By the end of the month, the Silver Blue Library officially released the five award-winning titles for this edition of the Super Rookie Award. Lin Yuan received the notification from Yang Feng and saw "Tennis Prince" as the last title on the list of award-winning works.
"The novel will be published tomorrow," Yang Feng informed him.
However, he also preempted Lin Yuan, "But you don't need to be overly concerned about the novel's sales figures. Sports and competitions are, after all, niche themes. Sales figures aren't the sole means of validating a work. In any case, congratulations on officially becoming a novelist."
"Thank you," Lin Yuan replied.
Yang Feng chuckled, "I'll hang up for now. The company has a publishing meeting. We'll send you a few copies for free once the novel is officially released tomorrow. Also, you can visit various major bookstores. Tomorrow, it will be officially displayed in major bookstores in Qin Prefecture."
"Alright, goodbye."
After the call ended, Yang Feng put away his phone and entered the meeting room. At this moment, the editors in the meeting room were engaged in animated discussions about the results of the Super Rookie: "I wonder how the sales figures for this year's Super Rookie are. I'm quite optimistic about the first-place 'Demon King of Another World.' The protagonist, after crossing into another world, becomes a demon king universally despised. This creative direction is rather distinctive, at least it's more interesting."
"I, on the other hand, favor the second."
"The author of the second place, Big Dragon, is an old hand. This guy has been a novelist for a long time. But he's just using a pseudonym to ride on the coat-tails of new authors. Nevertheless, the novel he wrote this time is quite intriguing. The protagonist is unexpectedly summoned to another world by a princess."
"..."
The discussions were fervent.
Some favored the first place, and some favored the second. Some even thought the third and fourth were commendable. However, the discussion about "Tennis Prince" was the least, as all the editors at the Silver Blue Library knew—the fifth place was forcibly added by the chief editor to diversify the market themes.
Everyone could understand this point.
The homogenization of the novel market was indeed quite severe, which was not beneficial for the overall development of the literary circle. Therefore, this year, including the Silver Blue Library, various major publishing companies initiated promotional attempts for new themes to indirectly guide the diversification of the market's creative direction.
After the announcement of the Super Rookie award results.
The official website introduced the award-winning works and conducted a survey on reader expectations. Many specially invited old readers filled out the questionnaire. The result of the questionnaire was that the reader's expectations for the top three Super Rookie winners were the highest!
This wasn't surprising.
Because all the top three were in the Otherworld category.
The expectation for the fifth place "Tennis Prince" was the lowest. Readers seemed uninterested in the innate nature of tennis, despite the official website emphasizing that it was a sports competition novel that could be understood even if one didn't understand tennis. This couldn't change the result of this questionnaire survey.
There were even protests on the official website!
This was an annual leftover after the announcement of the Super Rookie results. There were always some authors who considered themselves extraordinary but suffered from rejection, feeling that the judgment of the Super Rookie Awards was unfair. Especially this year, the inclusion of "Tennis Prince" stimulated the nerves of many rejected authors.
"Why is that?"
"Qin Prefecture has never had a precedent of a sports competition theme being a big hit, let alone a novel about tennis. For the Silver Blue Library to forcibly place such a work in fifth just to avoid a singular theme is truly disappointing."
The first four were all popular themes.
So, the fifth naturally became the target.
The Silver Blue Bookstore paid no heed to these protests. In the eyes of the editorial department, even if 'Tennis Prince' was indeed a bit niche in its theme, the quality of this novel itself was by no means as dismal as the external judgments portrayed it.
"It's just a pity for He Mingxuan."
A certain editor suddenly shook their head.
He Mingxuan was already an established novelist. This time, under a pseudonym, he submitted a piece to the Super Rookie Contest, and his work received favorable reviews. After many editors read his work, there were suggestions to place He Mingxuan's work as the fifth in this Super Rookie novel competition.
But unfortunately, he encountered 'Tennis Prince.'
The chief editor's reasoning convinced everyone: "Firstly, the market needs diversified guidance. Secondly, He Mingxuan is, after all, an old hand. Although every year there are older writers who submit under pseudonyms, I don't think this is a good trend. We should give more opportunities to newcomers."
As a result, He Mingxuan was rejected.
An editor who had a good relationship with He Mingxuan took the time to console him, saying, "If it wasn't for enriching the market's themes, you should have been able to secure the fifth place this time. So, this rejection isn't due to your lack of skill; it's just your luck was a bit off."
...
Although He Mingxuan was deemed the so-called sixth in the Super Rookie, he did not join in the protests of the rejected candidates against 'Tennis Prince.' When he had just debuted years ago, there were similar protests against his work. So, he understood the feeling of being protested against by the rejected candidates; he would never become the kind of person he had once detested.
The editor was right.
He also felt that this time, his luck was just a bit off. After all, it was a peculiar situation, and moreover, he wasn't a newcomer. Competing with newcomers under a pseudonym was not honorable, so conceding to them in the end was justifiable.
"Perhaps I'm not suited to writing anymore."
He Mingxuan had some self-doubt. He became a novelist five years ago, even securing top sales with one book, but after that book concluded, several of his subsequent books failed miserably. So much so that now, few publishing houses are willing to publish his works.
This caused He Mingxuan considerable anguish.
If not for this reason, he wouldn't have shamelessly participated in the Super Rookie, a competition designed for newcomers. For every novelist, competing against newcomers for opportunities was a clear testament to their failure.
That night, He Mingxuan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
The next morning, He Mingxuan, in a daze, walked into the bookstore closest to his home, subconsciously glancing at the first row of bookshelves.
Once, this shelf was adorned with his works.
But today, all that lay there were the works of the top five of the Super Rookie Awards.
His sixth place lacked any badges of honor.
The bookstore was bustling with readers, predominantly young, all gravitating towards one bookshelf—
Readers, as in previous years, were brimming with anticipation for the award-winning works of these super rookies.
However, coaxing them into purchasing proved to be no easy task.
Rarely did anyone outright buy a book; instead, they'd pick one up, find a quiet corner, and peruse tens of thousands of characters.
Only after confirming their fondness for the story would readers dutifully reach into their pockets.
Witnessing this scene, He Mingxuan was reminded of a rather foolish act from his own past.
When his novel first hit the shelves, he spent an entire day in a corner of the bookstore, observing the book-buying readers, not doing anything else. His heart would quietly exult every time someone purchased his book.
Today, upon entering the bookstore, He Mingxuan found himself instinctively observing once more.
As expected, the initial choice for most was the store's heavy recommendations, the top three works of the super rookies.
However, what surprised He Mingxuan was the relatively low rate of purchases today. Many would briefly peruse the books and then return them, as if this cohort of super rookies slightly underperformed compared to previous years.
Yet, one book's payment rate defied He Mingxuan's expectations.
That book was none other than 'Tennis Prince,' the sports novel that relegated He Mingxuan to the sixth position.
In reality, very few actually picked up and perused 'Tennis Prince.' Compared to the top four, the interest in this novel was almost pitifully scarce.
However, starkly contrasting this paucity—
Most of those who picked up 'Tennis Prince' for perusal ended up purchasing it!
To this end, He Mingxuan took special note.
From the moment they entered the bookstore, only eighteen individuals were willing to peruse 'Tennis Prince.'
Yet, what astonished him was this:
Out of those who finished 'Tennis Prince' and were willing to buy it, a substantial fifteen individuals emerged!
"This…"