Surviving as a Writer in the British Empire

cliffhanger(2)

Although at one point almost ruined, ‘Richard Bentley and Sons’ is now one of London’s oldest publishers.

Charles Dickens, Thomas Moore, Jane Austen, William Wilkie Collins…

And now to Hanslo Jin.

Countless popular writers have serialized and are publishing novels in their magazines.

That history was intact in the 3rd Bentley, editor-in-chief Richard Bentley Jr.

“ruler! Everyone calm down.”

When Bentley clapped his hands and said, the staff followed his words while shaking.

This is the power of employers who give money.

Of course, if life is really in danger, even the authority of the employer will be ignored by the survival instinct.

Sensing this, Bentley smiled and said calmly.

“Don’t worry, everyone. Anyway, all the important manuscripts have been moved to the warehouse or printing house, and haven’t you already called Scotland Yard?”

As the writer Hanslow said.

he thought to himself. What he is now thinking about was a few months ago, when the manuscript for ＜Temple Bar＞ came in this month.

─Mr. Bentley, I would like to try an experiment before publishing Volume 3.

─Yes? an experiment? what kind of experiment is it?

─Well, it’s nothing… How popular am I?

Does that make any sense from his point of view? It was a topic I wanted to say, but it was a very meaningful word. The suggestion of ‘withdraw the manuscript in advance’ that followed was even more meaningful.

So Bentley had to resent his past self for not listening more closely at the time.

‘I really didn’t know that it would cause a riot.’

No matter how much it was, it was not the savages who had not learned anywhere or the less civilized lower-class workers, but the citizens of London, the world’s best city, would do such barbaric things. Bentley couldn’t understand it.

Nevertheless, he had infinite trust in Hanslo Jin, so he followed his instructions to steal the manuscripts including ＜Temple Bar＞.

─If there really is a riot… I wonder if it’s okay to run a great adventure.

great adventure.

Bentley swallowed. I can’t help it more than this said Richard Bentley Jr., determined to become an ardent disciple of Hanslo Jean.

“Everyone, just take care of yourself. body is property If I ever have to pay for the hospital, I’ll pay for the treatment, even with my own money.”

“We, of course, trust the boss, but…”

The editors exchanged glances with each other. Really? Seeing that the atmosphere had subsided to some extent, Bentley nodded and clapped his hands.

“Yes, yes. So everyone stay away from the window and think about not getting hurt right away. are you okay! If Scotland Yard comes soon, they won’t be able to go on with such drastic behavior.”

“That, right?”

“Yes, how much is the tax we pay!”

Clink-!

“Okay, it will be fine! For sure!!”

Once again, everyone flinched at the sound of windows breaking, but Richard Bentley Jr. had the audacity to speak.

In fact, it’s a group that causes such a commotion during curfew. If the police, a well-known security organization, do not go to the scene after hearing that sound, that side is dereliction of duty.

No matter how much Scotland Yard has a mountain of people who are knocked out from overwork.

This special task is bound to involve the district staff and additional support.

Anyway, it is certain that the police will come to sort things out.

And now, Bentley was making it up as if it was something he had asked the yard to do.

It’s just a pun, a blatant lie, but it worked anyway. Because the staff was getting their slack back.

And Bentley didn’t waste that margin.

“So, while we wait for Scotland Yard to come, shall we make a bet?”

“A bet?”

“Yes, we are guessing our performance next month after overcoming this incident. I’ll bet more than twice the delivery.”

“Twice?”

“Yes, more or less than this. Or maybe the number of sales goes down altogether. You can bet on either side. If I lose, I’ll give you paid vacation in addition to dividends.”

vacation.

with pay too.

Gogeumdongseo, if you don’t be tempted by that word, you’re not an office worker. It is human nature to want to work less and get paid more.

Richard Bentley Jr. smiled as he saw greed return instead of fear in the eyes of his subordinates. After all, there is nothing that cannot be solved with money.

“ruler! What should I do?”

“I-I’ll bet 1.5x.”

“Ho, 1.5 times. It’s stable. good! Anybody else? Ah, it shouldn’t be subdivided too much, so I’ll just divide it by 10%!”

“I will follow you, Vice President! 200%!”

“Oh my gosh, you can’t become a vice president in name and steal money from employees. Okay then, when I win, I’ll give you all my dividends!”

“thank you!”

“ruler! Are there any more? Boldly, louder! Is there no heart of a beast to bet three times?”

“Vice President, that’s too many!”

“I will take a walk! Life anyway, it’s my one shot!”

“Okay, very courageous!! Give that friend a dividend ticket!!”

“Yes, Vice President!”

Richard Bentley Jr. smirked and backed away slightly. Now that the stone has been rolled, the snowball of conversation will gradually begin to roll.

The situation is not over yet. The mob did not disperse, and nothing was resolved.

But what does that mean? After all, that riot is like a kind of slashing field. If you try to put it off first because it’s hot for a while, you’ll only lose Hanslo Jin and Bentley Publishing, who set it on fire.

From noble mtl dot com

And the fire wasn’t necessarily bad.

The ashes left over from burning will remain in the fields and become food for the next crop.

So, depending on how you use that ashes, your ability as a publisher manager will be judged. The moment he thought so, Richard Bentley Jr. heard a knock on his office door.

“Yes, where are you from?”

“Boo, Vice President!”

“Dangerous!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Bentley raised a hand to reassure editors who were holding back.

As expected, it was Scotland Yard who knocked on the door. In the meantime, a middle-aged detective with a very tired face from being dispatched at night showed a police notebook and said,

“From the Metropolitan Police Department in London. George Bentley, president of the publishing house, are you there?”

“My father is a nominal boss, and now he is down in Barkshire. As the vice president, I am the vice president of management, so if you have any questions, please let me know.”

“Okay, then Mr. Bentley. Do you have any requests?”

“It’s a request…”

Bentley looked out the window for a moment. Apparently the police arrived, so it was pretty quiet.

Then I saw the detectives again. He had enough water, and it was plainly visible that he was hiding a revolver in his bosom. It can protect at least one person.

Concluding, Bentley nodded and said.

“Please stand guard. I have something to say to them.”

“president?!”

Detectives, as well as employees of the publishing house, looked at Bentley with astonished eyes.

Bentley, who smiled once to mean it was okay, came out of the building without hesitation.

Tap, tap-.

“Stay away from the building!!”

“Ah, come out and see!!”

“Let’s talk too!!”

“Quiet! If you cross that line, I will open fire!!”

As expected by Bentley, the police had already been dispatched, and the disturbance itself was somewhat reduced.

It had to be. They are also people who can buy magazines only when they work and earn money. If I get caught and get fired from my job, I won’t be able to buy the next volume.

Even what they are doing now is not the purpose of looting or assault.

There is only one thing they are angry about.

The timing of quitting is also timing, but after doing it like that, the next episode was ‘not knowing when it will come out’.

It wasn’t easy for novels to come out on a regular basis. Sometimes it’s not monthly, but 3-4 months. If it is long, it will take several more years, but it was natural if it was natural.

So, the way to appease them was also simple.

‘It’s going according to plan, as planned.’

Bentley shouted, holding up the prepared manuscript with a solemn expression.

“Everyone, the ＜Temple Bar＞ manuscript you want is here!!”

It’s night. And the only light source is the torches held by the mob.

It was just a piece of paper with almost meaningless rubbish written on it, but that was enough to make the radical fanboys roll their eyes.

“Me, that one!”

“stop!”

“If you come any further than that, I will open fire for real!!”

The mob’s greed and the police’s resentment. At the center, Bentley proudly shouted.

“Because of my contract with writer Hanslo Jin, I can’t reveal this to you guys! However, we, ＜Bentley and Son＞ Publishing House, heard your support and realized that our system is infinitely insufficient to satisfy Londoners!”

“What bullsh*t!”

“Shut up and give me that manuscript!!”

“So everyone, our ＜Temple Bar＞ is…”

Bentley took a moment to breathe. and.

Declared.

“So, we decided to publish ＜Weekly Temple＞ as a sister and weekly magazine starting this time! From now on, you will be able to see ＜Peter Perry＞ once a week, not once a month!”

“…once a week?”

“Wait, then… So, are you saying that the next episode comes out next week?”

Fans’ heads paused. Weekly serialization is not uncommon, but at this time, monthly serialization is the trend.

If you look at the works you used to see monthly, weekly…!

“Wow!”

“Bentley, he is a god!”

“Long live writer Hanslo Jin!!”

The police were dumbfounded. A commotion that I thought was a funeral turned into a festival in an instant. Meanwhile, why is the Metropolitan Police Department detective stuck there?

Between such questions, Bentley proudly returned to the company and received a handshake request with respect and admiration from countless employees.

And, next month.

＜Bentley and Sons Publishing House releases weekly magazine ＜Weekly temple＞.＞

＜The best children’s novel ＜Peter Perry＞ series, once a week from now on!＞

＜Richard Bentley Jr., ‘Faster Fun for Readers!’＞

Bentley Publishers succeeded in exceeding sales by 350%.

***

“Hmm, that’s how it happened.”

─Yes. Author.

“great. Well done.”

─Aigoo, I only did what the author told me to do, hehehe!

You seem so reckless. I smiled and nodded my head.

Yes, this weekly serial conversion was actually something I proposed to Mr. Bentley.

It will be time to publish the third volume soon, and I thought that a definite change was needed to attract more attention.

The biggest problem is, of course, that the monthly serialization is too slow.

If you move to weekly serialization, the serialization speed will increase by 4 times. And there will be a lot of readers who will be distracted by the stimulating taste and will be drawn to it.

Is it difficult to attract readers because there is no serial culture? Then I’ll have to do it alone. I can write 4 episodes per month when others are releasing 1 episode per month.

Of course, if there wasn’t a demand, I wouldn’t have made such an unreasonable transition… but didn’t Londoners show that there was such a demand?

This is just a natural market formation according to supply and demand.

“Oh, really. It’s vicious.”

“This is all about eating and living, well.”

Putting the receiver down, I said to Mr. Miller.

This phone had been installed by Mr. Miller not long after coming down from London.

Bentley, who was already busy, couldn’t come down here from London every time work broke out, so he started a phone line installation business in Exeter (the capital of Devon).

It would have been impossible without Mr. Miller, a gold spoon.

You mean, you do things like the owner of a football club without hesitation.

“It will be a bit busy, but if you turn it into a weekly series, more sales will come in. Although monthly sales volume will decrease.”

“Well, isn’t that something Mr. Bentley will take care of?”

“That’s right.”

“By the way… I’m a bit worried about the other side.”

“yes?”

On the other side, what does that mean? Mr. Miller said to me who was puzzled.

“It’s not just England that your books are selling.”

“What… is that right?”

Bentley’s Temple Bar magazine isn’t just sold in the UK.

It was also sold in other countries. Well, if that’s the case, it’s only one.

Across the Sea, USA.

An American publisher who contracted on a regular basis was buying and selling at once.

It was a common occurrence in the English-speaking world.

It was natural that they were from the same country and spoke the same language. It feels like selling on different platforms in the same country, rather than different markets in different countries.

“Yeah, then just like the British rioted.”

And Mr. Miller, an American from New York, made a terrifying prophecy.

“Aren’t Americans similar?”

“uh······.”

Is that so?