Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 717: A Song of Ice and Fire was forced to postpone publication

However, this question was soon answered by the book-buying craze that appeared in major bookstores in the United States.

During the two-day Christmas holiday, the "Harry Potter" book became one of the hottest topics of the holiday. Major bookstores in major cities across the United States put up "Harry Potter" posters. Long queues formed in front of famous bookstores such as Barnes and Noble in New York, Strand Books, Argonaut in San Francisco, and Miopic in Chicago.

This craze has also spread to the Internet. On the famous American forum CFido, "Harry Potter" has become a hot topic.

There are dozens of answers under each post.

One of the most followed posts was: "How does Quirrell sleep in the novel?"

Of course, because he couldn't sleep on his back or one of the most powerful and evil wizards who ever lived would suffocate with his face forced into his pillow, so how did he sleep?!

“Sleeping on your side” someone immediately replied.

"No, it should be lying down."

Hundreds of floors were built just to address this issue.

Fang Minghua also logged into the forum with great interest, registered an account and looked at it for a while, but of course he was just a lurker.

However, what he didn't expect was that the publication of his book would actually affect the release of another very famous fantasy novel.

New York Bantam Books, Inc.
Bantam is also one of the famous book companies in the United States with a long history. It was founded in 1945, but was acquired by the Bertelsmann Publishing Group of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1977 and became its subsidiary.

In a few days they were preparing to launch the official announcement of a major book, but their plans were disrupted by the release of "Harry Potter".

President Joseph received the news as soon as he got to work today, and immediately became worried. Having worked in the book publishing industry for nearly forty years, he felt that this matter was of great importance.

He planned to immediately stop the promotion of the new book to avoid this wave of enthusiasm, and of course the release of the new book would also have to be postponed.

However, although he is the president of the company, he sometimes cannot make complete decisions, especially in the operation and distribution of books, which is almost entirely done by Vice President Jacob.

Jacob was arrogant and sometimes even ignored him as the president. There was nothing he could do about it.

Who sent him here from the headquarters of the Bertelsmann Publishing Group?
The direct descendant of the group chairman.

But Jacob is indeed capable and has some skills in market operations. The steady improvement in the company's sales in recent years has a lot to do with his work.

Arthur had to admire this. He would retire in two years anyway, so there was no need to be fussy about it. This would make him appear magnanimous.

He called his secretary and asked Jacob to come over.

A few minutes later, Jacob opened the door.

Jacob is in his early forties, very handsome, wearing a well-tailored suit and with the usual German arrogance. At this moment, he walked into the president's office with a book in his hand.

When Jacob put the book with the sapphire cover on the boss's desk, Arthur saw clearly that it was the "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" which was very popular on Christmas two days ago!
"Oh, Jacob, did you buy it?" Joseph asked.

"No, it wasn't me, it was my daughter who was in high school." Jacob said, "I bought it at the Strand Bookstore. I heard they lined up for an hour."

"My God!" Joseph exclaimed, "There are very few authors whose books readers line up to buy nowadays!"

"Yes, Joseph, but Minghua seems to be an exception." Jacob said, "This is not the first time that his book is like this." Joseph scratched his gray hair after hearing this.

This Chinese writer is really a freak. How come his novels are so popular in the United States?

"Jacob, have you read this novel? What do you think of it?" Joseph asked again.

"I'm competing with my daughter to read it, so I haven't finished it yet." Jacob said truthfully, "But from what I've read of the first part, this novel is really well written, in a typical fantasy style."

"How does it compare to the book A Song of Ice and Fire?" Joseph asked again.

"A Song of Ice and Fire"!
This is a fantasy novel written by the famous American writer George Raymond Richard Martin. It mainly describes a series of court struggles, battlefield battles, travel adventures and magical confrontations that take place in a fictional medieval world.

The author plans to write seven volumes, and has already completed the first volume. This is also a book that Bantam Company will launch.

Hearing Joseph's question, Jacob pondered for a moment and replied: "Both Harry Potter and A Song of Ice and Fire are magical novels, but they are somewhat different. The former is "semi-fictional", and the magical world has great similarities and overlaps with the world we live in. The latter is a "completely fictional" work, in which the author fictionalized an entire universe with its own customs, culture, etc."

"You mean, reading Harry Potter is more immersive than A Song of Ice and Fire?" Joseph keenly understood what Jacob meant.

"Yes, from this point of view alone, Harry Potter has an advantage. It is also relatively easy to understand. The story of a group of students in a magic academy is more easily accepted by teenagers," Jacob continued.

"However, A Song of Ice and Fire has its own advantages. Its grand structure and serious style are more suitable for adults to read. But in terms of literary quality, I think A Song of Ice and Fire is slightly better."

"Oh" Arthur fell into deep thought after hearing this.

After a while, he asked in a tentative tone, "So, do you think the official release of A Song of Ice and Fire needs to be postponed?"

"Let's postpone it."

Arthur was a little surprised by Jacob's frankness. He smiled and said, "Jacob, you don't usually have this attitude."

After hearing this, a bitter smile slowly appeared on Jacob's arrogant face:
"I have always believed that A Song of Ice and Fire is a good book that will bring huge profits to the company. I have done a lot of work to publish this book as soon as possible. I didn't expect that Harry Potter would appear out of nowhere at this critical moment, and I thought that the person who advertised the book in Times Square was definitely a genius."

"Perhaps this is God's will, suggesting that I postpone the release of A Song of Ice and Fire. I am a devout Christian and I accept God's arrangement."

After hearing what Jacob said, Arthur couldn't help but feel sarcastic.

As expected, he was sent by the headquarters, and he speaks very well.

Of course, this cannot be said, as it would hurt the relationship.

"So when do you think it will be released?" Arthur asked again.

"By the time students go on summer vacation in July, the popularity of Harry Potter will have subsided, which will be a perfect time for us to publish our new book. Now I have to temporarily suspend the new book promotion plan." Jacob replied.

"OK, that's it."

It was a rare agreement between the two presidents.

(End of this chapter)