I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 88 Impacting Million Sales (Please read, collect, recommend, and vote)

"Since 1990, the French book market has actually been shrinking."

Mela frowned and thought for a moment before continuing, "It's not the book market that's shrinking, but the market for French writers. The book market has actually been growing, as you can see from the sales figures.

The problem is that after the 90s, French literary circles seemed to have fallen into a vicious circle.

Perhaps influenced by avant-garde and the New Wave, more and more writers are focusing on so-called explorations of human nature, neglecting storytelling and technique. After the 90s, works that sold over a million copies annually included "The Man with the Shadow," "If I Could Do It All Over Again," "You Should Fly Like a Bird to Your Mountain," "Silent Confessions," and more. The Little Prince and Harry Potter were also among them. Every new Harry Potter book would inevitably become the best-seller of the year.

It sounds a bit miserable.

After all, France has a population of 60 million...

Liu Jin didn't have a particularly deep understanding of this data, so he didn't comment.

He just thought that printing 500,000 copies at once...

He doesn't care!

He was so happy about the 6 million francs in royalties.

What opinion could he have?

But isn’t the pressure on Mela a bit too much?

"Wouldn't that be a bit risky?"

"There are definitely risks, but I don't think it will be a big problem."

"why?"

"because of you!"

"Me? What's wrong with me?"

"I've discovered that you're a hot-button fanatic and a troublemaker... Just like this book, Amélie, which has been controversial since its publication, and has become a hot topic over and over again. Now even Minister Jacques has come out to speak for you.

Every time you cause trouble, sales skyrocket."

"I didn't cause any trouble. I don't know much about what happened this time."

"Anyway, I have confidence in you... I was a little worried when Michel's 'The Platform' came out. But now it's gone silent. I heard a lot of bookstores have started pulling 'The Platform' from their shelves, thinking it's low-brow. Hehe, Flammarion's first print run of 500,000 copies is probably going to be a loss."

"Is there such a thing?"

"Of course!" Mela laughed. "Not only the platform, but also some other similar works, including Michel's 'Elementary Particles', have been affected. Although they haven't been completely removed from the shelves, they have been removed from the hot bestseller list. However, Christian's 'A Maid' has not been affected. In fact, sales have increased significantly."

Liu Jin couldn't help but laugh.

I didn't expect that he could have a SH in France?

"Anyway, do what you can. If you can avoid taking risks, then don't take them."

As Liu Jin spoke, he took out a manuscript from his schoolbag and placed it on the table.

"This is my new book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I've already sent the manuscript to your email. I guess you haven't seen it."

A conflicted look appeared on Meila's face.

She glanced at the manuscript on the table, picked it up and flipped through two pages.

"Suspense?"

"Ok!"

She sighed and put the manuscript down.

"I'll look back."

"not interested?"

"Not really... Singla Publishing is more literary. Your previous three books... damn, could you not write so quickly? The sales of Amélie haven't finished yet, and I still have two copies on hand."

"It's okay, take your time. I'll leave the manuscript here for you first."

Mela nodded.

"I'm leaving!"

"So anxious?"

"I have an appointment to look at cars today."

"Did you get your driver's license?"

"of course."

"What car are you planning to buy?"

"Citroen, Sarah Picasso, hey, a second-hand car, 90% new, I plan to go over and take a look."

"Used car? Why not buy a new one?"

"poverty!"

After Liu Jin finished speaking, he stood up and walked out.

Meila grabbed the folder on the table and threw it fiercely.

Liu Jin, get out of the way!

"Also, Ottilie will connect with you from now on."

"What about you?"

"I have other things to do, so I might have to travel a lot this year."

Liu Jin glanced outside the office.

The young assistant Ottilie, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, was handling her work seriously.

"Ottilie brought over a few writers this time. Thanks to you, they agreed as soon as they heard you were publishing at Singla. But I asked Ottilie to hand those writers over to other people. From now on, she will be solely responsible for handling all your affairs."

"Mr. Amos!"

Ottilie raised her head and looked at Liu Jin with a smile.

Liu Jin also smiled, "Go buy your boss a cup of good espresso and ask her to be more diligent."

Ottilie burst out laughing.

Immediately afterwards, a ball of paper flew over.

Liu Jin dodged again and ran away!
……

Liu Jin left.

Meera sat in her office, lost in thought.

Ottilie brought in a large latte and placed it in front of her.

"Amos's new book?"

She said in surprise when she saw the manuscript on the table.

"This guy is a complete writing maniac... If French writers had half his diligence and inspiration, Harry Potter wouldn't be a top seller every year. However, this book is a suspense, and I'm a little confused."

"What are you struggling with?"

"Singla, it's too small!"

Meera took the coffee and walked to the window.

Liu Jin was seen running out and getting into an old-looking Citroen sedan.

"I went to Paris this time and met Aunt Elaina."

"Ms. Elaina Landon?"

"Well, Mr. Landong is in poor health and has been hospitalized since the New Year. Aunt Elaina is now in charge of the midnight business."

The Mr. Landon that Mela was talking about was Jérôme Landon.

The second head of Midnight Publishing House developed it from a small workshop with only fifty people into one of the largest publishing groups in France today.

This is a legendary figure in the French publishing world.

The Landon that Christian, the author of "A Maid", mentioned in a TV interview was Jérôme Landon.

He was the author discovered by Landon, who successfully pushed him to the Medici Prize.

Speaking of which, Landong can be considered to be of the same generation as Mela's grandfather.

"Ok!"

Mela whispered, "Aunt Elaina said my promotion was a complete mess. I relied entirely on Amos to stir up trouble, and our subsequent follow-up was terrible. Aunt Elaina said that if she were in charge of Amélie, she would be able to push it to a million sales volume right now, or even break the record of two million copies for the whole year."

"Everyone can say things after the fact, but what you said is true, Ms. Elaina... You made the final decision to sign Amos's book when it wasn't even finished. If it were Ms. Elaina, I don't think she would have had the same courage and boldness as you."

Meera laughed.

“That’s what she said, but what Elena said is also true.

If it weren't for Amos's efforts, the sales of "Amelie" would probably not have exceeded 100,000 copies."

"What do you want to do?"

"I wonder if I'm a burden to Amos?"

"What did he say?"

Meila shook her head and said, “He didn’t say anything, and he even asked me to publish it slowly.

Here, the new books have arrived... Ottilie, I want to give the book Amos to Ms. Elaina."

"Meira, are you crazy?"

"No, I really am..."

"Don't even think about it. Singla finally has this treasure, the most valuable asset in the company. If you let it go, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Meira, I know your ambition isn't in publishing, but since you've taken over Singla, you have to keep it going. Chloe is willing to help you, and I'm willing to help you too. Don't give up."

Meira was silent for a long time.

The coffee in the cup had already gone cold when she finally made up her mind.

"Let's not talk about that for now. I've already agreed with Liu that we'll print an extra 500,000 copies of 'Amelie.' We can't let this down again. We have to achieve one million sales, or I'll..."

She glanced at the manuscript in Ottilie's hands.

"I'll just give this book away."

"I'll help you!"

Ottilie nodded vigorously, her tone resolute!

"But one million copies... the craze for Minister Jacques' interview is almost over. One hundred and twenty thousand copies..."

"I don't know, but I have a hunch."

"What premonition?"

"Liu will definitely make some more noise."

Ottilie couldn't help laughing.

"It's hard to say. This guy is acting irrationally when he gets angry. I'll be paying attention to him too."

……

(End of this chapter)