Chapter 88 - Chapter 88: On-Shelf Note: A New Year’s Letter to Readers_2 (1/2)

Chapter 88: On-Shelf Note: A New Year’s Letter to Readers_2

Will I still succeed?

“A flash in the pan,” “lucky,” “coincidental,” “newbie wall,” “exhausted talent”… Authors who have written a single work that reached ten thousand subscriptions make up the vast majority of those who have achieved such numbers.

So-called ten thousand subscriptions,

are just the beginning.

Second on the new book rankings, the initial trend was good, but it’s a pity that after more than twenty chapters the story began to drag, and the protagonist lacked agency, leading to a decline in following readers.

Four thousand initial subscriptions.

Damn, no… not invincible anymore, not invincible anymore.

I started to study the data feedback, carefully pondering and experimenting with various new plotlines based on the patterns provided by the backend, and finally stabilized the following readership, while the average subscriptions also gradually increased.

Ten thousand subscriptions again.

Then, a comic adaptation.

Subscription results improved again.

Unfortunately, the invincible genre framework really can’t be sustained in the long run, and later performance couldn’t be maintained, exacerbating my anxiety disorder, and I could only barely complete the story.

One night, as I was brushing my teeth and bleeding, I knelt on the ground and cried, thinking I had contracted a terminal illness.

From then on, I embarked on a path of health anxiety, with forty visits to the hospital in a year.

I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer.

Went to see a psychologist.

It improved.

“If you take medication, you’ll feel drowsy and won’t be able to write your novel.”

Is that so.

Then I, refuse to take medicine!

For the new book, I wanted to lower the protagonist’s starting point and reduce the highlights, but the result was not good, until later I wanted to write a group portrait novel.

How about a protagonist playing games on a cell phone, controlling superheroes who continuously level up to save the world time after time?

As long as I write about the superheroes’ inner conflicts and struggles, creating information gaps should be interesting, right?

Alright, let’s get to work!

The new book started off well, until certain parts of the story began to drag, and then the following readership slipped, just like the previous book.

Truth be told, I basically lack a sense of language, needing to read my own work several times after finishing it to see the quality of the writing, and I can’t judge the quality of the plot either, needing the data to become clear.

If the plot doesn’t drag, I don’t know what good pacing is; if the plot isn’t bland, I don’t know what intensity is.

Late realization.

All this time, compared to those perceptive geniuses, my writing has always been akin to a blind man fencing, a slow bird taking flight.

No choice, now that it’s come to this, I can only accept my flaws.

Seven thousand initial subscriptions.

Very good, meets expectations.

The me of today has gradually transformed, through extensive note-taking and repeated reflection and deliberation, I have gradually come to understand what anticipation is, what structure is, and subsequent performance will surely not collapse.

Uh, my eyes seem to have a bit of an issue, could it be another health anxiety attack?

Go get it checked.

Retinal hole, laser repair, followed the doctor’s advice to rest for half a month, spent that half a month in bed listening to stand-up comedy.

After returning, readers who left left, and those who scattered scattered, leaving only over three thousand average subscriptions.

After resuming updates, the average quickly rose to over five thousand, and now I’m tenth in the writing competition, with not much prize money from fourth to tenth, and much more starting from third.

I said in the author’s group that I wanted to compete for third place.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Because the ranking was sorted by average subscriptions, at the time the author in third place had thirteen thousand.

I said that book’s framework wasn’t strong, all the highlights and anticipation were in the beginning; what followed was nothing more than a skeletal plot, unlikely to succeed.

As for me, now I can observe the backend data in real time, constantly reflect on new plots, and the later stages within the framework have plenty of highlights and anticipation, so the performance will gradually improve.

Of course, they didn’t believe it.

The writing competition had a word count requirement. Because of half a month without updates, I had to release mass updates to have a chance, so I began to churn out chapters, reflecting and pouring my heart and soul into it like never before.

Months later, my average subscriptions rose to eleven thousand, while that book’s average subscriptions dropped to ten thousand.

Won the competition prize money.

Finally, sixteen thousand average subscriptions.

…

Then, due to excessive stress, I had a mental breakdown, experienced daily palpitations, took several months off to recuperate, and only after recovery did I properly complete that book.

That year, Boxnovel’s anti-piracy measures were very effective, income caps increased several times over, and people around me started achieving results on Boxnovel.

“Ascend to the path.”