After spending a lot of time in the United States, Collins Publishing has finally prepared Star Wars and entered the publishing process.
The reason it took so long was because the publisher had to organize illustration design.
The previous release of the Star Wars series has proven that this is a very good strategy and can greatly boost sales.
Li Yu relied on his preliminary sketching skills and roughly drew some sketches of the settings, such as the robot army, stormtroopers, and many alien races that appeared in the prequel.
This thing will be very attractive in later generations, let alone the early twentieth century. It is simply the ceiling of imagination in the early twentieth century.
The story of the Star Wars prequels is indeed very exciting, and due to the late shooting time, the special effects technology has been updated a lot, and the script is better polished.
The first domestic understanding of Star Wars was actually the Star Wars prequels, so many domestic audiences watched Star Wars in the order of the prequels and then the main sequels.
When filming the Star Wars prequels, Lucasfilm had already achieved great success and was very willing to spend money on investment to create the first science fiction IP in the Western world.
The world shown in the Star Wars prequels is both grand and detailed, and the confrontation between different forces is much more intense. It can be said that the Star Wars prequels seem to be much more enjoyable than the original Star Wars.
Readers really like the various cool settings in it. If they can be displayed in the form of illustrations, it will be a super selling point.
The editor-in-chief of Collins Publishing House, James, was hesitant about which selling points should be reflected on the cover, and finally called Li Yu to make a decision.
Li Yu and Lu Bicheng came to Collins Publishing House.
Lu Bicheng stayed in New York for a while. Every time she saw these high-rise buildings with more than 20 floors, she could not help but sigh: "It feels like living on a cliff. Aren't they afraid of falling or collapsing?"
Li Yu smiled and said: "Don't worry, this is not cultivating immortals. Since we can build tall buildings, it means it has passed the safety verification."
The two arrived at the Collins Publishing headquarters, and James immediately made them the best coffee, "Sir and Madam, I can't wait to see the success of the Star Wars prequels, but now about the cover,
It’s up to you to make the decision.”
Li Yu looked at the picture drawn by the illustrator. Although it was much different from the movie he watched at the time, it was already very visually impactful to the readers at that time.
The illustrator also drew the silhouettes of Li Yu and Lu Bicheng in the upper right corner of the cover.
Li Yu thought for a while: "The first picture uses Anakin driving a shuttle, and also adds the appearance of Sith warriors and Jedi warriors holding lightsabers on both sides."
James has read the entire work and said: "This can indeed reflect the conflict, and it can also allude to the transformation of the protagonist Anakin in the prequel trilogy. Where are the other two?"
Li Yu said: "The second part must of course reflect the confrontation between the robot army and the storm trooper army, and don't forget to include Anakin and the Queen of Naboo. As for the third part, it must focus on expressing Anakin's dark side."
transformation, so we have to show the duel scene between him and the teacher."
What Li Yu said was basically the key points, and James respected his decision: "I think they are closer to success. I immediately informed the illustrator to complete the final draft and it will be published and printed soon. By the way, and
It’s the same as before, it’s still 2 US dollars per copy, and we decided to print 300,000 copies for the first printing. As for the royalties, we have increased it to 20% of the top price for you.”
Collins Publishing House dared to propose such a high royalty, and it must have expected that it would be a huge hit. For a long time after that, the Star Wars series was almost a cash cow for them, so they must pay a high price in return for Li Yu.
For Li Yu, the royalties were also huge, exceeding US$300,000.
Europe is estimated to have almost the same sales volume.
In the future, Collins Publishing House will release a complete set of collector's editions, which will make a lot of money.
The next time a novel becomes so popular in the United States, it will probably have to wait until "Gone with the Wind" came out during the Great Depression.
After the release of the Star Wars prequels, sales were indeed extremely hot.
After all, Collins Publishing did not increase the price and added more illustrations, so it can be said that the volume is increased without increasing the price.
The setting of the protagonist Anakin Skywalker is also very meaningful. He himself is a slave, which alone is very attractive.
Because the protagonists of most current novels are people with great supernatural powers, but the Star Wars series has created a person with the lowest status.
Fortunately, there is a true story, and readers know that he will be a super villain in the future. Not only do they not accept it, but they are more looking forward to what he has experienced in his growth.
When Li Yu wrote the story framework, he deliberately used some of the most classic counterattack routines in later novels. It should not be too easy to use in the novel world at this time.
The sales of 300,000 copies were so fast that Collins Publishing House did not realize that it had underestimated the potential of this work, so it asked the printing house to print more copies around the clock.
Li Yu's popularity has once again greatly increased among ordinary people.
Pulitzer's eyesight had deteriorated greatly. After listening to his assistant read the entire work, he actually went out to interview Li Yu in person.
So Li Yu and Lu Bicheng came to the headquarters of "Le Monde" again.
After entering the door, Pulitzer said: "It's an honor to meet two best-selling authors. I would like to conduct an interview on behalf of the readers. Because everyone has many questions that they want to discuss with you."
Li Yu smiled and said, "Sir, please speak."
Pulitzer said: "As we all know, you are an extremely good physicist, mathematician and astronomer, and one of the best in the world today."
"You're grateful." Li Yu said.
Pulitzer continued: "The world you describe in the book is bizarre and infinitely magical. Everyone is curious whether they are just a kind of science fiction imagination, or whether they are predictions made by you based on your extremely high understanding of science."
This is the most common popular opinion at the moment, because although the settings of the Star Wars series are extremely advanced, everything in the book has come true, and there is no sign of a lack of control over the worldview.
Li Yu said: "Scientific fantasy is naturally based on some cutting-edge science, but it is also very fantasy, otherwise it would not be so interesting."
Pulitzer said: "But I think some can be achieved, such as your previous article on flight tests in Science."
Li Yu said: "Yes, not only flying, but also flying into space can be achieved. Because mankind's goal is always the stars and the sea."
Pulitzer was not sure about Li Yu's idea, so he said: "Even if it cannot be realized, it will not affect this work as an excellent science fiction work. In addition, why do you dare to use such a large space to depict the growth of a big villain?"
process?"
Li Yu said: "Because art cannot be separated from life, novels cannot be separated from the two major themes of creation."
Pulitzer asked: "Two major themes?"
Li Yu said: "It is life and love. In fact, the Star Wars series is not only a science fiction work, but also a complete family ethics drama."
The second half of the sentence was not invented by Li Yu, but was said by Lucas, the father of Star Wars.
If you think about it carefully, the stories of the main trilogy and the prequel trilogy almost all revolve around the emotions and experiences of Anakin and his children Luke and Princess Leia.
Pulitzer thought about Li Yu's words for a while and said: "It's very profound. No wonder it sells so well. If you say that, I can understand why Anakin would go dark for his wife."
Anakin's darkening process and emotional journey are a main line in the Star Wars prequels, but many people who have watched Star Wars may have forgotten that love is actually prohibited in the Jedi doctrine.
The marriage between Anakin and the Queen of Naboo was held in secret, and many details hinted in advance that Anakin might turn dark.
Li Yu said: "He was a physical slave at first, but in the end he was an emotional slave, willingly from beginning to end."
Pulitzer said: "What a tragic figure."
Li Yu suddenly said: "This reminds me of that sentence, I can't hug you if I pick up the lightsaber, and I can't protect you if I put down the lightsaber. Anakin can be said to be a collection of contradictions."
This statement would have been a bad joke in later generations, but at this time, it was so lethal.
Pulitzer said: "It's so well said. This is the place that best reflects the artistry! Everyone speaks so highly of this book because it not only has grand scene descriptions, touching story presentation, but also soul-stirring
Dream-filled feelings."
…
The next day, Pulitzer posted the transcript of his interview with Li Yu, and instantly many female readers became interested because "if I pick up the lightsaber, I can't hug you, and if I put down the lightsaber, I can't protect you."
Too inflammatory.
It simply makes a woman heartbroken and cry like crazy 0.0
Due to the popularity of this work, there are even some "Star Clubs" specializing in the study of the Star Wars series, and there are many "Star Scholars". Of course, there are also reading clubs that were very common in the early 20th century.
For a month, the theme of most book clubs was the Star Wars series.
In the past, it was basically a male readers' organization, but now many women's reading clubs have sprung up.
Originally, female readers did not like to read science fiction, but after seeing Pulitzer's "World News" report, they joined the readership group one after another.
Well, Li Yu also has a female fan!
Just like Jin Yong's martial arts in later generations.
Martial arts is originally a favorite of men, but Jin Yong himself is actually very good at writing emotions. The emotional processes of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu, Linghu Chong and Ren Yingying, Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min, etc. are all very well created.
Even Qiong Yao, a writer who specializes in romance, praised Jin Yong for being better at writing about romance than herself.
It’s also a bit like a female video writer praising a male video writer for being good at romance, which is difficult.
It is because of these outstanding emotional threads that Jin Yong's martial arts dramas have quite a few female fans.
Anyway, with this work, Li Yu has almost become the Taishan Beidou in the current science fiction world.
Because he created a lot of new things, such as mentioning robots in science fiction novels for the first time, more than ten years earlier than in history.
Moreover, his approach of expanding the perspective beyond the earth and even to the entire galaxy was extremely groundbreaking, because he greatly opened up the imagination of other science fiction writers.
It's a pity that there is no Hugo Award, otherwise it would definitely be indispensable.
Over in Europe, the publishing speed of Hachette Publishing House in France is also not slow, and they even completed translations into multiple languages very quickly.
After Planck learned of the release, he immediately bought it back.
After reading it in one breath, I exclaimed, "This guy really didn't keep me waiting for so long in vain."
After pausing for a while, he thought to himself: "No, it can't be over like this! With such a grand background, wouldn't it be too much for him to write some peripheral stories?"
Planck was so satisfied with his sudden idea that he immediately went to write a telegram.
In Germany, another reader was even more inspired, his name was Zeppelin.
Yes, the creator of Zeppelin.
Zeppelin's full name is Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Just by looking at "Ferdinand" and "von" in his name, you can tell that he was born into a noble family.
Zeppelin himself was a count.
I have to say that in the first half of the 20th century, Germany's technology was really strong, and it was strong in all aspects.
Whether it is pure science such as mathematics, physics, or the application of technology, they are almost all among the best in the world.
In 1900, the Zeppelin airship had successfully tested.
Many people had done research in the decades before this. The earliest researcher of airships was a Frenchman, but his test flight failed.
Then it took Count Zeppelin more than ten years to successfully develop it by raising a large amount of funds through his aristocratic connections.
However, it is not yet commercially available.
After Count Zeppelin read Li Yu's Star Wars series, he was greatly inspired. Especially after seeing another very provocative sentence "Our goal is the stars and the sea", he decided to use the popularity of the Star Wars series to fund his own airship business.
Give it a good publicity.
There are many descriptions of aircraft in the Star Wars series, which has made everyone interested in flying.
What's more, I have invested so much money to successfully develop it, so I must commercialize the Zeppelin airship.
Zeppelin quickly prepared to contact his assistants to spray-paint the slogan "May the force be with you" on his airship, and to invest money in vigorously publicizing it in newspapers. The slogan was:
"Want to ride the aircraft in the novel like a Jedi? Then take a look at our airship, it will realize your dream of flying! Let the fantasy become a reality!"
However, when promoting the Star Wars series, it is necessary to inform Li Yu himself that the protection of intellectual property rights in Europe and the United States is now in place, not to mention that he himself is a respectable nobleman, so he cannot avoid sending a telegram to Li Yu.
Li Yu in New York received these two telegrams from Germany almost at the same time.
He first opened Planck's:
"Little friend Li Yu, I have finished reading the Star Wars prequels, which are very exciting. However, I am still very interested in many of the stories. I think there are many places where such a grand background can be expanded. I hope you can write some as soon as possible.
Peripheral works! It’s better to get down to business and hurry up!”
Li Yu held his forehead and couldn't laugh or cry again. Who is this super god who doesn't do his job...
When I saw another telegram from Count Zeppelin, it was somewhat unexpected but also reasonable.
"Dear the great master of science in the East, I am Count Zeppelin. I am extremely interested in the world of flight you describe in your book, and I happened to have successfully developed an airship that can rise to an altitude of thousands of meters. I really want to use your star
War series as a promotion, I hope you will allow it. In addition, you can ride on my airship for free, and the overlooking perspective will be unforgettable!"