Chapter 70: One-Month Reflections, and... A Call for Aid
Before I knew it, *Super Storm* has been out for a full month.
Looking back now, I realize I’ve made several serious mistakes.
First, I didn’t communicate properly with my editor before the launch. I just published it on a whim on July 7th, and as it turned out, many powerhouse authors in the sports genre also released new books at the same time. This led to us all competing against each other, and after a month-long struggle, my book’s performance is at the bottom of the pack. Boohoo...
Second, I’ve been updating too quickly.
I’m sure you all want to throw bricks at me for saying that, but please, hold your fire and let me explain.
I say I’m updating too quickly, but you all feel I’m too slow. A major reason for this misunderstanding comes down to the word count per Chapter.
I’m sure attentive readers have noticed that each of my Chapters is over 3,000 characters long. With two Chapters a day, that means I’m putting out six to seven thousand characters of content daily. Over the course of a month, that’s 200,000 characters.
If I split my 3,000-character Chapters into 2,000-character ones, I could release three Chapters a day. The total character count would be the same, but wouldn’t it make me look a lot more diligent?
It’s not that I was unaware of this. When the book first launched, Want to Write, Don’t Want to Say even reminded me that a high word count during the new book period could negatively affect performance metrics. But after thinking it over, I decided to stick with my plan. I knew that splitting Chapters would degrade the reading experience, and that’s the last thing I wanted.
By not splitting Chapters and still maintaining two updates a day, the result is that I’ve published 200,000 characters in just one month.
During the new book period, total character count is a key performance metric, and this is partly why my results haven’t been ideal.
Third, I’m a bit of an introvert and not very good at interacting with my readers.
This has been a long-standing problem for me, and it’s always been my Achilles’ heel.
In fact, I read all the comments you leave in the review section and in the Chapter comments every single day.
People who know me know that my long-held belief is that an author should let their work speak for itself. But now, it seems I was wrong. I will work hard to correct this old habit and interact more with all of you going forward.
...
For now, those are the three main things I can think of. Their combined effect is the direct reason why my new book’s first month was a bit of a flop.
Although I personally feel the book is doing okay, key metrics like collections, recommendations, and read-throughs are all losing to the books by the other sports genre powerhouses launched at the same time. By the way, I highly recommend their great works: *Long Live Goals* by Pig Head Seven, *Strongest Demon Forward* by Tisword, *Zone Superstar* by Want to Write, Don’t Want to Say, and *Basketball’s Number One Cheat* by Writing Quietly. They are all exceptionally high-quality masterpieces.
I’m sure everyone already knows about the new books from Old Lin and Rabbit Grass, so I don’t need to say more on that.
Okay, that’s enough of my complaining. Let’s talk about the plan for the coming month.
Even though the high character count is hurting my performance metrics, I’m going to stick with my schedule of two 3,000-character Chapters per day. I’m tentatively planning for the book to go premium on September 1st, by which time the total character count should be around 400,000.
I’ll be honest, I’ve been feeling very anxious and flustered lately. My confidence is shot, and I have no idea how the book will perform going forward. So, I can only ask all of you who enjoy *Super Storm* to please vote and show your support. Every recommendation ticket you cast now, and every subscription in the future, is a tremendous encouragement and the motivation I need to keep going.
I’d also like to thank Want to Write, Don’t Want to Say, Old T, and Pig Head. You guys taught me a lot. I also want to thank my wonderful editor, Huihui. The promotional features you arranged were fantastic; I was the one who didn’t perform well enough.
Finally, I want to sincerely thank all the readers who have been with me on this journey, from *Red Rebel Army*, *Super Coach*, *Green Grass Godfather*, and *Football Powerhouse*, all the way to *Superstar Coach*. You have all stuck with me through thick and thin over the years, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
A lot has happened over the years—some things I can talk about, and some I can’t. There have been happy times and sad ones, but that’s all in the past now. We must keep looking ahead and moving forward.
This next month will determine the ultimate success of *Super Storm*, and it will also decide the livelihood of my family and me. I sincerely hope all of you can give me your full support. Every one of your recommendation tickets and subscriptions is the greatest encouragement you can offer.
For these final 23 days, let’s fight this battle side by side!
I believe that you all can work wonders and create a miracle!