Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 49 Book Signing Tour
Because they unlocked cosplay on their very first try, their subsequent shameless and carefree life became incredibly colorful and vibrant.

It wasn't until March 31st, when filming officially began, that all the important actors moved into a guesthouse owned by the television station for easier management, finally breaking the couple's carefree lifestyle.

To ensure the smooth operation of the production team, Zhang Yan spent the first few days running around and busy with various tasks. However, once Ma Huiwu had a clearer understanding of the situation, Zhang Yan, as the screenwriter, no longer needed to be stationed on set; he only needed to stay in touch with the team at any time.

Therefore, Zhang Yan finally bought a pager, otherwise he would always be worried when he was out and about, fearing that he would delay the filming of the movie.

As it turned out, buying the pager was quite prescient, because starting in mid-April, he was forced to live a life of 'displacement'.

The standalone edition of "The Detective of the Red Chamber" was officially released on March 16th. Thanks to the readership established by the magazine, it sold extremely well upon its release, with the first edition of 3 copies selling out in just over half a month.

The publisher was overjoyed and quickly reprinted another 50,000 copies.

But by this time, complete pirated copies had already been produced, and not just by one company, but by a group of pirates who rose up together and spread like wildfire, covering North China in just a few days.

They even entered East China, Northeast China, and Northwest China earlier than the genuine products, showing a strong ambition to conquer the world and gather forces in the Southeast.

No wonder Wang Shuo recently went on a rant, saying that only 200,000 copies of the original were printed, while at least 2 million copies of the pirated version were sold.

Pirated copies are not only cheaper, but their marketing methods are also more flexible than those of legitimate copies.

Genuine books published by Tianjin Literature Publishing House might at most be labeled as "the pioneer of a new school" or "the ancestor of time-travel novels"—but pirated versions dare to boast about anything and everything, and their covers are even more blatantly revealing.

But what's most infuriating are those who change the author's name to 'Jin Yong' or 'Gu Long'.

Faced with this vibrant scene of life and everything thriving, the only solution the publisher could think of was to hold a book tour.

This is a hardship that all bestselling authors must go through.

After all, the better a novel sells, the more rampant piracy becomes. The only way to attract a group of loyal fans to spend money to support the official version is through the author's own charm.

However, there's a strategy involved: the first two cities chosen for the book signing events were Tianjin and Hengjiang.

The former is the magazine's headquarters, and the latter is Zhang Yan's hometown, so it doesn't take much effort to create a scene of huge crowds.

Next, the publishing house staff will contact newspapers in the next city in advance to publish news reports about the famous author Zhang Yan's book signing tour, which has caused a frenzy in various places.

For the next month or so, Zhang Yan traveled to almost all four provinces, even reaching as far as Nanjing—unfortunately, the results were not ideal, so the trip to Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou was eventually canceled.

By May 24th.

After going around in circles with the publisher's people, Zhang Yan finally arrived at the last stop of the book signing event—Beijing.

He was exhausted after more than a month of work, but thankfully it wasn't in vain. The publisher printed an additional 50,000 copies, bringing the total to 200,000 copies, and he received a total of over 110,000 yuan in royalties.

This achievement is quite remarkable for a new author, considering that Wang Shuo's "I Am Your Father" only sold 30 copies during the same period.

[PS: The first year of official sales for "I Am Your Father" was 30 copies. It was subsequently reprinted, and by 2003, total sales had exceeded one million copies.]

The publishers are also making a killing.

Therefore, after arriving in Beijing, Director Duan of the publishing house specially gave everyone a day off, while he himself rushed back to Tianjin ahead of time to prepare for the celebration banquet.

Strange to say.

When he wasn't on holiday, Zhang Yan couldn't wait to fall asleep the moment his head hit the bed, but now that he was on holiday, he couldn't sleep.

In the morning, he first contacted his family to confirm Zhang Fang's academic studies progress—by the end of March, Zhang Fang had been admitted to the Capital Broadcasting Institute with the seventh-highest score in the art exam.

Perhaps because she has a goal to strive for, Zhang Fang's academic performance has improved and is now stable between 410 and 430 points.

This score isn't enough for a junior college, but it's enough for an arts college.

After chatting with his parents for half an hour, Zhang Yan contacted the production team of "Tianjin Wei" again. According to Ma Huiwu, three-quarters of the TV series had already been filmed, and it was estimated that the 15-episode TV series would officially wrap up by mid-June.

It's definitely fifteen episodes. Although Zhang Yan originally planned for twelve episodes, he didn't have any experience in writing scripts and just made an estimate based on assumptions.

When it came time to actually film, the script was revised to fifteen episodes.

Many lines were also changed during the process, which were basically the result of negotiations between Ma Huiwu and Zhang Yan after remote communication.

hang up the phone.

Zhang Yan was momentarily at a loss, unsure of what to do. The Black Panther band had been scouted by Wang Fei's management company in Shenzhen and had officially become Beyond's labelmates, currently working intensively on their debut album in Hong Kong.

Zhou Tao is in the capital, but she married Yao Ke half a month ago. Zhang Yan sent a congratulatory gift through someone at the time, so it wouldn't be appropriate to disturb the young couple now.

As for Jiang Shan...

For the past month or so, Zhang Yan and Jiang Shan have been too busy to contact each other much. Their last conversation was about ten days ago, and it was clear that Jiang Shan's passion was fading rapidly.

Even if they come knocking at this point, there's a high probability they can resurface.

But Jiang Shan isn't Zhou Tao. If they really had a relationship, it would definitely affect her life.

What will Chen Hong do then?
Ever since she learned that he had sold 200,000 copies, Chen Hong has been talking to him on the phone almost every night. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they are inseparable.

Comparing these two...

Let's just forget about Jiang Shan for now.

After thinking it over, Zhang Yan finally called Professor Shi Tiesheng.

Upon hearing that Zhang Yanlai was holding a book signing event in Beijing, Shi Tiesheng joked, "You've been making quite a stir lately; you're practically a pioneer now."

"That's all advertising."

Zhang Yan replied with a mixture of pride and embarrassment, "If we're talking about the originator of time travel, then it has to be Mark Twain's 'The Connecticut Yankees'."

Because foreign books were rarely published before, he only recently learned that someone had written a time-travel novel a hundred years ago.

"Haha, he's the American pioneer, you're the Chinese pioneer, you don't affect each other at all." Shi Tiesheng joked a few times, then added, "By the way, someone recently specifically asked to meet you, and even came to me."

"Want to meet me? Who is it?"

"Wang Shuo".

"Wang Shuo?!"

Hearing that Wang Shuo had specifically asked to meet him, Zhang Yan felt completely bewildered. Apart from the fact that they both knew Teacher Shi Tiesheng, he shouldn't have had any interaction with Wang Shuo, right?

"You wrote a script for Tianjin TV, and coincidentally, Wang Shuo also took the lead in writing a script for Beijing TV Art Center. Later, I heard that Tianjin was saying they wanted to have a showdown, so Wang Shuo inquired about it within the industry."

It turns out that the urban drama that was rumored to be filming in Beijing and Taiwan was actually scripted by Wang Shuo.

Zhang Yan felt considerable pressure. Although he was confident in "Tianjin Wei", Wang Shuo had become a household name in the film and television industry in recent years, and several of his scripts had been adapted into film and television dramas.

Not to mention that Wang Shuo was only in charge; there were others helping with the collective wisdom and effort, while he...

uh~
It seems he wasn't fighting alone, drawing on many classic examples and famous quotes from the future.

Then Shi Tiesheng asked again on the phone, "So, should we meet him?"

"This……"

Zhang Yan asked doubtfully, "I've heard that Wang Shuo doesn't have a very good temper?"

“He has a terrible temper; he can turn on you in an instant, but he doesn’t hold a grudge afterward.” Shi Tiesheng chuckled as he said this, “However, he still gives me some face, after all, he’s afraid that I’ll become his crutch once I close my eyes.”

This was obviously a joke, but it was true that Wang Shuo wanted to give Shi Tiesheng face.

Putting aside their past relationship, "Me and the Temple of Heaven" has been incredibly popular in the past six months, and Shi Tiesheng's status in the literary world has also risen rapidly, showing the potential of a master.

Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment. He was still quite curious about Wang Shuo. Since Professor Shi Tiesheng was there, he might as well have a look at him.

So he asked, "Is there anything I need to be careful about then?"

"Just do it the same as usual."

Upon hearing Zhang Yan's agreement to meet, Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "Actually, new people emerge in this industry every year, but it's the first time someone as young as you has sold 200,000 copies. I reckon quite a few people will be interested in you."

Don't hide your talents; these people love to bicker with each other. The more you indulge them, the less they'll respect you.

(End of this chapter)