Shelf Speech_1

In the blink of an eye, the book is about to hit the shelves. First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for accompanying me on this journey, and I ask for your continued support as we forge ahead.

I'd like to start by asking for your initial subscriptions, as you all know how important they are to a book's success.

Of course, to thank you for your subscriptions, there will be four updates tomorrow, and after pushing aside other writing tasks for the day after tomorrow and the following day, there will be three updates.

If you like this book, it shows you're fans of science fiction, a genre whose transcendence is unmatched by others.

Unfortunately, China's sci-fi industry has been somewhat languishing, and I've long wanted to critique the domestic market.

There are three well-known sci-fi magazines in China, all of which I've submitted to, so I'm quite familiar with them.

"Science Fiction World" can be considered the pioneer of sci-fi magazines. I used to save up just to buy a copy during my school days, but sadly, since around 2015, each issue seems worse than the last.

I must criticize the magazine for taking the easy route by focusing on publishing stories from just a few authors.

Indeed, these established authors do have good works, but they also produce some really poor ones, the kind that make you feel queasy after reading, as if you've ingested spoiled food.

Another is "Edge of the Galaxy," which comes out every few years and is led by the former deputy editor of "Science Fiction World."

This magazine is quite a trap for sci-fi authors, claiming to carve a new path with requests for novella-length manuscripts.

Three years ago, after seeing their call for submissions, I excitedly wrote and sent in a piece, which was rejected. When I was about to submit it elsewhere, I suddenly realized that no other publication wanted stories of that length.

That moment left me like (￣_￣)

I later bought two copies to read, and it turned out the magazine was in partnership with an American science fiction magazine, mainly featuring translations of foreign works.

The few domestic contributions appeared to come from familiar names. A quick check of "Science Fiction World" confirmed it—it was still those same people.

Although the inner circle of China's sci-fi community isn't large, "Science Fiction World" seems to have something of a monopoly.

Let's not even mention their contributions to the "Cold Lake Awards." I don't know if any of you buy the award-winning collection, but I have, and frankly, it's disappointing. Like their magazine, about 20% of it is quite good, but the rest leaves that same unpleasant aftertaste.

Is it really because the submissions for the competition aren't good enough? Some have shared their works that reached the review stage of the "Cold Lake Awards" but didn't win.

I am not the only one who thinks that many submissions show far more imagination than some of the third-prize winners.

Of course, they fall short of the first and second prizes, most of which are truly of high quality. It's just that the awards for third place and below are somewhat puzzling.

The third publication is "Sci-Fi Cube," which I'm more inclined to call a "Marvel spokesperson." Its first half is mostly filled with articles about Marvel and the like.

The few stories in the back are astonishingly good, but realistically, about 80% of the stories will likely leave you simply chuckling.

Other sci-fi WeChat public accounts and apps hardly make an impression.

And whether it's public accounts or magazines, the review times are so long they make you want to tear your hair out. Wait a month or two just to pass the initial review, then another month, and ah, sorry, it didn't pass the final review.

Once you finally get through the final review, wait another two months for the layout.

It takes half a year to receive the payment.

Luckily, I don't rely on this for my livelihood, or else I'd have starved.

The key issue is that with all that time taken, most of the pieces they approve aren't what readers want to read.

While it's true that you can't please everyone, shouldn't at least half the works be somewhat decent? I wonder if they even understand what the cutting edge of science fiction is or what readers want to read?

I personally believe they're no longer capable of representing Chinese science fiction.

What? Aren't I afraid of offending those magazine editors?

Ha-ha, I'm now mixing it up at QiDian; I don't play with them anymore!

I've ended up ranting quite a bit.

To contrast that with QiDian, the inspiration and overall framework for this novel were completed last year, but I was busy with other things and hadn't written it.

At the end of August, I submitted my manuscript, and Lumíng, the editor, replied that afternoon, expressing willingness to sign this book.

I have to give props to Editor Lumíng; the response was incredibly quick.

Speaking of which, QiDian still values the diversity of online literature. Before this, I had submitted similar stories to other sites, which no one dared to accept.

There were places brave enough to accept them, but the readership was so sparse it might as well have been offline.

Having said all that, I'd like to clarify the plot a little. There is a segment featuring Sixteen's daily life, which many readers complained dragged on for too long.

To explain, that was meant to endow Sixteen with sufficient humanity. However, I admit it was indeed a bit too drawn out, and I'll be more mindful in the future.

The role of Sixteen and Thirty-Six has been mentioned briefly, but I can't divulge too much right now, as it would spoil the story.

Then there's the feedback that the protagonist should wield absolute power to reshape humanity, which touches upon the questions Da Liu poses about the human world in "Three-Body."

Faced with the dark universe, should we evolve just for the sake of development, or should we evolve for a brighter and more hopeful tomorrow?

Da Liu's answer seems inclined towards evolving for a brighter future, yet it's as if he hasn't given a definitive one.

This question truly has no standard answer. A species that evolves for the sake of evolution alone will inevitably become colder, losing a great deal.

Yet, holding onto too many ideals can lead to stagnation. But isn't our effort today for a better tomorrow?

So, I've taken a reckless, cough, a wonderfully optimistic view. Why not settle for a middle ground?

Some readers also noticed that after establishing deterrence, humanity wasted a lot of time.

We definitely could have done more in that period.

Lastly, let's talk about the performance of this book. For the first three months, I was dead set on achieving perfect attendance at QiDian.

But by the fourth month, I needed an average subscription of five hundred to maintain it.

Without that perfect attendance, continuing to write would pose a significant challenge, so I humbly ask for your support. I promise that as long as I can secure perfect attendance in the fourth month and beyond, I will complete this book with no rush and no pressure.

Do you feel for me yet?

The truth is, when I resolved to publish this book, I knew it wouldn't take off, but I was certain there would be people who'd love reading it. That's what makes starting this book meaningful.

So, I'm not trying to invoke pity, but rather speaking to a stark reality.

Okay, this author's note has turned out to be quite long. Once again, I sincerely thank everyone who has come this far with me, and I hope we can go even further together.

And in the end, I ask for your initial subscriptions.