Chapter 53: Serialized

In front of the computer.

After Cao Sheng finished reading the email sent by Wang Jing, he did not rush to reply.

Reason told him—do not serialize "I Want to Become an Immortal" on Rongshuxia.

There were many reasons.

First, although the current word count of "I Want to Become an Immortal" was not very high, he intended to write over two million words for this book, while Rongshuxia focused primarily on short stories and was not a suitable place to publish this book.

Second, Rongshuxia was no longer the only literary website in the country; he had other choices.

For example: the Literary City established in March of this year.

The BBS where Pizi Cai serialized "The First Intimate Contact."

The Golden Bookstore established in May of this year.

And so on.

Third, Wang Jing only invited him to serialize "I Want to Become an Immortal" on Rongshuxia in this email, but she did not mention royalties or copyright agency.

In other words, he would not make any money by publishing this book on Rongshuxia.

Not only would he not make money, but it might also affect the simplified Chinese publication of his book.

Because once it was published online, given the speed of book piracy in the country, it wouldn't be long before his book appeared in rental bookstores and roadside book stalls near every school.

It would quickly seize the market.

Consequently, legitimate publishers would be afraid to publish his book because the market had already been seized and there would be no profit left for the genuine version.

But, even with so many reasons, he still wanted to publish this book online in his heart.

There were also several reasons for this.

First, as a web novel writer, he had long been accustomed to creating an opening for a book, starting to publish it on a website, and then constantly adjusting his writing direction in a timely manner based on reader feedback during the writing process.

When he lacked inspiration or felt exhausted, reading readers' reviews or seeing a reader's tip could give him inspiration and the motivation to continue writing.

This was a major difference between them, the web novel writers, and traditional authors.

Traditional authors were accustomed to writing behind closed doors; they would finish a book, revise it repeatedly, and only choose to publish it once they were satisfied.

And he, Cao Sheng, was very unaccustomed to that.

Although his book had already been published as a physical book in Baodao and he had readers there.

But he could not see the feedback from those readers, which felt very unsatisfying.

After pondering for a long time, he made up his mind and replied to Wang Jing.

"Sister Wang, to be honest, I don't currently have any plans to serialize this book online, but since you have asked, I must give you some face.

How about this! If you can help me secure the simplified Chinese publication of this book for free, then this book can be serialized on your site for free.

Otherwise, I will try to submit it to domestic publishers myself, and only after it is published will I consider publishing it online. I hope you can understand."

He knew that he already had some fame in the domestic publishing market.

As the sales of "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant" continued to rise, if he submitted to publishers himself, the possibility of passing the publication review would also continue to increase.

But "I Want to Become an Immortal" was, after all, a brand-new subject.

It was the first Xianxia cultivation web novel.

And mainland publishers were generally more conservative; they were not as daring to experiment as the publishers in Baodao.

Therefore, if Rongshuxia could help him find a mainland publisher willing to publish this book, it would save him a lot of trouble.

Once the simplified Chinese publication was settled, it wouldn't be impossible for him to publish this book on Rongshuxia.

Anyway, according to the trajectory of the original timeline, for the next several years, web novels would be free on the internet, and it would be the same regardless of which website they were published on.

As for the BBS, Literary City, and Golden Bookstore?

In his memory, these three would disappear within a few years, while Rongshuxia would survive until the day it was acquired by Shanda Literature.

It was just unclear whether Rongshuxia would agree to his conditions this time.

The next afternoon.

Cao Sheng came to the internet cafe again, preparing to convert another portion of his saved drafts into electronic text, and also wanting to see if Wang Jing had replied.

He logged into his email.

He saw an unread email.

It was sent by Wang Jing.

"Cao Sheng, we have discussed your conditions. Given our previous pleasant cooperation, we are certainly willing to help you find a publisher for this new book. Now, you need to send me the first seventy thousand words of this new book so we can help you submit it.

Additionally, I personally think you can start serializing it on our website first, just like your previous book, updating one chapter every two days. This can not only attract the readers you accumulated from your previous book and maintain your popularity, but also let domestic publishers see the response to your new book online. If the response is good, we can better persuade them. What do you think?

Wang Jing."

The sentence in Wang Jing's email, "can attract the readers you accumulated from your previous book and maintain your popularity," moved Cao Sheng.

His book "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant" had recently suspended its serialization on Rongshuxia.

This was the publisher's requirement.

—The last 20 chapters could not be serialized online in the near future.

Otherwise, it would affect the sales of the physical book.

Because the serialization was suspended, many readers in the review section had already expressed dissatisfaction over the past two days.

If he did not have a new book published in the near future, those readers would surely drift away bit by bit.

Cao Sheng was a bit reluctant.

He was persuaded.

He not only sent the first 70,000 words of "I Want to Become an Immortal" to Wang Jing but also posted the first two chapters on Rongshuxia, officially starting to serialize this work on Rongshuxia.

When he created this book on Rongshuxia, many thoughts flashed through his mind.

Such as: "So what if the vast majority of Rongshuxia is short stories? Let's see if I can mold you into my shape."

"Once Xianxia appears, who can compete?"

"In the last book, I let Ran Jing die; in this book, I will arrange a few more female leads for you all, just as compensation from me to you."

"Will starting Xianxia cultivation so early accelerate the development of web novels in this timeline? It probably will, right?"

Rongshuxia, office area.

Wang Jing, whose workstation was in the corner, checked her email once again and finally saw Cao Sheng's reply.

She had been waiting for his reply since the morning.

Ever since they learned that Cao Sheng had another work that had already been published for several volumes in Baodao, they had set their sights on this new book of his.

Because Cao Sheng was currently the most popular author on Rongshuxia, bar none!

And also because in the review section of "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant," readers who mentioned that "I Want to Become an Immortal" praised it to the heavens.

It wasn't just one or two readers praising it.

But every Baodao reader who mentioned that book said the subject matter was very novel and that "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant" could not compare at all.

How could they, as editors, sit still after hearing that?

Wang Jing opened Cao Sheng's reply email and saw him say that he agreed to serialize "I Want to Become an Immortal" on Rongshuxia; she clenched her fists in excitement and was very happy.

When she saw that he had already sent the beginning of the book, her curiosity exploded instantly, and she couldn't help but start reading it immediately.

The opening introduction and the beginning of the main text made her frown.

Because the writing style of this opening was completely different from "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant," she was a bit unaccustomed to it, but...

As time passed, her slightly furrowed brows smoothed out bit by bit, and the look of surprise in her eyes grew stronger and stronger.

Before long, the look of surprise in her eyes was gone; her eyes were fixed on the text on the computer screen, blinking occasionally, but she did not let her gaze leave these words for even a moment.

She was completely captivated by this novel story.