Chapter 69

Without much ado, Lin Han opened his computer to check the recent sales rankings and found that the momentum of his book was actually quite strong, as the decline was kept within a certain range.

Other books, on the other hand, were vying to be the diving champions, with sales in the hundreds of thousands in the first two weeks, bursting with astonishing energy. However, now the daily sales were only in the thousands, and in a couple of days, it would probably be down to just a hundred, which could hardly be considered a long-term seller.

He looked at the book reviews on Douban and found that the number of people who had reviewed it had already exceeded 50,000, and people were still buying it non-stop. The latest comments were particularly interesting.

"Recommended by Fan Fan, looks pretty good, bought it."

"Kids from Fan Fan's Weibo, hug me tight!"

"Didn't expect that Fan Shen actually reads science fiction, I'm turning from a casual fan to a hardcore one!"

In the entire Chinese entertainment industry, there was only one person who could be called "Fan Shen," and that was Fu Xiaofan, a super-popular young actor. The biggest difference between him and other young actors was that his acting skills were a notch higher. At the age of 22, he had already won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor, becoming a renowned genius actor.

As a true actor, Fu Xiaofan was particularly low-key, and the quality of the movies he starred in was also very good, so he had accumulated a large number of fans who admired his looks and acting skills.

Fu Xiaofan, who had over 30 million followers on Weibo, had posted a selfie an hour ago. On this selfie, a faint book cover piqued the curiosity of his fans. They could only see the last three characters of the book title, which made them speculate wildly.

"Robot?"

Fans familiar with science fiction would recognize this cover at first glance, but Fu Xiaofan's fans were generally not particularly old and not closely related to science fiction, so they couldn't help but search online.

They wanted to read the same novel as their idol, thinking it would bring them closer, so the fans quickly took action.

The search engine played a huge role, taking a partial screenshot of the book and using the image to search. The answer was instantly given: the book was Lin Han's "I, Robot"!

Thus, the fans who got the answer quickly commented under Fu Xiaofan's Weibo post with the selfie: "The book Fan Fan is reading is 'I, Robot.' Those interested in buying it, please turn right."

"Fan Fan actually reads science fiction, but the author is Lin Han. Don't get scammed."

With such a popular young actor's unintentional promotion, "I, Robot" successfully shifted from the eyes of science fiction enthusiasts to the public.

Even some fans who didn't particularly like reading books followed the trend and bought a copy, even if it wasn't written by Fu Xiaofan.

The power of following the trend is enormous. Even a little more discussion can increase attention, which is crucial for niche literature.

"I, Robot" had not reached the level of being recognized by mainstream literature, and it had only gotten to where it was today through word-of-mouth. Therefore, Lin Han was very grateful for the help of this young actor, which was a godsend.

However, a WeChat message from Chen Jiaxuan shattered all his illusions. Entertainment industry agents were not to be underestimated.

"Did you see the heated discussion on Weibo? The effect is pretty good, right? I had to swallow my pride and ask Fu Xiaofan for this recommendation."

Lin Han quickly tapped on the screen and replied, "This was actually your arrangement? I thought he really liked science fiction!"

Chen Jiaxuan sent a smug emoji and joked, "What do you think? Actors are so busy, do they have time to read science fiction? I specially sent him a copy yesterday and asked him to post a blurry photo. This kid is really smart."

Now it was Lin Han's turn to be confused. He asked, puzzled, "Why did you choose Fu Xiaofan for this promotion? If it was one of your own artists, I could understand."

"You're really dense. I didn't want others to know we were doing a publicity stunt. If I had my signed artists post photos, it would be obvious that it was a publicity stunt, which is the lowest form of promotion."

Chen Jiaxuan used this method to stimulate the growth of the novel's sales, thereby increasing her leverage in negotiations with the publisher. She chose a celebrity who seemed to have no connection with Lin Han, which was a complete drain on her personal network.

Lin Han did not object to this approach. This was a truly seamless soft advertisement, much more comfortable than the hard-sell ads from marketing accounts on Weibo, and netizens were more receptive to it.

Having a popular celebrity promote the book was no different from running a book signing tour across China, and the effect might even be better.

Lin Han gave Chen Jiaxuan a big thumbs up, "Well done, I didn't even realize it was an ad, I thought it was a coincidence."

"Thank this young man later, he's very straightforward. I heard he took over ten photos to choose from."

The influence of a popular young actor was extraordinary. In a short time, "I, Robot" had already climbed to the top ten on the Weibo Asian Red Book Chart, and many people were discussing it.

The sales were also particularly encouraging. After a series of good news, the sales of "I, Robot" once again reversed the decline, all thanks to the fans.

Similar to the situation on Weibo, there was also a new topic being discussed on Twitter. Not only did the official Twitter account of the publishing house post a message, but another science fiction giant, George Johnson, also tweeted three times about the book.

George Johnson, in his fifties, had written a plethora of science fiction classics and was deeply loved by science fiction readers. He eagerly posted a tweet early in the morning, "I can guarantee that I will never see a more brilliant set of laws in my life. They define a suitable survival zone for robots, so humans don't have to worry about being threatened."

"The author, Lin Han, must be a genius. This idea is amazing! My dear readers, you must read 'I, Robot.' It's a fantastic novel."

"Everyone says China is a desert for science fiction, but I never expected a classic to emerge from the desert. This is truly a miracle."

Reporters, who were struggling to find news, immediately latched onto these three tweets. Science fiction is not a niche genre abroad; the New York Times Best Seller List often features science fiction novels, and Hollywood almost always has popular movies based on science fiction novels each year.

A science fiction giant was spontaneously recommending the book, and upon closer inspection, the previous discussions were already quite astonishing.

The news reporter quickly posted screenshots from Amazon and George Johnson's tweets, and titled the article, "One of China's Best Science Fiction Novels, 'I, Robot,' Sparks Discussion."

The cumulative number of English version purchases on Amazon had already exceeded 100,000, and a group of science fiction enthusiasts had gathered. With a leader, these tech-savvy geeks started to create topics online.

The hashtag #I,Robot became a trending topic on Twitter, which is equivalent to a popular Weibo post. The power of geeks on the internet is not to be underestimated when it comes to creating topics.

In the past, China and science fiction were almost unrelated, but now so many people were praising this science fiction novel from China, which was almost unprecedented.

The key was that when they downloaded the e-book, they were conquered by the genius-like Three Laws of Robotics, and the nine short stories that followed were equally flavorful. They felt no cultural difference and found it completely in line with their reading habits.

The author is crying in the toilet. Yesterday, there were 46 rewards, but today there is only one. How pitiful.

Rewards cost money, but recommendations are free. Let's call for free recommendations. Everyone, use your recommendations to bury the author!

...

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