In fact, whether science fiction is niche or not can be seen directly from the sales of science fiction novels, and the sales of other genres of books exceeding one million can only be regarded as a best-selling threshold, and selling five million copies can basically barely make it to the annual sales list, but there is no incentive to compete for the championship.

Science fiction has never participated in the competition for the annual sales list of books, which is a huge pity, science fiction readers are not enough to support such high sales, many people buy books to pass on to each other, or even directly borrow them from rented bookstores.

It is not very cost-effective to buy books, especially when there are a lot of books to read, and this is where the library and the rental bookstore begin to provide services.

Niche books may not be cared for in the rental bookstore, or few people will borrow them, and over time the owners of the bookstore will not buy them, so the vicious cycle continues, and it is tantamount to whimsical to want to see some new science fiction novels.

In the Haidie rental bookstore, the boss was bored playing with the computer, looking up at the children in his bookstore from time to time, although he was a little unhappy, but he did not open his mouth to drive away.

Renting books is also to be read, but this group of children can't come up with so much money, so they just stay in the bookstore every day and look through those comic books, which look like an afternoon.

"Boss, do you have "Me, Robot" here? I want to rent a copy, how much will it cost?"

A high school student in a school uniform walked in, looking at his boss expectantly, waiting for the good news.

And another fat dun beside him asked: "The final exam is coming soon, do you still read this kind of book? Your mother will definitely tear up the book if she wants to know." ”

"I hide it secretly, she usually doesn't go through my school bag, it's so beautiful, I don't know how to feel it. ”

However, the owner of the bookstore who rented it pouted: "I'm sorry, we don't have this book here, maybe you remember the wrong name?"

At first, the high school student shook his head excitedly, and quickly took out a copy of the December issue of science fiction from his school bag, "You see that's the name, I'm not mistaken! You guys have the largest and most complete rental bookstore in the neighborhood, and there are none, where can I find it, the city library won't let people in." ”

The boss flipped through the table of contents, found the page of the book "I, Robot" and flipped through it, only looking at the introduction of the first few lines of words, he was fascinated, and he took the name to heart.

"I just searched, this book is not on sale yet, it will not be officially released on New Year's Day, you can come and read it at that time, I will keep a copy for you. ”

"Really, that's great, you have to leave it to me, don't rent it to anyone else, I'll pay double the price!"

After seeing the two high school students walk away, the boss quickly picked up his mobile phone and began to call the seller he was familiar with: "Lao Wu, when will your "I, Robot" start to be distributed? I need 5 sets in the store, and it would be great if I could deliver them as soon as possible." ”

"I'll drive them all on the morning of New Year's Day to make sure you get the latest ones as soon as you open the store. Anyway, the demand for this book is quite large, and several newsstands in charge of me ask for sales, and they rarely sell this kind of physical book, they all sell newspapers or magazines. ”

"Okay, then I'll come over early, you have to keep enough of 5 sets for me, I can't do without one. ”

Renting a bookstore sometimes for the convenience of consumers, they will buy a few more sets of popular books, so that many people don't want to rent them, so he ordered five sets in one go, thinking that he could meet the needs of consumers.

Xinhua bookstores, rental bookstores and sales outlets around the country are providing their own needs, and the staff of the marketing department of the National People's Congress Publishing House are busy in the last week of 2016 to ensure that even the most remote cities can also be put on the shelves.

……

As the time approached, Lin Han was sitting in the café chatting with the reporter of Yanjing Daily for an interview, and it was estimated that this manuscript could only be published in those unimportant positions of Yanjing Daily, so the female reporter just turned on the recorder and began to get straight to the point, without doing too much greetings.

"Mr. Lin, as far as we know, you were originally a film director, why did you choose to change your career to write science fiction? The gap between these two professions seems to be a bit big, not only is our editorial department curious, but even many netizens are very eager to know. ”

Lin Han leaned back in his chair, he shrugged his shoulders, and said helplessly: "To be honest, I was reminded by netizens when I used to be a director, and then I thought it was okay to change lines, it just so happened that I like science fiction very much." In addition, I was short of money some time ago, so I wanted to give it a try, and it was successful. ”

The female reporter didn't expect that Lin Han would be short of money, as a person in the entertainment industry, he should be glamorous on the surface, even if the scolded director should not be poor.

However, although she is helping Lin Han promote the new book today, she still has to gossip, there is a news explosion, Lin Han's most famous thing is not to write novels, but to destroy novels, and by the way, the investment company will be bankrupt and liquidated.

"Then we all know that you have filmed "Out of the Solar System", this sci-fi movie is basically a double mistake at the box office, but your first novel "Country Teacher" has received quite a good response, and it has now entered the final selection of the Galaxy Awards, and the online pre-sale of the new book "I, Robot" is very good. It seems strange that these two extremes are happening to the same person. ”

Lin Han looked at the snowflakes that suddenly floated outside the glass, and he explained: "Making movies is not the work of one person, it is the operation of the whole team, not only to do your own work well, but also to be willing to cooperate with others." But writing a novel is much simpler, I can make the decision on my own, I can write as I want, and no one will dictate me, so I think this should be the key. ”

After the female reporter heard Lin Han's words, her eyes lit up, and she continued to ask: "Then you mean that when you are filming a movie, you can't show your strength, and the whole person is constrained? Now the actors and directors of the entire crew seem to be in a bit of a slump, do you think it will be cursed by the bankruptcy of Candy Entertainment?"

"Cursed? You can really think of it, I'm a science fiction writer, and I never believe in that. The bankruptcy of Candy Entertainment has nothing to do with us, it is their company's own actions. ”

Chen Jiaxuan was listening on the side, and she quickly stood up to interrupt the conversation between the two, "This topic will end here, let's talk about the new book." ”

Lin Han is really not good at dealing with such topics, if Chen Jiaxuan hadn't seen through it, he would have really fallen into the pit dug by the reporter.

Seeing that she was about to find the most exciting news, the female reporter had a feeling that she was about to go high, but it turned out to be a thousand miles away, she changed the topic and asked: "In fact, we can now see that on the four online sales, your new book "I, Robot" currently has a total pre-sale of 31,000 copies, and is expected to reach 50,000 copies before the official release, have you ever expected this sales?"

"To be honest, there really isn't, I thought that opening the online pre-sale was the kind that no one cared about at all, and I was ready to turn those pre-sales with 0 sales into a number of 1, and as a result, sci-fi readers gave me a huge surprise, and the pre-sale of 30,000 copies was very, very high!"

Lin Han couldn't stop talking about this topic at all, "The ideal state in my mind is that the pre-sales volume of each website exceeds 1,000, and now I almost add a zero to the back, which is great." ”

"Do you think science fiction has been embraced by mainstream literature now?"

"Actually, it's still in a niche stage, and at the moment it can be said that it is half sea and half fire, and we need to write more high-quality novels to attract more readers. ”

"Then I wish the novel good sales, step by step, and I will put the manuscript together and hand it over to the editor, and I should be able to see this interview tomorrow." ”

After seeing that she couldn't find any new news, the female reporter quickly asked, and then turned to leave.

……

Time slipped away little by little, and before I knew it, I came to the most critical day, and it was also the first day of 2017!