Chapter 29: Wrong Timing

Ask if you don't understand—

Lin Yuan immediately searched the internet for information about the Super Rookie.

After reading it, Lin Yuan realized that the so-called Super Rookie was a new novelist award sponsored by Silver Blue Library, one of the four major publishers in Qin Prefecture.

Held once a year.

This award only accepts submissions of young adult fiction.

Because the target audience for this competition is strictly limited to those under thirty, novels that do not cater to this demographic are rejected by Silver Blue Library.

Young people are the main consumers of entertainment.

In Qin Prefecture, young adult fiction novels are the most popular genre!

In the hearts of many young people who love novels, young adult fiction novels hold a very high status!

What's more...

Young adult fiction novels are well-suited for adaptation into anime and games, with high potential value.

So, in order to capture these young readers, similar new novelist awards are actually organized by many publishing companies.

Among them, Silver Blue Library's Super Rookie is one of the most influential new novelist awards in Qin Prefecture. As long as you enter the top five of the Super Rookie Award, you can get the opportunity to publish your novel and become a bona fide novelist.

Of course.

This doesn't mean that Qin Prefecture only has young adult fiction novels.

In the highly developed literary and artistic world of Blue Star, every genre of novel has a significant market space, but other types of novels naturally have different submission channels—

These works are quite different from young adult fiction novels.

It's like the difference between art films and commercial films. Although everyone is in the film industry, their circles don't intersect much.

With that in mind, Lin Yuan directly searched for the currently popular young adult fiction novels in the market.

He wanted to see what style was currently popular in Qin Prefecture.

After all, even though it's just the two words "young adult," there are many sub-genres that fall under it.

What he found was—

In Qin Prefecture, young adult fiction novels are mostly focused on adventures in other worlds.

The protagonists of these novels are often ordinary students who are transported to another world and gain special abilities.

The story revolves around the protagonist using these abilities to fight monsters, meet various girls, and conquer them one by one, eventually defeating the Demon Lord and establishing a large harem.

Some also emphasize the hot-blooded aspects of the story.

There are also some that don't involve travel to other worlds; they place the story directly in an urban setting and give the protagonist superpowers or something similar. In any case, there's a strong sense of déjà vu.

How would you describe it?

It's a bit like the web novel patterns of the past, as well as the light novels popular in Japan in the previous world.

Combining the two, you get a rough idea of the general appearance of these popular young adult fiction novels in Qin Prefecture.

Lin Yuan also had the intention of searching for young adult fiction novels with sports themes.

He was shocked to discover that such themes were few and far between!

Occasionally, there were a few books that focused on sports, but their performance was lackluster—

Sports-themed young adult fiction novels were almost a completely blank field!

At that moment, Lin Yuan suddenly began to understand why the system had given him "The Prince of Tennis."

It was meant to fill the gap in the market.

For the novel market in Qinzhou, "The Prince of Tennis" chose a novel and innovative theme, but at the same time, it meant that the direction of this novel was extremely niche.

Lin Yuan suddenly felt a bit worried.

Although "The Prince of Tennis" could be considered a young adult fiction novel, could such a niche theme really help him achieve literary fame exceeding ten thousand?

...

No one knew how the future of "The Prince of Tennis" would be, and Lin Yuan could only wait quietly for the channel to sign up for Super Rookie to open.

At the end of the month, he returned to the company.

As soon as he entered the door of the tenth floor, his colleagues congratulated him on the success of "Big Fish," clearly having heard the song.

Wu Yong even gave him a thumbs up:

"I used to say that 'Big Fish,' being a niche genre soundtrack, probably wouldn't do well, but you turned around and slapped me in the face."

"I didn't."

Lin Yuan immediately denied.

Wu Yong stood still, pondered for a long time, and only then understood Lin Yuan's thought process. He couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. "I wasn't talking about that 'slap in the face'..."

Let's not dwell on that.

Wu Yong sat down next to Lin Yuan, looking regretful. "Actually, 'Big Fish' was released in the wrong month; otherwise, with the quality of this song, it could have climbed higher."

Lin Yuan was puzzled, "Released in the wrong month?"

Wu Yong paused for a moment and said, "You don't know, do you? In Qin Prefecture, we update the new music chart every month. So, most of the singers who care about the new music chart will release their songs on the first day of the month to get more public attention."

Lin Yuan nodded.

Singers often chose to release their songs on the first of the month, and he was aware of this. However, he had never delved into the reasons behind it.

So, it was to make it onto the chart?

Wu Yong sighed, "Originally, 'Big Fish' had a chance to make it to the new music chart. Although the song was released in the middle of December, the quality of the song was excellent."

"But?"

The popularity of a song was directly related to his reputation points, so he was very concerned about this.

"But!"

Wu Yong shrugged, "The problem with 'Big Fish' is that it was released in December, and December is a tough month. Every year during this month, several top singers make a year-end sprint on the new music charts. So, the competition on the new music chart is intense. On top of that, your song was only officially released in the middle of the month, so it didn't have enough time to climb the ranks. That's why it's currently only at the thirteenth spot."

Lin Yuan pondered, "Where can I find the new music chart?"

Wu Yong chuckled, "You're quite the newbie. Let me teach you. Search for 'Qin Prefecture Music' now. These are the official charts, no funny business. The first chart is the new music chart, and you can also find the newcomer rankings here."

"Alright."

Lin Yuan followed the instructions and entered the official website of Qin Prefecture Music. Indeed, he found his song in the thirteenth position.

"See."

Wu Yong explained, "The top ten on the chart consist of either new songs from top singers or songs by top-tier artists. Want to listen?"

With curiosity, Lin Yuan listened to the songs in the top spots and made a mental note.

Objectively speaking, the quality of the songs in the top three was on par with "Big Fish." Qin Prefecture's music scene was indeed filled with talented artists, and the composers and singers of these songs were top-notch. Their high rankings were well-deserved.

However...

The songs ranked lower than third place, when compared to "Big Fish" at thirteenth place, were somewhat lacking in quality.

"Do you get it now?" Wu Yong said. "With the quality of 'Big Fish,' entering the top three is possible, and even the top ten is within reach. But the problem is, December is a fierce competition, and your song was released in the middle of the month, which made it difficult to break through."

Lin Yuan nodded.

Wu Yong smiled, "But don't be too disheartened. 'Big Fish' is a soundtrack, so it had to align with the release of that movie in Qi Prefecture. What determines a song's ranking isn't just its quality; the fame of the composer and the singer also matter a lot. Your fame isn't on par with those ace composers, and Jiang Kui is a newcomer. It's understandable that you didn't make it to the top ten. Unless your song's quality can overshadow these disadvantages. Do you think ace composers like collaborating with A-list singers? It's about teaming up with the strong. Workhorses may be cheap, but they lack the popularity!"

Lin Yuan replied, "I see."

But I still choose to have a workhorse.

Wu Yong continued, "That's why November is the season for newcomers. It's a protective period for new artists. Without the protection of the newcomer season, going up against established industry veterans would put newcomers at a disadvantage. Unless the song's quality can overcome these shortcomings, it's quite challenging."

Just then, a colleague outside the door called, "Xianyu, come here, Sister Zhao is looking for you."