There is nothing wrong with the training method of the Justice Messenger

But he didn't show it, and continued talking with a smile.

"This book? How do you know it doesn't sell well?"

"I'm very interested in light novels, and I was curious about the sales rankings. I found the name of this book pretty quickly from the back."

"..."

I didn't expect it to have factual basis.

Li Nian thought that such an interesting book would be a best-seller, but after hearing what Kasumigaoka said, it seemed that was not the case at all.

But aren’t the books on the recommended bookshelf generally bestsellers?

He took another look at the bookshelf and found that in addition to some popular works that were familiar to everyone, there were also many books whose names he had rarely heard of. The illustrations on the covers were also very simple, and they did not look like hot-selling books at all.

This is not a prejudice. The packaging of commercial works is very important, especially for light novels. The cover illustration can be said to be a factor that directly determines life or death.

Similarly, popular works generally have corresponding gorgeous packaging, which is an inevitable causal relationship.

To put it bluntly, some books exude an aura of violent death right from the cover, and don't seem like best-selling works that would be placed on the "recommended bookshelf".

"In addition to this book, there are many less popular works displayed here."

Kasumigaoka seemed to know more than Li Nian. Her fingertips gently ran over some "poorly packaged" works with some regret on her face, and she seemed to know the sales of these books.

The books recommended on this "recommended bookshelf" do not seem to be arranged according to whether they are best-sellers or not.

Li Nian was silent.

Writing well does not mean selling well, he is actually very clear about this phenomenon.

Then, even such an excellent work as "Love Metronome" seems to have encountered such a dilemma.

For a work, performance is the most basic measure, and for performance, sales volume is the most basic measure.

Li Nian thought of more in an instant, and tried to guess the situation of "Xia Shizi" from the author's perspective, and personally experienced the helplessness that the other party might have.

However, Li Nian finds it difficult to agree that the quality of a work should be measured solely by its sales volume.

Kasumigaoka was about to put the book back to its original place when he suddenly spoke.

"I can't comment on the others, but the one in your hand is the only one I'm sure is a very unconventional work."

Kasumigaoka turned around in surprise, only to find that Li Nian was no longer smiling and was saying this with a serious expression.

This is a calm statement and an indisputable rebuttal, as if it is stating an unshakable fact.

Kasumigaoka waved the book in her hand towards him.

"you saw it?"

"Yes."

"…Do you think there's anything outstanding about it?"

"There are too many. How can I count them?"

Kasumigaoka burst out laughing, then coughed and forced himself to straighten his face, pretending to be calm and said.

"Really? It seems like this book suits your taste."

"Not just me, I think you will like it after reading one volume."

“…Are you selling me?”

"It's a recommendation, not a sales pitch. I just want to say that this book is worth reading. How about buying it and taking a look at it?"

Kasumigaoka couldn't help laughing again, but still put the book back to its original place.

"Thank you, but I have also read this book, or rather, I may know more about it than you do."

Li Nian was stunned, but after hearing this, he felt relieved.

There are so many books on the list, why should we specifically look for the sales of one?

“You didn’t like it after reading it?”

"I don't like it... not really, I just think it's not as good as you said, there are still many problems..."

"Finding faults while reading? That's really harsh. How can you read a book neatly and refreshingly like this?"

“…For this one, my requirements are different.”

For this one? Only this one, Love Metronome?

Li Nian finally understood.

"Is this a sign of deep love and severe criticism?"

"...Maybe it's what you said.": Kasumigaoka stared at the cover of the novel, not knowing what he was thinking. His eyes became blurry and he began to mutter to himself in a low voice: "This book is not good enough, not perfect. It must become better and more perfect... Otherwise, it will not get better results."

Yes, Kasumigaoka doesn’t hate this work. On the contrary, she seems to care about it more than Li Nian, or even more than anyone else.

Li Nian felt a little scared.

Could it be that this third-grade celebrity is actually an avid fan of this book? It feels like discovering a new world.

"You care so much about sales? Maybe you care more about it than the author himself?"

"…How do you know that the author doesn't care about this as much as I do?"

Li Nian was speechless.

There is no author in this world who doesn't care about sales - that is, who doesn't care about the performance of his work.

Perhaps the... anxiety of the Kasumigaoka Utaha in front of me may also be the same mood as that "Kasumigaoka Utako" is feeling now?

The two names are kind of similar...

Li Nian didn't think much about it, he just felt that this girl was a little crazy.

Anyway, it seems like you are concerned about the performance of this book, right?

He organized some words before continuing.

“I think the author has done what he can do well enough in this book.”

"No, not good enough."

"You feel that way because you feel like it's not getting the credit it deserves."

"..."

"That can't be helped. Sales are affected by many factors."

She gave him a sharp look, looking a little angry.

"…Are you asking the author to admit his defeat?"

“It’s a bit of an exaggeration to say that we’ve lost, but it’s something that needs to be faced.”

"No one will accept it, right? Of course we have to work harder to seek change."

"Effort is the most basic thing...but the problem now is not there?"

"Where do you think it is?"

“If interesting enough work doesn’t get noticed by most people, then the problem is that it’s not seen by the world.”

"…You mean lack of promotion?"

"Yes, I think this is the only problem. It is normal for commercial works without exposure to have lower sales."

"...I know this without you telling me." Kasumigaoka muttered tiredly, "But the policy of the Butei Bunko is not to favor new authors at all. The publicity is almost zero. What can I...author do?"

There is such an inside story? Miss, how did you know this? Li Nian was a little confused.

"In short, that is an objective fact that no one can change."

"Are you saying that new authors can only lie down and wait for death?"

"Giving up is one thing, but is there anything else an author can do besides writing honestly?"

"So what's wrong with striving for excellence?"

"When is it wrong to work hard? But if the starting point is that you can't even recognize what you wrote, and you don't even think it's interesting enough, then you have lost confidence."

"Nonsense? If the author thinks there is a problem, then there is a problem. How can there be someone in the world who knows the pros and cons of his own work better than the author himself?"

The dialogue between Kasumigaoka and Li Nian is increasingly emotional, with a hint of argumentation in it. This sentence is like saying, "I am the author who understands my own work best."

Li Nian felt more helpless as he listened, and confirmed that this girl was indeed possessed by a demon.

However, what she said seemed to make sense, but it was fundamentally wrong.

"The people who know the quality of a work better than the author himself are, of course, the readers. If they think the article is interesting enough, then the work is excellent. If they think the article is poorly written, then it is garbage. There is no other evaluation standard."

Li Nian pointed to "Love Metronome" on the bookshelf and drew her conclusion.

"So as long as we find it interesting, that's enough. Because that means it's a good enough work for the whole world."

Chapter 30 Seems to be a Successful Solution

Li Nian was once an author... He felt that he was not worthy of this title. At best, he was just a writer, and undoubtedly a third-rate one. But even so, his third-rate status could be considered as having achieved some results after struggling for some time. He was confident that he understood more basic things than those who were not as good as him.

He knew that the most basic of these foundations was that for commercial writing, especially commercial novels, the first priority must be to serve the readers.

The author's mood, thoughts, ideas, and the kind of story he wrote - none of this matters to the readers.

Readers only read the words written by the author, and read smoothly from beginning to end. What they feel, what they think, and what they further ponder in the meantime is all they get. Although this part is subject to different opinions, it can basically be summarized very intuitively and concisely.

What you think is good is good, and what you think is bad is bad. Here, the difference between the quality of a book has been made.

After all, articles are written for others to read. But once it involves other people's thoughts, it is difficult to put yourself in their shoes and guess how the article will be seen by others. It is actually very difficult for the author to think innocently.

There is often a situation where an article that I think is well written is considered a piece of shit by others. This may sound a bit exaggerated, but it can be said that every author... or everyone who has written an essay will inevitably encounter this situation, with only the difference being more or less serious.

On the other hand, there are also cases where the author himself thinks that the article is very poorly written, but it receives good reviews.

Of course, being able to cater to readers and thinking clearly about how their text arrangement can make people feel is also one of the author's abilities, but it is undeniable that the situation where the person in charge is confused and the bystander is clear is still often the case...

Without saying all these, the final word is this: readers' opinions are the only criterion for evaluating a novel.

As a reader, Li Nian can be sure of only one thing, that is, the book "Love Metronome" is good enough - it is an interesting work that can make people immersed in it and moved by it.

Li Nian looked at Kasumigaoka who seemed to be shocked by his decisive argument, and wondered if this senior could understand the logic behind it, so he continued with a smile.

"You're still worrying about the sales for the author. I can see that you like this book very much, but you're being picky about it and demanding it to be better, thinking that this will lead to better results. That's a bit presumptuous. You also said that it seems that the library itself doesn't value the works of newcomers and doesn't promote them vigorously, right? That means this book can only have a little exposure and not be seen by more people. So no matter how well the book is written, it's hard to have good sales. But on the other hand, the problem is only in the promotion. If you're more demanding about quality, it's a bit too much."

Kasumigaoka came back to her senses and for some reason her face turned red all the way to her ears. She looked at Li Nian with evasive eyes and her speech became unclear.

"Is this book as good as you say?"

Li Nian didn't quite understand her reaction, but answered anyway.

"Don't you know this question better than me?"

"I...I'd rather know what other people think of this work."

"I feel pretty good, I just said that."

"…More specifically?"

"specific……"

If you want to ask specifically, Li Nian can easily write a thousand-word long review full of praise from the author's perspective, but it is obviously a bit too much to tell others here, so Li Nian didn't know how to answer this question for a while.

He suddenly noticed that there was a student standing behind the senior sister, holding a few books, and seemed to be hesitant to speak, with a confused expression on his face. He was a customer who wanted to pay the bill but was intimidated by the aura of the beautiful senior sister. He realized that he had talked too much with this unfamiliar senior sister because they talked about their favorite works.

Li Nian decided to end this conversation.

"Since you like it, you can easily find its advantages. If there is anything else I want to say, it is that I think this book is a work that can make [most people] feel interesting." Li Nian concluded with a serious expression: "For a work, this is the point that can determine the winner. I believe that the book "Love Metronome" is just a piece of buried gold, and it is also a latent dragon in the water. If it gets a chance, it will shine and soar into the sky. Of course, even if the author Kasumi Shiko is really unlucky and does not get good recommendations until the end, and is buried, and has some failures in the performance of this book, I also believe that as long as she can maintain the seriousness and hard work conveyed between the lines, she will definitely succeed in her future works. So as a reader, don't worry about that hollowness, just enjoy the words honestly and be moved by them honestly."

He has explained everything he could think of, hoping to enlighten this senior sister Kasumigaoka to some extent, because she seemed a little confused and wanted to further defend the author because of her deep love for the work.

"You trust me so much... uh, do you trust [Xia Shizi]?"

Kasumigaoka looked at Li Nian with twinkling eyes, appearing very moved. Li Nian wondered if her reaction was a little too much... but she also understood that her meaning had been conveyed. She heaved a sigh of relief and answered her question with a smile.

"Of course, but it's useless for us to believe in it. Poor sales will be the biggest blow to the author's confidence. Just pray that she can understand that there is such a group of loyal readers waiting for her work, so she can maintain her confidence and continue to write excellent stories."

"...I understand. I will definitely convey your trust to...that [Xia Shizi]."

Kasumigaoka nodded seriously.