A Note on Going Premium

I received word from the editor that the book will go on sale in the early hours of December 1.

Ever since I began writing it, I had been wondering what to say in this launch announcement. Now that the moment has finally arrived, however, I have no idea where to begin.

So I’ll just chat a little.

When I started this book, I really was not thinking that far ahead. I was casually chatting with a good friend when the subject of stories featuring elderly protagonists came up. Suddenly, my mind went blank for a moment, and I thought of my grandmother.

My grandfather passed away the year before last. He had been partially paralyzed for more than ten years after suffering a cerebral thrombosis, and eventually died from complications caused by being bedridden for so long. After he was gone, my grandmother seemed to lose her soul.

All her children and grandchildren were busy, with no time to keep her company. Whenever I visited, I would find her alone at home. She did not know how to use the smart TV or play with a cellphone. More often than not, she would simply sit on the sofa all morning, then all afternoon.

So when the topic of elderly protagonists came up, I thought: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a celebrity who could bring old people along and let them have some fun too?

What if there were someone unconventional who could use a lifetime of experience and a few outrageous tricks to inject something different into the entertainment industry? Wouldn’t that be a great deal of fun?

And that was how this book came into being.

At the beginning, neither the readers nor my friends had much faith in it. The general opinion was that the premise was too niche, and that readers would find it difficult to identify with an elderly protagonist.

As luck would have it, the book began just as the seventieth-anniversary celebrations were taking place. Chapter comments and reviews were temporarily disabled, so writing without any data or reader feedback was truly miserable. This fool even considered ending the book altogether.

But during those solitary days, the more I wrote, the more I thought...

Damn, this premise is actually pretty entertaining!

That is really what writing a book comes down to. If you do not enjoy writing it yourself, it is not much of a worthwhile job.

Thanks to that little bit of enjoyment, the book survived its lonely beginning instead of dying halfway through. I was quite lucky, because the more I wrote, the more fun I found it. Especially after a whole crowd of ridiculous, wonderful readers came pouring in, and the chapter comments joined in the effort, the book practically transformed into a gloriously bizarre creature.

Thank you, my esteemed readers!

Now, the public-release period of more than two months has come to an end.

The book is going on sale, which means it costs money now.

I hope you will continue to support it.

After all, writing books is not easy, and writing niche books is even harder. I am asking for your support through subscriptions.

I am, after all, a full-time author who lives like a stray dog, and I have to rely on this work to make a living and support my family. That is simply the truth.

A ridiculous little emoticon made just to get a laugh may take half an hour to come up with.

A truly memorable plotline often takes an entire night, a pack of cigarettes, and endless polishing. By the time morning comes and the detailed outline is finally finished, the keyboard is covered in hair and flakes of scalp scratched loose from my head.

To those of you who read pirated copies, I bear you no grudge. But after spending these two months together, surely we have formed at least a little bond. I am not asking for much. Spend a yuan or so and give the book a first subscription. This fool will remain deeply grateful.

The book is going on sale at the beginning of the month, and I would like to make a serious push and compete with the big-name authors launching at the same time for a place on the new-book monthly-ticket rankings. A few damn moderators have also spent a month preparing a lottery event involving monthly-ticket rewards. We will put it up shortly for everyone to see. I hope I can count on your support.

That is enough rambling. Brothers and sisters, I’ll see you in the VIP chapters!