I will never give in to Miss Death

No. 165 Lily blossoms at Xingguang Primary School

After some explanation from the editor of Catmint, I roughly understood what this "offline author exchange meeting" was all about.

Next Monday, which is May 20th, Kamihama City will hold a relatively large "Literature and Art Exchange" exhibition, which can be generally described as a "Book and Novel Discount Wholesale Carnival Holiday". Almost all companies related to novels and comics on the market can bring their gear to "set up stalls" and promote their own companies and websites.

To put it more vulgarly, this is a publicity meeting for major websites to "grab authors and readers."

At present, the comics industry in our country is not very developed, and only the novel industry has started a little bit. Therefore, there are more novel websites on the market than comics websites. This kind of literary and artistic exchange meeting... basically those who go there are the heads of novel websites.

Miguabao Novel Network is currently the largest two-dimensional original novel website in China. Although the name seems to be very powerful, it has many adjectives in front of it - "two-dimensional" and "original".

For domestic novel websites, "two-dimensional" is actually just a very small category, just like "urban", "fantasy", "magic" and "martial arts". There is nothing special about "two-dimensional".

The word "original" corresponds to "non-original" or "fan fiction". With these two adjectives, "the largest two-dimensional original novel website" is not so impressive.

In fact, Miguabao Light Novel Network is currently facing a huge crisis.

After taking over the mess of Yaedang Novel Network, Miguabao's novels have expanded a lot. However, because Yaedang ran away, Miguabao took over the editors there and also accepted some authors. There was a big gap in funds, but most of the previous readers have left, and the traffic of the website has not increased.

The closure of the website not only hurts the authors and they won’t get their royalties, but it also damages the rights of the readers: I just spent so much money to read a book, but your website has run away, and you can’t even refund the money. Isn’t this a scam?

As a result, a large number of readers also ran away and blacklisted Yaedou.

Even if Miguabao takes over Yaetang now, there is no clear solution to the previous mess - should the previous readers' accounts be inherited? If so, what if a reader registers for both Yaetang and Miguabao? Yaetang subscriptions do not have discounts, but Miguabao subscriptions with a higher VIP level have discounts. So if I use Miguabao's account to subscribe to Yaetang novels, will there be a discount? Can the previous consumption records of Yaetang novels be counted to Miguabao?

Not to mention the website, authors are also very troubled by websites that are acquired after closing down. I am an author of Yaetang. After the merger, the subscription of my novels was cut in half. Before, 100 people read each chapter, but now there are less than people. Many readers also shouted in the comment area to throw lemons and return money. Should I continue to write or just cancel it and register a new account? If I don’t continue to write and just give up, what will happen to the guarantee agreement I signed with Yaetang before? Will it be considered a breach of contract?

Similarly, readers have also become victims in this incident - I paid, but the website disappeared halfway through reading a book. How should I calculate this loss? Originally, it cost 8 yuan to subscribe to a chapter here. After the merger with Yaedang, Yaedang's VIP account only has 3% off for reading books. Can I transfer the money I paid to them? Others can unlock VIP0 by recharging yuan on Miguabao, but I have already spent more than yuan on reading at Yaedang. After your website merger, I am still VIP. Isn't this wrong?

All in all it was a mess.

Just at this time, the cultural and art exhibition was opened, and other websites came to "attack", so Miguabao and Yaedo had to find a way to "fight back".

Before this, Miguabao had always focused on "2D light novels", but this "2D" was not exclusive to Miguabao. Some giant websites on the market now also have "2D" categories, and this category has a particularly large number of readers. Some websites started early and have accumulated a large number of readers over the past decade. When the 2D became popular, it was just a matter of adding a "2D" category for them and hiring a few new editors who were familiar with this industry. But for Miguabao, the 2D is almost the main theme of the entire website.

There are currently many novel websites ranked ahead of Miguabao.com, such as the giant "Yuandian" website, which is a super giant established twenty years ago. If the traffic of Miguabao is 10, then the traffic of "Yuandian" is 10000. Even the popularity of the "two-dimensional" category in this big website is above 100, not to mention that this website focuses on "city" rather than "two-dimensional".

In addition, there are also "Tomato Novel Network" and "Fei Fei Novel Network" that focus on fast-food novels, or "Xijiang Novel Network" for women. These novel websites will sell books and promote themselves at the art exhibition in Kamihama City.

According to unreliable information, it seems that people from the Writers Association and city leaders from Kamihama City will come to inspect the event, and people from TV stations will be invited to report on the booths of various websites. This can be regarded as a more formal and serious way of publicity.

As for the "Author Conference", it is an offline exchange meeting organized by Miguabao Research Institute in the hope of resolving the issues left over from Yaedo and discussing the future of Miguabao.

Those who can come to the author conference are basically "old authors", "great authors" or "authors who hope to continue developing in Miguabao" within Miguabao and Yaedo.

"Lucky author" translates to the latter. If you are an author who "hopes to stay in Miguabao and write novels in the future", you may receive this invitation and participate in the construction of Miguabao Novel Network.

Maomint said that this authors' conference will mainly focus on future readers' recharges, subscriptions and various activities, such as what activities we can hold, what small gifts we can give out, how to handle the reader levels and account matters of Yaedang and Miguabao. In addition, the authors are required to discuss a reasonable "author benefit", such as how much full attendance should be set, how to calculate the number of words, bonuses for essay writing activities, etc. These will be decided by the "old authors" and "lucky authors" in consultation with the person in charge of the website.

"We have held essay competitions several times before, and we were fleeced by studios. They wrote a lot of new books, and after the essays were selected, the gold prize went to the studio, which was tens of thousands of yuan. After taking the money, these people simply cancelled their accounts, stopped writing, and went to the next essay competition website to continue causing trouble, making our essay competition very embarrassing."

In the video, the editor of Catnip sounded helpless: "So this time we want to know how many of the authors at the top of the best-selling list are real, what everyone thinks, and what they think of the website. We won't use this to promote anything, and this matter is confidential to the website and the outside world."

"It is precisely because of confidentiality that I chose to have a video call with you directly. A few times before, our conversations with the editor and the author were taken out of context by some external authors, screenshoted and photoshopped and spread out to influence the situation, which put us in a passive position. If the video chat needs to be modified, the cost will be higher."

Oh...I guess I understand.

I thought about it and said to the recording hole of my phone, "So I am the lucky author who hopes to develop in Honeydew Bag?"

"Rabbit said that your ideas and attitude in the novel are quite good. You know the current hot topics and are willing to listen to the editor's opinions to modify the plot and learn. Have you read the information Rabbit gave you before?"

“I have read them all and benefited a lot from them.”

"In fact, those materials are quite outdated for today's society. Just take a look at those routines and make a note of the negative examples so as not to make the same mistakes when writing a book."

As he spoke, he seemed a little tired, and the catnip on the phone screen touched his hair: "The current Internet is a field that requires continuous learning and progress. Rabbit said that you have this advantage. She told us that the reason why your subscription is low is that you lack writing experience. If you can get a little guidance, you will definitely become a successful author in the future..."

At this time, a familiar bald man walked past Mint and asked, "Which pigeon are you talking to?"

"Uncle loves loli."

"Oh... the little guy with a nasty name but a cute appearance?"

As he spoke, the bald man took Catnip's phone and said, "Hey, little guy, do you remember me?"

In an instant, the brightness of the entire phone screen increased significantly.

There seemed to be incandescent lights on in the editorial office. As soon as the bald man got close to the phone screen, his bright head reflected the light from above, making me a little dizzy.

Uh……

"You are...the editor-in-chief?"

I asked tentatively.

If I remember correctly, I met this editor-in-chief once before at a comic convention.

At that time, he was walking with Lu Xinjian. He was tall and big. I still remember that he introduced himself as Big G, which was probably some kind of nickname for the editorial department, just like "catnip" and "rabbit".

What I didn't expect was that he shaved his head so cleanly this time.

A tall, muscular man with a bald head and wearing sunglasses...is it really okay for the editor-in-chief of Honeydew Bag to have this image?

"Yes, you have a good memory."

The editor-in-chief returned the phone to Catmint in a very casual manner: "As expected of the king of single-updates mentioned by Elodie, come to the author conference to have a look. If you don't like it, you can come secretly. There will be many best-selling authors here, and in addition to official business, we will discuss some book-writing techniques in private, which will be very helpful to you."

"what……"

I hesitated: "Well... okay then."

At the coffee shop, Yin Xiamo and I can arrange our rest days as we like. There is still half a month left in May, and I have seven days of vacation left. I need to keep one day this Saturday or Sunday to attend Jiang Wei's wedding, and then take another day to attend this authors' meeting. It's not too stressful for me.

As a person who "will not die", I can't seem to do a job like a coffee shop maid for long, or most jobs that require showing your face can't be done for long. Yin Xiamo said that because I inherited the genes of the elves, my body develops very slowly. There are also many examples on the Internet of people who stop developing at puberty and still look like children in their thirties and forties. But you can't... still be a teenager in your sixties or seventies, right?

Working as maids in a coffee shop, Yin Xiamo and I receive customers every day. Now we declare ourselves to be around 18 years old. If we do this for 10 years, we will be close to 30 years old. It is understandable that our appearance remains unchanged. But if we do this for 20 years, and people in their 40s or 50s still look like children, it would really be a "supernatural phenomenon" or even a "horror phenomenon."

If by that time we are still doing various jobs that require showing our faces like we do now, it will be very troublesome to be recognized.

The best case scenario is that Yin Xiamo and I live like ordinary people in the next ten years, and then slowly fade out of this world after ten years. For example, we can live in the island villa that Su Yunjin mentioned, or go to some deep mountain forest with Yin Xiamo to live in seclusion and spend every day in our own world.

As for my job at that time... I could just make writing novels my main job and write books full-time every day.

Writing novels is not like being a waiter who needs to be in the spotlight. As long as your writing is excellent and the plot is exciting, no one will care whether the author is an uncle or an immortal beauty. I can write a book at the age of 20 now, and I can also write a book at the age of 30, 40, or even until I am 70 or 80. The most I will have is some readers complaining that "this author is obviously an old man or an old woman but can be as trendy as young people."

In other words... I now need to roughly plan my future life. Currently, being a maid in a coffee shop is a "job for young people". Although I can continue to eat this "job for young people", in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, I must master another skill that can "support me in my old age" while eating this "job for young people", that is, writing books.

The only "retirement skill" I can think of at the moment is writing novels.

The best case scenario is to use these ten years to accumulate popularity and improve writing skills, so that when the day comes for you to "retire", you can support yourself with novels.

There is a saying... In the future, with the advancement and development of science and technology, many occupations may be replaced, but anything related to "arts and literature" cannot be replaced by machines.

Since even the editor-in-chief of Miguabao has said that this offline exchange meeting for authors will be of great benefit to me, then I won’t lose anything if I schedule my day off to attend on that day.

"You have decided to attend this meeting, right?"

After receiving my affirmative reply, the catnip on the other end of the phone seemed to be relieved: "I originally said that it would take some time to persuade you... Then let me confirm your address and phone number with you. Your contact address is in the central district of Kamihama City... Building 3 of this small apartment, right?"

"No, I've moved now."

I glanced at the sunlight outside the window: "Change it to Building 3, Xingxing Garden Community, Xingxing Garden Road, Nannai District."

"Ok."

Catnip didn't ask any more questions: "What about the phone number? Do we need to change it too?"

"Well, that needs to be changed too. The number on the contract was my brother's old phone number."

I read out the new phone number that I had registered using Yin Nuoer’s ID card: “This is new.”

"Okay, I'll repeat it."

Catnip read my address and phone number again: "The invitation letter will be sent here, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, the invitation letter from the same city will probably arrive tomorrow, so please check it out then."

"Ah."

I hesitated for a moment: "Can I ask which authors will be there?"

"Some authors on the best-selling list, the top 50 on the best-selling list of Melon Bags, and a few more famous authors from Yaedo... Do you know any authors on the best-selling list?"

"Are the three authors, Divine Pet Pippi, Marisa's Iron Butt, and Gito and Ryu, going?"

"Do you know these guys? The Divine Pet Pipi went, but Marisa's Tetsuji declined our invitation, saying that he was too busy these days to go. As for Gito Tonglong...his status is quite special, and he hasn't been writing novels recently, so we didn't send him an invitation."

"learn."

"That's it for now. If you have any questions, please contact me on Q."

"Ok."

Putting down the phone, I searched through the contact list for a while, clicked on the avatar of "Li Jianfu", and then pressed the play button.

"Hello? Wait, Dad is on the phone with his friend, why don't you go and play by yourself for a while?"

"Hey, hey, good boy."

"Hello?"

The call was connected soon, and Pippi's fatherly voice came over: "Nuo'er, what's the matter?"

"Our editor said there was an offline conference for authors, and you also attended it."

For some reason, the scene of Pippi's daughter being naughty and mischievous appeared in my mind: "Can you tell me what this is like?"

"Oh, the author conference. If I remember correctly, it should be an offline exchange meeting to prevent no-shows and bring together valuable authors to help each other... Nannan, be careful. If you stand on that ball, you will fall..."

While talking to me, Pippi educated her daughter: "What's wrong, you also received an invitation?"

"Well, I agreed to go."

"That's great. I'm surprised they would invite you."

"Hey."

I was a little unconvinced: "After all, I have been writing novels at Yaedo for several years, right?"

"It depends on the author's income. Only authors who have been on the best-selling list are eligible."

Pipi was silent for a moment: "Nuo'er, are you in as a lucky author?"

I instantly felt like my heart was pierced by an arrow: "Yes."

"The novel business depends on your ability. I'm not trying to insult you, but you can see for yourself that your monthly royalties are only 1,000 or 2,000 yuan, and with some recommendations you can barely make 3,000 yuan. Other authors on the rankings, not to mention me, who were ranked 20th in the best-selling Yaedong at the time, all made 100,000 yuan a month in royalties. You make 2,000 yuan a month, which is only 20,000 yuan a year. It will take you five years to catch up with their monthly income."

Pipi laughed: "What do you want to ask me? Is this author conference worth going to?"

"That's pretty much what it means."

Having been with Pipi Marisa for such a long time, I naturally know this guy's personality very well: "I feel that you are quite perceptive about this industry. Do you have any suggestions..."

"What suggestions do I have? Yaedo has held similar author gatherings before. To put it simply, it serves to gather the hearts of high-end authors."

Pipi sighed, "Nowadays, most novel websites sign books but not people, which has little restraint on authors. There are also a lot of studios. Some authors become famous on this website and are cultivated by the editors. Suddenly, without saying a word, they take a group of readers to other websites. This is very harmful to the website. Therefore, some more formal websites occasionally let high-end authors get together offline and let them give some suggestions for the website. Everyone can have a meal and get to know each other, and get familiar with the editors and the website's operations. Although it cannot completely prevent the phenomenon of job-hopping, it can at least make them familiar with each other and make it easier to talk to them in the future."

"No one has had a good time in the novel industry recently. Traffic has been almost completely snatched away by short videos and animation. The authorities have been suppressing it, and Miguabao has taken over the mess of Yaedo. I can understand them. In my opinion, this meeting will definitely be held after Miguabao and Yaedo merge. It's just that I didn't expect that they would have an extra 'lucky author' this time."

It seems to be the case when you put it that way?

Thinking about the tone Catnip used when talking to me just now, I finally relaxed a little, even though I had been wondering if they were in the same mood as the principal of Xingguang Primary School.

By the way, I'll write another chapter of the novel and then go meet their principal on the way to get things resolved.

"Thanks, good brother."

I stretched and asked, "How are you doing recently? Is your daughter okay?"

"What a bullshit, four-legged gold-eating beast, so annoying... Nannan, don't stand on that ball anymore, you will really fall down!"

Seeing that I had finished asking questions, Pipi also seemed to be hanging up: "Well, let's do this for now. I'm going to play with my daughter. She has been too naughty these past few days."

"Okay, bye."

"bye."

After hanging up the phone, I walked out of the room, went to the balcony, took a deep breath, and then looked at the scenery in the distance.

Five minutes later, I returned to the room, sat on the computer chair and continued typing.

Let me see... Since the beginning and the name of this novel are fine, what I have to do next is to make the plot more and more exciting.