NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29: Born at the Wrong Time
If you don’t know, just ask—
Lin Yuan immediately went online to search for information about the "Supernova."
After reading up, Lin Yuan finally understood that the so-called Supernova is a prestigious Newcomer Novel Award organized by Silver Blue Publishing, one of the four major publishers in Qinzhou.
It's held annually.
This award only accepts submissions of youth fantasy novels. The target readership for this competition is strictly under 30 years old, and any novel that doesn't cater to this demographic is automatically disqualified by Silver Blue Publishing—
Young people are the main consumers of entertainment.
Youth fantasy novels are the most popular genre in Qinzhou!
In the hearts of many young readers who love novels, youth fantasy holds a very high status!
What’s more…
Youth fantasy novels are particularly well-suited for adaptation into anime and games, offering immense potential value.
To capture these young readers, many publishing companies host similar newcomer awards. Among them, Silver Blue Publishing’s Supernova is one of the most influential in Qinzhou. Anyone who makes it into the top five of the Supernova Award can secure a publishing deal, officially becoming a novelist.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Qinzhou only has youth fantasy novels.
In the culturally and artistically rich world of Blue Star, every genre of novel has a large market, though other genres have different submission channels—
These works are completely different from youth fantasy novels.
It’s like the difference between art films and commercial films; while both are made by filmmakers, their circles rarely overlap.
With that in mind, things became clearer for Lin Yuan.
He quickly searched for the currently trending youth fantasy novels on the market.
He wanted to see what styles were popular in Qinzhou at the moment.
After all, the term "youth fantasy" could encompass a wide variety of novel genres.
What he found was—
Most of Qinzhou's youth fantasy novels revolve around otherworldly adventures.
In these novels, the protagonists are usually ordinary students who suddenly find themselves transported to another world and gain a "cheat" ability.
The story then follows them as they use this cheat to defeat monsters, meet various girls, and ultimately defeat a demon king, often resulting in a large harem.
Some focus more on the action and hot-blooded elements.
There are also those that don’t involve otherworldly travel, instead setting the story in a modern city where the protagonist has superpowers; either way, they all feel quite familiar.
How to describe it?
It's somewhat like the web novels from his previous life combined with the popular light novels from Japan.
Lin Yuan specifically searched to see if there were any sports-themed youth fantasy novels.
To his surprise, he found very few!
The rare few that did focus on sports were struggling to survive—
The sports-themed youth fantasy novel was almost an entirely untapped field!
At that moment, Lin Yuan suddenly understood why the system had given him The Prince of Tennis.
It was urging him to fill the gap in the market.
For Qinzhou’s novel market, the subject matter of The Prince of Tennis was indeed fresh and innovative. However, being innovative also meant that the novel's theme was highly niche.
Lin Yuan suddenly felt a bit worried.
Although The Prince of Tennis technically qualifies as a youth fantasy novel, can such a niche theme really help him achieve over 10,000 reputation points in the literary category and complete his mission?
...
No one could predict the future of The Prince of Tennis, so Lin Yuan could only quietly wait for the Supernova submission channels to open.
At the end of the month, he returned to the company.
As soon as he stepped into the 10th floor's composition department, his colleagues congratulated him on the success of Big Fish. It was clear that everyone had heard the song.
Wu Yong even gave him a thumbs-up:
“I remember saying that a custom-tailored song like Big Fish probably wouldn’t become a hit, but you’ve totally proved me wrong.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Lin Yuan quickly replied.
Wu Yong stood there, deep in thought, trying to decipher Lin Yuan’s logic. After a moment, he laughed helplessly, “I didn’t mean it like that…”
He didn’t dwell on it further.
Wu Yong sat down beside Lin Yuan and said regretfully, “Actually, Big Fish was released at the wrong time. With its quality, it could’ve reached even higher.”
Lin Yuan was puzzled. “Released at the wrong time?”
Wu Yong paused. “You mean you don’t know?”
Lin Yuan’s reaction said it all—he really didn’t know.
Wu Yong had to explain, “In Qinzhou, the new song charts are updated every month, right? That’s why most singers who aim to chart will release their songs on the first day of the month. The earlier the song, the more public attention it can garner.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
He knew that singers preferred to release songs on the first of the month but had never delved into the reason behind it.
“So it’s all about charting?”
Wu Yong sighed, “Big Fish had the potential to climb the new song charts. Although it was released in mid-December, the song's quality is undeniable—”
“And yet?”
Since the popularity of his songs directly impacted his reputation points, Lin Yuan was very interested in the details.
“But!”
Wu Yong spread his hands, “Big Fish was released in December, and December is a nightmare! Every year, several top singers use this month to make their final push, so the competition on the new song chart is extremely fierce. Plus, your song was released halfway through the month, which wasn’t enough time to climb higher, so it’s stuck at number 13 on the chart.”
Lin Yuan pondered for a moment. “Where can I find this new song chart?”
Wu Yong chuckled, “You really are a complete novice. Let me show you. Go search for ‘Qinzhou Music’—that’s where you’ll find the official charts, no tricks involved. The first chart you’ll see is the new song chart. That’s also where you checked the rookie chart before.”
“Got it.”
Lin Yuan followed his instructions and found the Qinzhou Music website. Sure enough, he spotted his song sitting at the 13th position on the chart.
“See?”
Wu Yong explained, "The top ten spots on the chart are either occupied by first-tier singers' new releases or by songs from top-tier singers and divas."
"Let me give them a listen," Lin Yuan said, curious. He listened to the songs in the top spots and made a mental comparison.
To be fair, the quality of the top three songs was on par with Big Fish. Qinzhou's music industry was indeed full of talent. The composers of these songs were all top-notch, and the singers were industry elites, so it was only natural that they ranked so high.
However...
The songs ranked below third place didn’t quite measure up to Big Fish in terms of quality.
"See what I mean?" Wu Yong continued, "With the quality of Big Fish, it might not break into the top three, but it definitely had a shot at the top ten. The problem is, this December was packed with heavy hitters, and you released your song halfway through the month, so it didn’t have enough time to climb the charts."
Lin Yuan nodded in understanding.
Wu Yong chuckled, "But don’t beat yourself up over it. Big Fish was a custom piece, so its release was tied to the timing of that Qi Zhou movie. Plus, a song’s rank isn’t just about its quality—your reputation as a composer and the singer's popularity are big factors too. Your name isn’t as well-known as those top composers, and Jiang Kui is also a newcomer. It’s understandable that you didn’t crack the top ten. That’s why those top composers prefer to work with big-name singers; it’s a powerful combination. Using a lesser-known singer might save money, but it doesn’t bring in the same level of recognition!"
Lin Yuan simply replied, "Yeah."
But I still chose the lesser-known singer.
Wu Yong kept talking, "That’s why November is considered the ‘Newcomer Season.’ It’s a way to protect new artists. Without this protection, going up against established industry veterans is a tough challenge. Unless your song's quality can completely overcome these disadvantages, it’s hard to break through."
Just then, a colleague called from outside, "Xianyu, come over. Sister Zhao wants to see you."