Hush, Little Secret has taken Rongcheng by storm.
The initial print run was 50,000 copies, targeting the southwest market but distributed nationwide.
Zou Weijun’s department wasn’t overly cautious, a popular science book like this wouldn’t typically sell much without being on school teachers’ recommended lists.
Who could’ve predicted that a sensationalist slogan would spark such massive sales?
Of course, effective promotion is one thing, but the book’s compelling content is the real key, the combination isn’t just “1+1=2,” it’s an explosion of sales.
Reprint, we must reprint!
The printing presses ran overnight, fresh books with the scent of ink quickly filled bookstore shelves, Rongcheng’s high schools launched physiology and health education classes, and the reprint speed couldn’t keep up with sales.
After Rongcheng’s schools finished their activities, surrounding schools followed suit, Zou Weijun went from being blamed to working overtime constantly, Xie Qian didn’t see her at home for an entire week!
It’s truly selling like crazy!
As the southwest’s top city, even provincial key schools endorsing Hush, Little Secret drew parental complaints, let alone middle schools in surrounding counties and towns, where holding such events was incredibly challenging.
In rural schools, some students are left-behind children, raised by grandparents while parents are away.
How many elderly folks, like Grandma Wen, are literate? Finding such a book with shocking illustrations in their grandkids’ bags, they’d scold the kids first.
When the kids said it was recommended by teachers, that stirred a hornet’s nest, some grandparents even stormed schools, cursing teachers as shameless.
This feedback reached the publishing department and education authorities.
Normally, with so many parental complaints, the education department would’ve acted against Hush, Little Secret, but this time, for some reason, they stayed silent.
Or rather, before the education department could react, the provincial key schools took the lead, and once the trend started, the authorities found it hard to intervene.
The law doesn’t punish the masses, they couldn’t exactly summon every principal in Rongcheng for a scolding.
Principals bold enough to do this were thick-skinned anyway, and as the key schools told parents, they hadn’t broken any rules!
The education bureau didn’t interfere.
The publishing administration didn’t halt it either.
The book kept selling explosively, and the publisher kept reprinting, undaunted.
In just one month, Hush, Little Secret sold over 500,000 copies nationwide.
From an initial 50,000 to a reprint of one million, the more criticism it got, the hotter it sold, with the book just entering markets beyond the province, the publisher’s leaders couldn’t even estimate its final sales.
Amid the criticism, there was also praise.
Southern Metropolis Daily lauded the book extensively.
If it was just the Southern media praising it, that’d be one thing, but in April, a veteran education figure wrote a glowing review in People’s Daily.
“We must protect children’s little secrets, this book should not only be promoted but promoted vigorously.”
The 70-something veteran, unburdened by others’ hesitations, dared to speak the truth and was beyond anyone’s control.
This review was a game-changer, the publisher could finally print money without worry, ramping up reprints, at such a moment, printing books was printing cash, who’d complain about earning too much?
“The department now wants to quickly plan the second book in the series,” Zou Weijun said.
On the second weekend of April, Zou Weijun finally had half a day free and invited Wen Ying to dinner at home to thank her for the great idea.
“Auntie Zou, I just made a suggestion, you’re the one who did the real work, you must’ve faced immense pressure for this book.”
An idea is nothing.
Good ideas are never in short supply, what’s rare is the courage and determination to act on them.
Wen Ying only spoke, but Zou Weijun trusted her suggestion, put it into action, and bore the weight of it all.
As a newcomer in the publishing department, even with Jiang Xuekun’s connections, Zou Weijun had fought hard for this planning opportunity, with countless eyes watching her, one mistake could’ve cost her future chances.
The workplace isn’t school.
Students can correct a wrong answer and move on.
A workplace mistake can cost someone their career.
Financially, Zou Weijun didn’t need the job, but emotionally, it gave her confidence and a way to focus her energy.
Wen Ying’s concern touched Zou Weijun, the past month had been a rollercoaster.
When parents protested and public opinion called for Hush, Little Secret to be pulled, Wen Ying worried Zou Weijun might break down, but she not only endured the pressure from the publishing department but thrived, with the book’s explosive sales elevating the series’ status, what was once a newbie’s project was now coveted, and as the second book was greenlit, some tried to push Zou Weijun out of the planning team.
Zou Weijun couldn’t pinpoint her exact mindset then.
A career is like a marriage.
When her marriage was intruded upon, she crumbled.
In her career, just as she achieved something, others tried to steal her success, it wasn’t pressure she felt but deep-seated anger.
Want something? Work for it yourself, why do some always try to take what others have earned?
Zou Weijun didn’t care about the job’s salary.
After Hush, Little Secret’s success, the publishing department’s tone changed, she even got a cash bonus, she could handle the pressure, but no one was taking her hard-earned fruit.
The leaders thought Zou Weijun, with her refined demeanor and gentle speech, was mild-mannered.
They didn’t expect her to outright reject their directive.
“If the next book is handed to someone else, I’ll resign.”
Wen Ying and Xie Qian couldn’t even eat.
Auntie Zou is that tough?
My mum can resign, but not because she’s being bullied.
The two high schoolers exchanged a glance, understanding each other.
Zou Weijun used serving chopsticks to give them each some food, “Why are you staring at me? Eat! Don’t worry about me, if I resign, it’s not my loss, if I can plan a book successfully once, I can do it again.”
In this field, Zou Weijun was just hitting her stride, she wanted to be a role model for her son Xie Qian, she wouldn’t give up so easily.
