temper, the kind that requires at least two bottles of Chocolats to appease her.
Not even one!
To be honest, Gu Lu is really busy.
It all piled up together.
Here are some examples: the English version of the poster for The Little Prince, the signature for the Japanese version of Flowers for Algernon, the selection of illustrators for a collection of science fiction short stories (in Japanese), the impressions after visiting West Lake, the sharing of experience in cultural exchange between China and the West, the design of posters for a publication company event...
Some are big, some are small, from invitations from the diplomatic department to share experiences to school clubs. It’s messier than a ball of yarn that a cat plays with.
If it were in the past, when faced with so many things, Gu Lu would definitely be at a loss and give up for a while. The mentality of "I can't finish it anyway, I can start later" directly led to the situation becoming more and more tense. He didn't rush until it was no longer possible to save the situation!
Today, Gu Lu has learned a lot from excellent students, and no matter how chaotic things are, he can put things in order.
Do the easiest things first.
[Publication Agency
Requirements: Those who love literature and have a long-term reading experience of more than two magazines will be given priority.
Goal: Make "Youth" the number one high school magazine in the country!
...]
By simply accumulating feelings, he then tackled the most difficult thing for Gu Lu at the moment, sharing his experience in cultural exchange.
The official activities are so long that even though they have ended for a long time, there are still sequels.
"Fortunately, they knew I was a student and agreed that I don't have to attend the meeting to share." Gu Lu scratched his head.
Look at what he wrote!
It revolves around the theme of "respecting other countries' cultures and affirming other countries' histories."
Three to five thousand words should be enough, and then paste the Spanish information you looked up, and you should be done!
Gu Lu was so busy that he even shortened his meal time.
But you have to eat. If you have a bad stomach, you can't skip a meal. Although all bosses have stomach problems, the pain is really terrible.
Director Hu is equally busy, as he holds two positions, including that of the head of the Admissions Office. He is worried at the moment.
For Director Hu, who is a capable worker, there is not much to worry about.
"This year - the school anniversary may have to be cancelled." Director Hu was thinking about how to make the students accept it calmly.
Why was it cancelled? Because Principal Chang wanted to do a "face project" this year, and there was also a sports meet this year.
Anyway, everyone participates in the sports meet, so Principal Chang thinks there is no difference!
There is a big difference! Many clubs have been practicing for a whole year for the school anniversary. Now they just say they don’t have it? “One word from above and the people below are running around.” Director Hu sighed.
The sooner the better, the sooner the better. Director Hu knew that he had to come up with a solution as soon as possible.
"Just let it go cold, nothing serious will happen anyway..." Director Hu rejected this idea in his mind as he flipped through the member information.
The dance club has prepared a new dance, the Little Chef Food Club has reserved funds, and the Shu Ren Literature Club has rehearsed "The Old Lady Returns". It can't be said that they are ready to go, but they are full of expectations.
Director Hu put down the catalog and looked out the window. He lived on the 18th floor. At this moment, it felt like the negative 18th floor.
At night, there is nothing in the sky.
I couldn't think of a solution for a long time!
But the quiet atmosphere seems like something big is brewing!
"It's all thanks to President Xiang," said President Wang. "If President Xiang hadn't decisively agreed to use a high royalty rate, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
"Don't flatter me. You are the one who deserves the most credit for this." He said to the president, "Xiao Gu writes very well. What are your plans for the next step, Old Wang?"
What's next? President Wang was no fool, and he immediately said, "If you don't have an accurate idea, please ask the president for advice."
"Xiao Gu is a perfect fit for our New Youth Publishing House. I even think that we are the most suitable publishing house for Xiao Gu in China." President Xiang said on the phone, "It's such a pleasant cooperation. Can you get the next book as well?"
This is our first collaboration and it has just begun, but I am already planning for the second one. A leader is a leader.
"It should be fine." President Wang answered uncertainly. After all, President Jian had been very kind to Gu Lu. He now knew the superficial reason why the writer changed jobs.
Hearing this, President Xiang on the other end of the phone spoke in a slightly stern tone, "We need to be practical and accurate in our work, and talk more with Xiao Gu. We can offer the conditions that other publishing houses can offer. We can also offer what other publishing houses cannot offer."
"I understand, President."
"That's fine. We must also proceed steadily in promoting this book."
After the serious talk, the two hung up the phone without much greeting.
President Wang also knew that Gu Lu was busy recently because school had just started, so he didn't send a message right away to greet him, thinking about finishing the work at hand first.
Propaganda, propaganda, and more propaganda.
Generally speaking, if you want to promote book sales, book signings are a better way.
It’s just that Gu Lu’s conditions don’t allow it.
Therefore, New Youth Publishing House had no choice but to find another way and use official media resources to continue to increase its visibility.
"This year's best science fiction: Flowers for Algernon." - Ice City Morning News
"The savior of science fiction, from short stories to novels, an analysis of Gu Lu." - Youth Daily
"With a Douban score of 8.6 and positive reviews, this is a phenomenal science fiction work." - "Wenyihui"
Under the intensive bombardment, Flowers for Algernon sold 168 million copies in the first month, shocking the publishing industry.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recently released the "Chinese Science Fiction Literature and Art Report (January-September 2012)", which is known as the "Literature Blue Book".
The report data of the Academy of Social Sciences has always been the most authoritative, and their data statistics on published books are from very comprehensive sources.
However, generally speaking, it is released once a year and covers all types, but now it seems to have increased suddenly.
The main thing is that it’s really exaggerated!
［2012年全国图书总印数79.3亿册，较2011年增长2.9%；期刊总印数33.5亿册，增长1.9%；报纸总印数482.3亿份，增长3.2%……］
First, we recorded the total data of last year.
I have to say, the numbers are really quite shocking.
However, the following report is even more sensational!
[Looking at the nine months of 2013, the growth rate is lower than the level of 2011-2012. However, the performance of science fiction books is remarkable.
From 2009 to 2012, the annual sales of science fiction works averaged 315.6 million copies each year, including popular science works. In 2013, Gu Lu's "Flatland" and "Flowers for Algernon" reached 251.9 million copies.
The total print run of books, newspapers, and periodicals has slowed down, but the situation of science fiction publications has improved, and is expected to exceed 400 million copies for the first time. The proportion of digital publishing revenue in the industry has exceeded 10% for the first time.
As a report, there are no special words or exclamation marks.
But the shock it brings to people cannot be changed by multiple exclamation marks.
The shock of cold numbers!
"That's amazing. The annual income is 3.1 million, and Gu Lu made 1.6 million from one book. How can you say that one book occupies half of the science fiction industry? This is too exaggerated. I suggest calling Gu Lu Gu Yiben!"
"I rubbed my eyes and read it so many times that I almost suspected that I had read it wrong. If I understand correctly, it means that all the science fiction works in the country combined can be evenly matched with Gu Lu? I propose that Gu Lu must be called Gu Wu Kai!"
"The above poster, you have misunderstood. All the science fiction works in the country this year combined are not enough to beat Gu Lu, because "Five for Algernon" has only been on sale for a month. If you add "Flatland", even if you add them together, it still won't be enough to beat Gu Lu."
"In fact, I have an even more terrifying statistic here - the publisher of the book Algernon, New Youth Publishing House, mainly published science, technology, and language books last year, with a total of less than four million. Let's look at Gu Lu. It's said that one author can support an entire publishing house, and this time I've seen it. Let's just call him Gu Yiding."
Wait for the remarks.
Netizens seemed to have experienced a major earthquake and were in a state of disarray.
Maybe I knew that Gu Lu was awesome, but I didn’t know he could be so exaggerated!
President Yuan was terrified.
In the Bronze Age of physical publishing, it is no exaggeration to say that this sales volume was earth-shattering.
"I have no choice. Reducing the royalty rate was the head office's idea. I was just following the plan and I couldn't give 18% at all. It's not my fault." Yuan Mingjie said in a low voice, as if he was trying to convince himself.
"This is not the sales volume that a book should have. It is the result of Gu Lu's fame from his works such as The Little Prince, Flatland, and Young China."
The first step is to find excuses, the second step is to belittle your opponent, and the third step is to convince yourself.
"The data is not bad. As the president of the Children's Publishing House, my monthly net profit has also increased a lot. I'm doing well." Yuan Mingjie felt that there was no problem with him and continued to handle his work.
There's really no problem.
The reason was not the points he elaborated, but that General Manager Lu removed Yuan Mingjie at this time... He had only been in office for two or three months. Wasn't this a disguised admission that his arrangements were wrong?
If nothing unexpected happens, President Yuan's position will be relatively stable.
But if there was no accident, then an accident happened.
The boomerang that struck more than a month ago has come back at this moment.
(End of this chapter)