How many readers should the novel have when it just started to be serialised?
The number of readers wasn't the most important indicator of the beginning of a novel because everyone's reading experience was different. The important thing was that the novel could attract the readers 'attention and keep them willing to continue reading. The increase in the number of readers was a gradual and stable process, not a sudden explosive growth. Generally speaking, the number of readers may gradually increase after the novel is serialised, but as the story develops, the interest of the readers may change, and the growth of the number of readers may slow down or stop. Therefore, the number of readers of a novel was not the only indicator of a novel's success. Other factors such as the plot, character description, and writing style were equally important.