Chapter 223: Single Edition Release
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Wu Tong had spent two days in the Palace Museum. Time spent restoring ancient paintings went by fast even though she was just a spectator. She gained a lot of experience and was grateful just to fix some edges.
What she didn"t expect was that on the third day, the master in charge of ancient painting restoration had arranged an important task for her. She was so excited she had broken into a small dance. Her professional skills had been recognized by an industry master, and it was not just a verbal recognition either! There was nothing else that could make her happier.
Oh, wait, there was. That would be the happiness from sharing this exciting news, for example, with Meng Fan.
"It"s already pompous that you"re so good looking, but you"re talented too. You can really do whatever you want!"
"I"ll take that as a compliment."
"Of course, if these are compliments, then nothing I say is worth considering."
"What have you been up to lately? Oh right, how goes the voice acting business?"
Wu Tong and Meng Fan would often run, exercise, and stretch together in the morning as they chatted. They could both be considered the kind of people who were very open to conversation. Sometimes, Meng Fan would be the only one talking. While other times, Meng Fan would listen to Wu Tong talk. They had a good understanding of each other"s past.
For example, Meng Fan knew that it was Wu Tong"s dream to restore artifacts in the Palace Museum.
And another example was that Wu Tong knew that Meng Fan"s other dream besides creating a manga was to become a voice actor.
Meng Fan had told her about his voice acting applications and even about the time he met a voice acting director because he had gotten hit by a diamond ring. That was why Wu Tong asked.
"It"s going okay. I"ve recorded for a cartoon TV show, which should be airing soon, but it"s a preschool animation. Oh, and some video game characters as well. Overall, the experience has been pretty good. Dreams are a funny thing. The scariest thing is realizing your dream only to find out that it just feels so so."
"The way you talk makes me want to beat you up."
"Then come hit me!"
"… I"m gonna go. I have to do some homework tonight."
"How much longer until you"re done with everything?"
"Probably another week or so. They only need me for three days, so I"ll head back to school afterward."
Wu Tong"s trip was set to last three or four days, but because of the large number of tasks she"d been given, she had to stay another three or four days.
In the blink of an eye, it was November 22nd already. Meng Fan didn"t go to the Chocolate Factory for he had already recorded all the roles he had been given. Currently, he had played 47 roles that were approved by the System. The time spent in the studio had also acc.u.mulated to 1300 minutes or 22 hours.
He had requested more roles from director Charlie, but they were all roles that required a lot of work, so the progress of gaining experience became much slower.
Director Charlie could tell that Meng Fan wanted to test out some other roles, so he agreed to find some more video game commissions just for him. He told Meng Fan to rest for a few days, and that he would call Meng Fan once the listings came.
"Where are you?"
"Almost there, on the way."
In the morning, Meng Fan woke up. He ran his half marathon and showered. He ate his breakfast then he worked on his manga. During this time, Qin Jiao called him. He checked the time and hurried outside, almost forgetting his appointment with Qin Jiao because he was so lost in his art.
"Which way are you going, huh? The stairway to heaven?"
When Meng Fan arrived at the studio, Qin Jiao rolled her eyes at him before throwing down two books. ""Guide To Campus RoMANce". Bleh. what a stupid name. The layout and cover for the second volume are all done. I didn"t ask for your opinion and told the publis.h.i.+ng house to go ahead with the printing. Oh right, they also reprinted the first volume, the same as last time. It was just that the cover was remade in the style of the second volume."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Meng Fan took the two volumes in his hands and chuckled to himself as he flipped through them, thanking Qin Jiao through his smirks. "You said the second volume would be handed to the publis.h.i.+ng house to distribute and sell. What about the first volume?"
Qin Jiao responded, "The same, there is a dealer taking over. I estimate that the stock will arrive tomorrow or the day after, but the stock for physical retail should be available way later. It will be up on the internet soon, though. We"ve printed 5000 copies of the first volume, the same as the first print for the second volume. The publisher and the dealer have said that if nothing goes wrong, you should make a total sales of 20,000 copies once the third volume comes out."
Meng Fan nodded. He wasn"t surprised by these estimations, even thinking the publisher had been too optimistic in their estimates. After all, he wasn"t a popular manga artist, and "Guide To Campus RoMANce" had a small audience. It would be incredible if the third volume could boost his sales to 20,000 copies.
It couldn"t be compared to "There"s A Spirit Underground", for Mr.Sleepy had so many fans, and they had no pressure selling 50,000 copies in the first batch.
Coincidentally, the first volume of "There"s A Spirit Underground" was released for sale today as well. Mr.Sleepy had found a very powerful publisher and distributor, who had made his stock available in stores in all the first and second-tier cities. Physical sales, e-commerce sites, and online booksellers had all released it at the same time as well.
It was supposed to release at 9:00 am online since most physical stores opened around this time too.
How much did they make in sales?
The sales data for physical stores was definitely hard to obtain, but the sales from mature websites were easily accessible.
Of course, to Meng Fan, he didn"t need to check. He could look at the figures for [Professional Manga Artist] in his mind and know the approximate number.
At the moment, the sales experience of this task was 12,300. Up until now, which was 10:00 am, the figures for the first volume of "There"s A Spirit Underground" had sold more than 10,000 copies.
Before this, the first volume for "Guide to Campus RoMANce" had been distributed by himself, so he had gained zero experience from it. Hence, 12,300 was the most accurate sales number at the moment.
"We"ve broken the 10,000 mark!"
Mr.Sleepy gave Meng Fan a call, saying that his book fans had done so and so to help him break the ten thousand mark.
Alright, because of the experience involved with this task, Meng Fan wanted more than anyone in the world to know the sales numbers. No dealer could match his speed, nonetheless Mr.Sleepy.
"Today, yes today, our sales could exceed 30,000. I told you, 50,000 copies for its first batch was too little! Sigh. Why aren"t you excited?!"
"Huh? I"m excited, but I don"t show it."
"… Speaking of this, the second volume should begin printing soon. The first print will be a bit less so 30,000 copies. The publisher is asking when can it be published; do you have any suggestions?"
"Me? I obviously also hope for it to be out as soon as possible." This was Meng Fan"s real att.i.tude toward it. For now, 10,000 copies in sales didn"t seem hard anymore, and he knew that this involved profit, so he said, "But this is just my opinion. As for how to actually operate it, you should go over it with the publisher."
Meng Fan didn"t know what kind of method could increase sales, like if they continuously publish two or three volumes at once or release them separately. It was unclear to Meng Fan, and he couldn"t decide.
He had already discussed with Qin Jiao to publish a third volume of "Guide To Campus RoMANce" in addition to the two on hand. He would also give the last volume for Qin Jiao to handle, so it could reach publication as soon as possible.