Chapter 717: A Song of Ice and Fire Was Forced to Postpone Publication

However, the book-buying craze in major bookstores in the United States soon answered this question.

During the two-day Christmas holiday, the Harry Potter books became one of the hottest topics of the holiday. Major bookstores in major cities in the United States posted Harry Potter posters. Long queues formed in front of famous bookstores such as Barnes-Noble in New York, Strand Bookstore, Argonaut in San Francisco, and Miopic in Chicago.

And this craze began to spread to the Internet. On the famous American forum CFido, Harry Potter has become a hot topic.

There are dozens of answers under each post.

One of the most replied posts is: "How does Quirrell sleep in the novel?"

Of course, because he can't sleep on his back, otherwise one of the most powerful and evil wizards in history will be suffocated by his face being forced into the pillow, so how does he sleep? !

"Sleeping on his side" someone immediately replied.

"No, it should be lying on his stomach."

There are hundreds of stories about this question.

Fang Minghua was also interested in logging into this forum, registering an account and reading for a while, of course, just lurking.

However, what he didn't expect was that the publication of his book actually affected the release of another very famous fantasy novel.

New York Bantam Books (Bantam), Inc.

Bantam is also one of the famous American book companies with a long history. It was founded in 1945, but was merged by the Federal Republic of Germany's Bertelsmann Publishing Group in 1977 and became a subsidiary.

In a few days, they were going to launch a blockbuster book official announcement, but they were disrupted by the release of "Harry Potter".

President Joseph got the news as soon as he got to work today, and he immediately became worried. He has been working in the book publishing industry for nearly 40 years and felt that this matter was very serious.

He planned to immediately stop the promotion and publicity of the new book to avoid this wave of enthusiasm, and of course the release of the new book would also be postponed.

However, although he is the president of the company, sometimes he can't make the final decision, especially in the operation and distribution of books, which is almost entirely handled by Vice President Jacob.

Jacob was arrogant and sometimes even ignored him as the president. He was helpless.

Who asked him to be sent by the headquarters of Bertelsmann Publishing Group?

He was a direct descendant of the chairman of the group.

But Jacob was really capable and had some skills in market operation. The steady improvement of the company's sales in recent years had a lot to do with his work.

Arthur had to admire this. Anyway, he would retire in two years, so there was no need to be fussy about it. It would make him look generous.

He called his female secretary and asked Jacob to come over.

A few minutes later, Jacob pushed the door open.

Jacob was in his early forties, very handsome, wearing a well-tailored suit, with the usual arrogance of the Germans. At this time, he walked into the president's office with a book in his hand.

When Jacob put the sapphire-covered book on the boss's desk, Arthur saw it clearly. It was the popular "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" two days ago on Christmas!

"Oh, Jacob, did you buy it?" Joseph asked.

"No, it's not me, it's my daughter who is in high school." Jacob said, "I bought it at the Stratford Bookstore. I heard that they lined up for an hour."

"My God!" Joseph exclaimed, "Nowadays, there are very few writers whose books can make readers line up to buy them!"

"Yes, Joseph, but this Minghua seems to be an exception." Jacob said, "This is not the first time that his books have been like this."

Joseph scratched his graying hair after hearing this.

This Chinese writer is really a freak. Why is his novel so popular in the United States?

"Jacob, have you read this novel? How is it?" Joseph asked again.

"I have to compete with my daughter to read it, so I haven't finished it yet." Jacob said truthfully, "But as far as the first part I have read is concerned, this novel is really very good, a typical fantasy style."

"Compared with that "A Song of Ice and Fire"?" Joseph asked again.

"A Song of Ice and Fire"!

This is a fantasy novel written by the famous American writer George Raymond Richard Martin. It mainly describes a series of court struggles, battlefield battles, travel adventures and magic confrontations in a fictional medieval world.

The author plans to write seven volumes and has completed the first volume. This is also a book that Bantam Company will launch.

Hearing Joseph's question, Jacob pondered for a moment and replied: "Both Harry Potter and A Song of Ice and Fire are magic novels, but the two are somewhat different. The former is "semi-fictional", and the magic world and the world we live in have great similarities and overlaps. The latter is a "completely fictional" work. The author fictionalized an entire universe world, which has its own customs, culture, etc."

"You mean, Harry Potter is more immersive to read than A Song of Ice and Fire?" Joseph keenly heard what Jacob meant.

"Yes, from this point of view alone, Harry Potter has an advantage, and it is relatively easy to understand. It tells the story of a group of students in a magic academy, which is easier for teenagers to accept. Jacob continued.

"However, A Song of Ice and Fire has its own advantages. Its grand structure and serious style are more suitable for adults to read. But in terms of literary quality, I think A Song of Ice and Fire is slightly better."

"Oh" Arthur fell into deep thought after hearing this.

After a while, he asked in a tentative tone: "So, do you think the official release of this A Song of Ice and Fire needs to be postponed?"

"Let's postpone it."

Jacob's frankness surprised Arthur. He smiled and said, "Jacob, you don't usually have this attitude."

After hearing this, a bitter smile slowly emerged on Jacob's arrogant face:

"I have always believed that A Song of Ice and Fire is a good book that will bring huge profits to the company. In order to publish this book as soon as possible, I have done a lot of work. I didn't expect that this Harry Potter would appear out of nowhere at this critical moment, and I thought that the person who advertised the book in Times Square must be a genius."

"Maybe this is God's will, suggesting that I postpone the release of A Song of Ice and Fire. I am a devout Christian and I accept God's arrangement."

After hearing Jacob's words, Arthur couldn't help but feel sarcastic in his heart.

It turns out that he was sent by the headquarters, and he speaks well.

Of course, this can't be said, it hurts the relationship.

"Then when do you say it will be released?" Arthur asked again.

"When will the students be on summer vacation in July? The popularity of Harry Potter has decreased, which is just right for our new book to be published. Now I want to temporarily stop the new book promotion plan." Jacob replied.

"OK, that's it."

The two presidents reached a rare agreement.