Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 418 First Author's Note on Launching the Book
Qidian's sudden announcement that it would launch paid reading next weekend was like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake.

This will undoubtedly attract the attention of countless people in the industry; that much is certain.

The number of posts on Qidian Forum has increased more than tenfold, which is proof of this.

Have other websites discussed paid reading on Qidian?

Cao Sheng didn't know.

But he believes that other website owners, editors, and authors must be paying attention to and discussing this matter.

On the surface, for the next few days, no other websites showed any signs of launching paid reading services, suggesting they were all focused on the effectiveness of Qidian's paid reading service.

That's how it was in the original timeline.

After the original Qidian website launched paid reading, other websites waited for about half a year before following suit and launching their own paid reading services.

But it was too late by then.

More than 80% of the authors with some talent in the industry have been attracted to publish their works on Qidian.

Then other websites also took some measures to try to bring down Qidian, including but not limited to poaching authors and editors from Qidian, and joining forces with other websites to fight against Qidian, etc.

The result was that the gap between them and the starting point widened.

Qidian, which pioneered the paid reading system, has gradually become a mecca for online literature in the hearts of countless writers, and its leading position in the industry has become increasingly solid.

Cao Sheng was aware of these things.

He just wants to replicate the starting point of the original timeline.

Compared to Bao Jianfeng and others who were uneasy about the future of paid reading, Cao Sheng seemed much calmer. He wasn't worried at all that this paid reading project would fail.

Although the original Time and Space Start was launched as a paid reading platform in 03, it was more than a year later than now.

However, the internet won't change much in just over a year.

Moreover, in this current timeline, influenced by his works, the development speed of online literature is much faster than in the original timeline, and the total number of readers should also be much larger.

Under these circumstances, he felt that the probability of this upcoming attempt at paid reading failing was very small.

How can it fail?
Even if the other works released in the first batch all flopped and subscriptions were dismal.

Isn't there also his "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts"?

Other authors might lack the motivation to update frequently after their works are published because they feel they won't earn much money. Does that mean Cao Sheng can't update frequently either?
Before his rebirth, he climbed his way up from being a struggling writer.

Initially, his works only received a few hundred orders.

With just a few hundred initial subscriptions, his persistent efforts to update the series gradually increased the average number of subscriptions, leading to a monthly income of a little over a thousand, two thousand, three thousand...

The royalties are also gradually increasing.

Later, when his works had more than a thousand initial subscriptions, as the average subscriptions increased, his monthly income exceeded five thousand, six thousand, seven or eight thousand... and occasionally even broke ten thousand.

Later, he occasionally wrote works that sold two or three thousand copies, and his income doubled and doubled again.

Therefore, in his opinion, the electronic manuscript fee for the new book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" will not be too low.

This book now has over 9 collectors.

Even if the initial subscription only reaches 1,000, he believes that if he updates more frequently and gets Qidian to give the book a few good recommendation slots, it won't be too difficult for him to earn over 10,000 yuan in electronic royalties every month.

Shouldn't this give everyone at Qidian confidence?
Can anyone still say that Qidian's paid reading model has failed?
Moreover, he felt that even if the subscription rate for the first batch of works was low, it shouldn't be this low.

With nearly 10 people collecting it, only 1 are subscribing?

He doesn't believe it!
……

Before we knew it, it was Thursday, January 10th.

There are only two days left until the release date of "The Legend of Chinese Martial Arts".

Two days ago, the second and third volumes of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" were released for sale in Taiwan, Hong Kong and other places. Cao Sheng did not pay attention to it. He only noticed that there were more posts in traditional Chinese characters in the book review section when he updated "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" online every day.

These posts are mostly positive reviews of the second and third episodes.

However, these posts did not cause mainland book fans to feel unbalanced.

By the time the traditional Chinese version was published for the second and third volumes, the online serialization of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" had reached more than 16 words.

It is not much behind the progress of traditional Chinese version publication.

Readers who bought traditional Chinese books all spent money.

Mainland readers can still watch "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" online for free. They don't spend any money, and in terms of reading progress, they are only about 30,000 words behind those who paid for the book, which is generally acceptable to them.

As the release date of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" approaches, more and more posts in the book review section have expressed their intention to subscribe and support it.

Of course, there were many more voices opposing the online sale of this book.

For example: "I admit that this book is very good and Ah Hui writes it very well, but I still don't think it's worth spending money to read it online. If I really have to spend money, I would rather buy the physical book!"

"It's almost the weekend, are you really going to start charging for this book? No way! Ah Hui! You're already so rich, why would you care about a few bucks? What are you thinking?"

"Ah Hui! I've been a fan of yours for a long time, but I'm still a student. My family gives me my living expenses. I can only occasionally go online to read your books, which is the most I can do to support you. I really don't have the money to subscribe to your books!"

"Zhongyuan Yidianhui, have you fallen into the trap of money? If you were short of money, I could support you doing this, but you clearly don't lack money, yet you still want to join this paid reading service for money. How can we continue to support you like this?"

……

and many more.

Not only are many online fans opposing Cao Sheng's new book being added to Qidian's paid reading platform, but in real life, as the release date of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" approaches, people are also raising similar questions to him face-to-face.

For example, some of his classmates, including a boy sitting near him, asked, "Hey! Cao Sheng, did you know I'm also a fan of your book? I heard your new book is going to be charged online? Your royalties must be pretty high, right? Why are you charging online? Isn't the spirit of the internet about sharing? You're going against the spirit of the internet!"

A girl asked, "Cao Sheng! Are you short of money lately? Is that why you decided to start a paid online reading service? Is it because you bought several properties in Shenzhen that you're short on cash now?"

……

Not just the classmates.

When Cao Sheng eats in the school cafeteria every day, people occasionally come up to him and ask him similar questions.

Even Tan Yu, who had kissed him before, sat down opposite him at noon today with a meal in hand and asked curiously, "Hey! Are you really going to charge for online reading of your new book in a few days?"

Cao Sheng was surprised and looked at her.

I didn't expect she knew about this too?

"Who did you listen to?"

he asks.

Tan Yu bit her cherry lips lightly, glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to their conversation, and then lowered her voice to say, "I usually read your new book online. I quite like your new book, 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts,' but I recently noticed that it's going to be included in the first batch of paid reading on Qidian. If I don't pay, it seems like I won't be able to read the later parts. So, I wanted to talk to you about this."

Cao Sheng looked at her, and almost laughed.

"How do you want to talk? Do you want me to quit paying for reading on Qidian?"

Tan Yu carefully observed his expression and whispered, "I... I saw that many people in your book review section are against charging for your book online, and... and I think the vast majority of readers, like me, are too lazy to pay. If you... if you join Qidian's paid reading service, you will definitely lose a lot of readers, and... it will also affect your reputation..." After saying that, seeing that Cao Sheng didn't get angry, she added, "So, I suggest you carefully consider whether you want to withdraw from paid reading?"

Cao Sheng chuckled and shook his head.

Tan Yu looked at him in surprise.

They probably didn't expect him to shake his head without even thinking.

"Why?" she asked.

Cao Sheng: "This is not just a matter of my income! Although I am not short of money, there are tens of thousands of authors who are. An industry that does not make money cannot grow and develop."

Tan Yu looked puzzled, with a bewildered expression.

Seeing this, Cao Sheng lost interest in explaining further.

In the original timeline, he personally witnessed the period of rapid, unbridled growth and explosive development of online literature after it entered the era of paid content.

At that time, he thought of many things.

Why has traditional literature failed to thrive in the country?

Is it because there is a lack of writing talent in mainland China?
However, the rise and flourishing of online literature is enough to show that there are many talented writers in mainland China.

Why didn't these talented individuals join traditional literature and become traditional writers?
There could be several reasons.

However, he believes that the fact that very few traditional writers can make money is a major reason.

Only a very small number of traditional writers can support themselves, their families, or even become wealthy through royalties.

Can a writer who cannot support himself with royalties from his own works become a role model to attract young people to join the industry?
And why is the mainland film and television industry developing so slowly? With such a vast mainland and a population of 14 billion, why are there only so many people playing in the mainland film and television industry?
What is the reason?
There are probably many reasons.

However, Cao Sheng believes that the lack of a vibrant talent development system in the mainland film and television industry is a major reason for this.

New actors, directors, screenwriters, and other newcomers often struggle to earn money even after many years in the industry. The difficulty for newcomers to break through is immense, inevitably leading to a severe shortage of fresh blood in the industry. Consequently, the industry appears lacking in vitality and vitality, failing to demonstrate a thriving development.

Cao Sheng sometimes can't help but wonder: if the mainland film and television industry had a platform where new actors, screenwriters, directors, and other professionals could earn money, and on this platform, everyone's strength and talent were the primary criteria for evaluation, would the mainland film and television industry still be in that half-dead state?

……

Two days flew by.

January 13th, Sunday.

The day when the first batch of paid reading works were released on Qidian.

Because it was Sunday, Cao Sheng didn't have to go to class.

After getting up in the morning and eating the breakfast that Cui Xinyu bought, he made himself a cup of tea. Ignoring Cui Xinyu going to the bathroom to wash his clothes, he turned on his computer, created a new blank document, sat in front of the computer, and after a moment of contemplation, began to write his first post-release statement after his rebirth.

He had written this many times before his rebirth.

Logically speaking, he should be able to write this in one go without any difficulty.

But today he wrote very slowly, thinking as he wrote.

He felt that this launch message would help all book fans and the outside world understand why he wanted to charge for his new book online.

He wanted to use this acceptance speech to help people understand the meaning of paid reading.

I also want to use this book launch message to let everyone understand what the benefits of subscribing to his new book are.

If he can't make people understand these meanings, he has no reason to ask them to subscribe to and support his work. After all, almost everyone in the online literature circle knows that he, Cao, is not short of money.

Many people even know that he is already worth over 100 million.

In this situation, what reason would his fans, who are not financially well-off, have to subscribe to and support his works?
It's obvious that the paid chapters he publishes on Qidian will soon be pirated and uploaded to other websites.

For some people who are proficient in computer technology, developing a small program to scrape the content of paid chapters on Qidian is not difficult.

Therefore, readers who like his book can easily find paid versions of it on other websites.

The piracy problem in the original timeline has plagued writers for many years.

Cao Sheng believes that this problem cannot be solved within the next ten or eight years, given the current timeline.

This really puts readers' conscience to the test.

It can be said that the reason why online novels in the original timeline could grow and thrive, and why so many writers could earn enough to support themselves and their families, was because of a group of conscientious readers who would rather pay money to support the works they liked than read pirated resources that didn't cost them any.

In front of the computer.

While writing this acceptance speech, Cao Sheng's mind was filled with thoughts, recalling many things from the original timeline.

He recalled the early years when he first started writing online novels. Every time he worked tirelessly to write a new book, he would finally gain more than 10,000 followers, only to find that on the day the book was released, more than 90% of the readers went to read pirated versions, and less than one-tenth of the readers subscribed to the official version.

I also recalled the paid chapters I updated every day, which appeared on pirated websites and Baidu Tieba as soon as they were published.

I also recall some readers who read pirated copies, ran to his book review section to hurl insults, and even infiltrated his fan groups to recommend pirated resources to other readers.

and many more.

In his memory, those were long and difficult years.

He worked hard for several years to become one of the representative authors in a niche category, but he could only earn about two thousand a month.

I can barely support myself.

However, they do not have the right to choose a spouse.

He recalled a blind date his family arranged for him. The girl had worked in the clothing industry after graduating from junior high school and earned a monthly salary of over three thousand yuan.

After hearing about his income, they complained that he earned too little.

Then there is no more.

I also recalled a late night when I mustered up the courage to confess my feelings to a beautiful girl from my high school days. She was an excellent student and didn't seem to mind my confession.

She even seemed a little insecure, saying she wasn't as pretty as she was in high school.

As they chatted, she asked him how much he earned each month writing novels.

He mentioned the numbers.

She immediately became confident and said that they could be friends, and could only be friends.

……

These past events are still vivid in my mind.

Cao Sheng believes that writers who write out of passion today face many times more difficulties than he did back then.

Therefore, he wants to persuade more book fans to support original works, so that their favorite authors can live with a little dignity and be treated like human beings.

With this mindset in mind, he wrote a lot of his heartfelt words in his acceptance speech.

(End of this chapter)