British writer.

Chapter 95 Do you have any reason not to be confident?
In just two days, "The Hobbit" became popular,

But not so popular that everyone can read it.

Many adult men prefer "None Survived" with suspenseful elements. It reads more heartily, and also has a sense of substitution and urgency.

It can only be said that the target audience of each novel is different.

But even so, the word-of-mouth of "The Hobbit" will definitely get better and better, and sooner or later it will surpass Professor James' "Strange Records of Antique Dealers",
Professionals in the publishing industry are predicting this because they understand the advantages of long-form serialization over short-story collections.

Cambridge losing the bet was predictable.

Another unexpected point was that The Shore Magazine was selling exceptionally well.

……

Strand Street,

Editor-in-Chief Office of "Seaside Magazine".

The editor-in-chief Herbert was sitting behind the desk, with his hands on the table, his fingers interlocked, his thumbs circling each other, absently listening to the clerk's report,

And in the southwest corner, Doyle is also sitting there curled up.

The room is very quiet,

Only the voice of the clerk:
"So far this week, we have sold a total of 72 copies. It is worth noting that all of Monday's supplements have been sold out, and now the price in the second-hand market is extremely high, and there is even a transaction record of one pound per copy."

Herbert nodded calmly, looked at Doyle,

"Arthur, did you hear that?"

Doyle looked up.
His eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept for several days,
Moreover, he was unshaven and slovenly. He looked like a caveman. If he was not wearing a shirt and trousers, no one would think that he came from the civilized world.

Herbert looked helpless,
"Didn't you hear our sales this week? Sixty-four thousand... um..."

Sixty-four thousand?
Herbert also showed a surprised expression,

He looked at the clerk,

"You just said we sold more than 4000 copies? Isn't that a record?"

As soon as this remark came out, Doyle sat up straight suddenly.

The clerk nodded repeatedly,
"Yes, but that also includes the nine thousand volumes of Monday's supplement."

minus nine thousand...

"That's a record! If I remember correctly, the last time it sold more than 5 copies was when "The Hound of the Baskervilles" had just started serialization."

Herbert still had that shocked expression.

The atmosphere in the editor's room was eerie, and it was so quiet that a needle could be heard.

After a while, Doyle squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying,
"I didn't expect it would turn out like this."

True, Lu Shi beat Doyle in the Manchester Guardian by writing a book review with dancing figures,
Looking at it from another perspective, it is also a kind of advertisement.

As the saying goes, "black red is also red".

From the sales point of view, "Beach Magazine" even has to thank Lu Shi,
It's pretty outrageous.

The corner of Herbert's mouth twitched slightly, and he said to Doyle: "Look, we didn't lose, we even won. The Scotsman certainly doesn't have such a high sales volume."

The clerk on the side listened amusedly,
"The Hobbit" is a fantasy novel, and Sherlock Holmes compares it with others. Isn't this Guan Gong fighting Qin Qiong?
What's more, "The Hobbit" has just started serialization, and there is no fan base.

This clearly shows bullying.

Doyle apparently thought so too,

he shook his head,

"Herbert, you need not comfort me."

This time "Little Dancing Man", from the plot to the tricks, Doyle is full of confidence,

In order to suppress Lu Shi, he even played a lot of outside tricks,

But the result?

Lu Shi only used that sentence: "I have cracked the code. Your faithful fellow friend, Lu."

One move to solve the battle.

Doyle couldn't help sighing deeply: "Oh..."

Herbert looked at him like this, one head and two big,
If Doyle quits halfway through, what will happen to the next serialization?
As the editor-in-chief, he couldn't allow Doyle to be so decadent.

He said, "Arthur, you are so selfish."

Doyle's face darkened,
"I'm selfish!?"

The two stood up abruptly, facing each other,

They were all flushed like raging bulls.

The clerk looked left and right, worried that Chi Yu would be harmed, quickly opened the door and slipped out of the room, not forgetting to close the door when he left.

There were only two people in the room who were at war with each other.

Herbert couldn't help but snorted coldly,
"I say you are selfish for a reason. Let me ask you, has Holmes ever lost?"

What does this mean?
Doyle was puzzled,

"How come he hasn't lost? Whether it's "A Scandal in Bohemia" or "The Dancing Little Man", didn't Sherlock Holmes..."

Herbert waved his hand and interrupted: "I'm not talking about the plot of the novel, but outside of the novel."

Doyle was speechless.

Indeed, Holmes has not lost yet.

In terms of sales volume, "Seashore Magazine" has been very stable. After "The Sign of Four", all serials of Sherlock Holmes have never sold [-] copies.

This is an extremely terrifying statistic.

Moreover, Sherlock Holmes still has a large number of fans. Almost everyone in London has heard of his name.
So in terms of fame, Sherlock Holmes is undoubtedly the most successful novel character in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, none of them.

Herbert waved his hand to the air,

"How many copies of Wednesday's Scotsman?"

"..."

No one answered.

Doyle reminded angrily: "Your subordinates are gone."

Only then did Herbert notice that the clerk had already left, and he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

Doyle said, "All right, all right, I know what you want to say. Indeed, the Scotsman can't sell [-] copies. It's no match for Sherlock Holmes."

Seeing that Doyle regained his confidence, Herbert was relieved,

"You know that too?"

Doyle snorted coldly,

"Actually, when people compare Sherlock Holmes with The Hobbit, Holmes has already lost."

Herbert waved his hand and said, "What's the comparison? You just need to create well."

If only it were so easy to adjust your mindset.

Doyle sighed silently.

He knew Lu Shi because of Lu Shi's literary criticism of Sherlock Holmes,
Therefore, from the very beginning, he was more or less hostile towards Lu Shi.

Fortunately, the release of hostility has failed, and they can only use sales to comfort themselves and deceive themselves. It is really not the mind and tolerance that a British gentleman should have.

Herbert also understood what his friend was thinking,
He walked over, patted Doyle on the shoulder, and said, "You don't need to underestimate yourself."

Doyle looked up,

"how?"

Herbert smiled,
"Don't forget that the unit price of "Seaside Magazine" is several times higher than that of "The Scotsman". So, you have crushed Lu's sales and sales. After that, what reason do you have for not being confident?"

Doyle knew that what the other party said had some truth,

But he still couldn't pass the level of the dancing villain,
"but……"

Before the words finished, Herbert interrupted: "There's no 'but', you are better than Lu."

This way of speaking is particularly like brainwashing.

Doyle clenched his fists.

"You're right, I don't need to think about what's there or what's not."

Say, take a deep breath,

"In fact, I have already conceived the content of the following short stories. One of them is "Six Busts of Napoleon". I think it is not inferior to "Little Dancing Man" in terms of storyline.

Herbert was interested,
"Is there a finished draft? If possible, give it to me before next week."

(End of this chapter)