Chapter 8

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

At the same time.

Penguin Publishing, the world’s largest publishing company, was holding its monthly topic selection meeting.

The topic selection meeting was for all the employees in the corporation.

Even the editor-in-chief would attend the meeting.

The goal was to gather information from everyone and find the most promising work in the current market, then sign its copyright.

Their principle was that they would rather sign the wrong ones than let any go.

Anyway, as long as they signed enough authors, there would always be a portion that would stand out.

Then, they would package and market these authors who stood out in the sea of people.

These were the best-selling authors published by Penguin.

As for the rest, they would leave them to fend for themselves.

In the parallel world, the authors called this method “the penguin’s feeding strategy”.

Although the authors had many complaints, it was undeniable that this was how they became the world’s best.

At this moment.

A man with a hooked nose, high cheekbones, and deep-set eyes sat at the head of the conference table.

He was the content editor of Penguin Publishing in North America, Jeffrey.

“Let’s get the latest developments in publishing first.”

University of Iowa Press was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penguin Publishing.

The magazine had arranged for Stoner, the editor who had rejected Fang Yuan’s submission at that time, to be in charge of today’s report.

“Yes, Mr. Jeffrey. Our company’s work, ‘Dawn’, is the first place in best-selling romance books and tenth place in the general board. ‘Ghost Hands’ is the first place in the mystery and horror category, and fifth place in general. ‘Starfleet’ is the first place in science fiction and seventh on the general rankings.”

Through various efforts, they ensured that their works would be on the best-selling list.

This was how Penguin Publishing operated.

Stoner continued, “Fantasy book sales…”

The editor-in-chief, Jeffrey, was most concerned about this.

The Fantasy book released this month was “Magic Age”. It was the first book that the company had poured countless resources into its packaging.

It was expected to win an award for the best fantasy work of the year, then it would shine at the New York Book Fair.

However, Stoner suddenly stopped speaking.

Stoner looked at the document in his hand and was speechless for a long time.

That was because the first place on the list was not “Magic Age”, which Penguin Publishing had been promoting.

Instead, what was written in a large font was, “The Coiling Dragon”!

“‘The Coiling Dragon’?”

Stoner’s first reaction was that it sounded familiar as if he had heard this name somewhere before.

Combing through his memories, he vaguely remembered that a Chinese boy had come over yesterday to submit a piece that he did not even open.

However, Stoner still had a slight impression of the title of the book. It was this name.

How did it become the number one bestseller in the fantasy category in just one day?

‘Isn’t he a newcomer? That’s impossible!’

“Continue.”

Jeffrey’s voice was ice-cold, so much so that his tone seemed to be able to cause frostbite.

Stoner said with fear and trepidation, “‘Magic Age’ in the fantasy category is…ranked…ranked…second.”

Jeffrey’s pupils suddenly constricted. “Then who’s currently ranked first?”

“It’s a book called ‘The Coiling Dragon’. It has more than 30,000 popularity points ahead of the second-ranked ‘Magic Age’.”

Stoner did not even dare to raise his head. He just continued reading the contents of the report.

“Furthermore, it has now become the first in the overall best-selling e-book category this month.”

The moment he said these words, everyone fell silent.

Penguin Publishing, as the world’s leading publishing company in terms of market value, had actually been robbed from first place in the overall rankings?

This was something that had never happened before! It was a huge problem!

Jeffrey’s gaze was sharp as he turned to look at his secretary. “Investigate this book and its author.”

The secretary was very efficient.

Very quickly, he got the results. “I’ve found out that the author is a Chinese student from the University of Iowa who majored in creative writing. His name is Fang Yuan. “The Coiling Dragon” has been submitted to our company’s editors, Stoner and Walter, but it’s been rejected.”

For a multinational company like Penguin Publishing, all submissions were archived, so it was naturally easy to find.

“The author published the manuscript on his personal website, which became a huge sensation overnight. It rose to the top of the fantasy category and was now on the rise. The author even signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Amazon’s Rainforest Literature.”

Everyone held their breaths.

The author of “The Coiling Dragon” had slapped these two editors in the face.

As an editor, it was a pity to miss any author with slight publishing potential.

If they missed this best-selling author, these editors were blind!

Stoner was filled with instant regret. He had been an editor for so long and had been looking forward to a chance to change his fate.

He had hoped to sign a best-selling author and be able to hold his head high in the company.

However, when this opportunity was placed in front of him yesterday, he did not cherish it.

‘Why didn’t I even look at it at that time? If I was the one who signed ‘The Coiling Dragon’, wouldn’t it be just a matter of time before I got a promotion and a raise? I would’ve reached the peak of my career!’

However, it was too late for regrets.

“There’s still half a week before the end of the month. I don’t care what methods you use!”

Jeffrey glanced at the calendar and stared at the two trembling editors. “The next time we have a meeting, I want to see that the number one bestseller is a book from our company. If the two of you make it impossible for me to answer to my boss, I’ll use you as an answer!”

Stoner and Walter naturally nodded their heads incessantly.

After the meeting was over, the two editors who had caused trouble sat together to discuss strategies.

They saw that Fang Yuan’s personal blog was filled with the voices of resistance from the readers. It turned out that because the second volume of ‘The Coiling Dragon’ prioritized the publication of physical books and would be suspending e-book uploads, it caused great dissatisfaction among the majority of the readers.

“I got it! We just need to hire a group of trolls to incite and amplify this sentiment.”

“Students are most easily influenced by their peers. As long as everyone boycotts something, they’ll also go along with the crowd. At the same time, we’ll influence our distributers and get the bookstores near the universities to buy more copies of ‘The Coiling Dragon’. This will easily create an illusion of an oversupply of the new book and make it seem like no one’s buying them. Then, our marketing department can send people to stand guard at the entrance of the bookstores to take photos of the empty stores along with a detrimental post. This way, the situation will definitely turn to our favor and it’ll only be a matter of time before our books return to the first place in the best-selling list!”

Walter’s analysis made Stoner nod his head in agreement. “Brilliant! Brilliant!”