Chapter 46

(Listen, a new week is just around the corner, during the new book period, I'm asking for recommendations and collections~~)

The grand promotional campaign was quite eye-catching, with "Science Fiction World" teaming up with the People's University Press, Douban Reading, and the Chen Jiaxuan Studio, all working together to make a niche book widely known to the public.

Originally, many people didn't know about this book, but after frequently seeing such news and posts, they couldn't help but remember the book's title. Even if they couldn't buy it right now, a few people would still go to the bookstore to ask.

Scheduled for simultaneous release across the country on New Year's Day, "I, Robot" has become the hottest novel in recent times. Many people are wondering what kind of novel it is. Is the protagonist a robot?

While science fiction novels with robots as the main characters are relatively rare, they are not unheard of. What makes this book so groundbreaking? And what are those repeatedly promoted Three Laws of Robotics?

Science fiction enthusiasts are utterly baffled. They have read so many books, but they have never heard of the Three Laws of Robotics. Could they be the author's original creation?

This grandiose promotion also greatly displeased the fans of other science fiction writers. "One of the best science fictions in history," "The best science fiction in recent years," do you deserve it?

They were holding their breath, waiting for the novel to hit the market so they could unleash a barrage of criticism. How could a newcomer be so presumptuous and claim it was a groundbreaking work? Why don't you just fly away!

Regardless of how the outside world commented, time quietly arrived at the release date of the new issue of "Science Fiction World." The readers who had been eagerly waiting rushed to newsstands and bookstores to snatch up the magazine.

With the success of the previous month's issue, the operations department had been well-prepared, printing a million copies for the first run, which were quickly snapped up by distributors.

This was a gamble. If successful, the sales of this issue would break the million mark, helping "Science Fiction World" earn the title of best-selling magazine and significantly increasing its advertising revenue in 2017.

If it failed, it could mean that tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of magazines would be returned and scrapped, affecting its standing among distributors.

For distributors, only magazines that sell are good magazines; unsold magazines are useless.

Intense advertising had already made readers wait eagerly. Many of them, with a mix of anticipation and skepticism, grabbed the new issue of "Science Fiction World" and started reading it eagerly.

Newsstands with ample stock witnessed the magazine's popularity. The thick stack of magazines delivered at around five in the morning gradually thinned, selling at a speed far beyond expectations.

This was even faster than some magazines with total sales of two to three million copies. Even popular magazines like "Readers" or "Yilin," which have been bestsellers for over two decades, didn't have such strong first-day sales. They mainly relied on long-term sales, with a whole month to sell slowly.

While "Science Fiction World" didn't match their total sales, its first-day burst was even stronger. This is the advantage of a niche category, with loyal and cohesive readers who often rush to buy on the first day of sales.

This is somewhat similar to the box office composition of fan films. Some movies often have a stunning first-day box office, with fans exhausting their accumulated enthusiasm on the first day, and sales gradually decreasing afterward.

Not only did the physical magazine sales increase rapidly in reality, but the number of legitimate paid downloads online was also astonishing. In less than 24 hours, over 110,000 people had purchased the legitimate version!

This number far exceeded the previous issue of "Science Fiction World." While that issue had a higher total sales, it was a reputation-driven type, not one that burst on the first day.

The 110,000 paid downloads had just climbed to the 15th position on the weekly sales chart. Since it was already the weekend, as long as the chart refreshed on Monday, topping the list would not be a problem.

Thus, a miraculous phenomenon occurred in the science fiction novel world. On the Douban Reading weekly sales chart, two issues of the magazine actually made it into the top 15!

The November issue ranked 11th with a weekly sales of 190,000, which was its fourth week on the chart. Thanks to the positive reception of "The Country Teacher," after being reprinted by many magazines, the total electronic sales of the November issue of "Science Fiction World" were approaching the 1 million mark, which was also the basic threshold for the top 10 in total sales.

For the same magazine, two issues published a month apart to simultaneously enter the weekly sales chart was something that had never happened on Douban Reading. Even top-tier magazines couldn't achieve this, but a niche science fiction magazine did.

If this were "Readers" or "Yilin," the media wouldn't be surprised at all, as that would be expected. But this happened to "Science Fiction World," so it couldn't help but shock the audience.

Could the golden age of science fiction be coming? The impressive sales of this science fiction magazine have caught the attention of industry insiders and boosted the confidence of the People's University Press staff.

Good sales naturally come with good reviews. Readers who had finished reading the preface and first chapter of "I, Robot" began to share their thoughts online and in real life.

"Flipping through the table of contents, I saw 'I, Robot.' The opening Three Laws of Robotics deeply moved me. This is f***ing brilliant. If such laws really existed, would I still worry about robots rebelling?"

"The story is very novel. I thought the protagonist was a robot, but it turned out to be told from an interview perspective. The protagonist, Susan, is a robot psychologist. Robots having psychology? My first thought was, 'That's hilarious.' But it's also very interesting. What do robots think? This drew me in. The only downside is that it's too short. It's going to be serialized for the next 8 issues, which will drive me crazy!"

"Mind-blowing! I can't find any words to describe this novel. The content is simple, but the bold, black Three Laws of Robotics at the beginning almost made me dizzy. Robots can be set up like this? It seems they should be this way. The author is amazing. I can't wait to read more. I heard the whole book will be available on New Year's Day. I need to go to Xinhua Bookstore early to avoid it being sold out."

"The writing is average, but the story is top-notch. The opening law is so powerful that I think it's probably the best setting ever. We've always followed the settings and ideas of foreign science fiction writers. Now, we have a chance to spread the settings of our domestic science fiction writers. I must share this with American netizens."

"Only this much content in one issue? That's a rip-off! The key is that I fell for it. Isn't this tempting me to buy the simplified edition? Fortunately, I only need to wait a few more days to buy it."

"At first, I thought the online promotion was exaggerated. 'A new generation of science fiction,' 'groundbreaking,' but when I saw the opening, I wanted to take back my words. God, this is written by a newcomer in the science fiction world. I think it will be remembered for decades to come."

"Robots cannot harm humans, cannot stand by while humans are harmed, must obey human commands, and must protect their own safety. One thing leads to another, and my brain is about to turn to mush. I need to think about this more carefully."

The overwhelming praise almost buried Lin Han. The Three Laws of Robotics, which are only about 100 words, have a greater appeal than the main content, driving science fiction enthusiasts crazy.

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