Author's Note on Official Publication

It is already past one in the morning as I write this chapter. If you are reading this, it means this book is about to be officially launched. Launching signifies that the book will now require payment to read, and it is time to face the results of my efforts. This is my second contracted book and my second time launching a title on this platform.

The inception of "Lord of the Nine Provinces" was quite a bumpy road. I communicated with my editors beforehand; my editor-in-chief, Shuimo, and my desk editor, Tianqi, both patiently guided me for a long time. It is just that I was not up to the task and failed to fully absorb their advice, which resulted in the book not being as good as it could have been. I have failed to live up to their guidance.

The book was released on January 19th and is launching on March 26th—sixty-seven days, nearly three hundred and fifty thousand words, and as of now, two thousand three hundred and sixteen followers.

This means my average daily output has been over five thousand words. This update speed for a new book is certainly not slow, yet the results have been somewhat disappointing.

Of course, the poor performance is due to my writing. My editor, Tianqi, arranged quite a few recommendations for me during the new book period, both on the webpage and the app, but unfortunately, the results were never quite as expected.

Regardless, these results are much better than my previous book. My last work was beyond a simple failure. The number of followers for this new book is arguably twenty times that of my last one. This proves that even a persistent failure like me has made a little progress, and it shows that communicating with my editors was ultimately effective.

When I started this book, I set three goals for myself: the first was to reach one hundred initial subscriptions, the second was to reach an average of five hundred subscriptions, and the third was to hopefully reach the level of a Level 2 author.

These three goals are obsessions in my heart. After writing over three million words, I am still only a Level 1 author; I doubt there are many as incompetent as me left on Qidian. But as things stand now, reaching the first goal of one hundred initial subscriptions seems unlikely. With over two thousand followers, getting one hundred initial subscriptions is quite a daunting task.

Speaking of subscriptions, I would like to make a plea here. Every chapter on Qidian now includes videos; watching three videos a day earns you thirty points. Combined with daily check-ins and the like, subscribing costs only five cents per thousand words. It is truly affordable. The big shots may not care about this small amount, but if readers from other platforms see this, I hope you come to Qidian to support me. A struggling author truly needs your subscription support.

Next, I must thank my editor-in-chief, Shuimo, and my desk editor, Tianqi. I am grateful for their guidance and recommendations; they did not abandon me. I also want to thank my friends—Fang Shu, Baiju, Daqin, and Wang Han—for their tips and votes. Truth be told, because I feel my writing is subpar, I haven't even dared to tell some of my friends that I am writing, and some of my operations officers have been unaware of this as well.

I must also give a special thank you to the reader with the ID 20190829060604214. It is truly his comments at the end of the chapters that point out my mistakes, letting me know that I am not writing in a vacuum and that there are people actually following along. I am truly thrilled by that!

At this final moment, even though I know few might read this, I will set my criteria for extra updates—a process that feels a bit awkward, as I fear I might not be able to achieve them.

For every thirty thousand Qidian points accumulated or given in a single tip, I will add one chapter. For every "Alliance Leader" tip, I will add four chapters!

If I get lucky enough to receive a "Silver Alliance" tip, I will add forty chapters. If I am blessed enough to get a "Golden Alliance" tip, I will add four hundred chapters! Don't worry about me not being able to finish; if I were to receive such incredible support, I would certainly be writing for a long time!

If I surpass one hundred initial subscriptions, I will add one chapter, and one additional chapter for every hundred thereafter, with no upper limit! I look at this with eager eyes, hoping for the chance to reach that one-hundred-subscription milestone.

There have already been quite a few tips before the launch. I will repay all the chapters owed from those tips after the launch. Even if there are no extra updates, I will still provide six thousand words every day; I really cannot bring myself to be a "four-thousand-word-a-day" writer.

In fact, my eyes have been hurting a lot lately. I even saw a doctor this afternoon, who told me it was eye strain and urged me to rest more. However, tomorrow, I will still push for four chapters totaling twelve thousand words. I am going all out! As a part-time creator, I have truly done my best regarding updates.

Dear readers, I have said so much simply because I hope that if you see this, you will give me a subscription. The VIP chapters will be released after 12:00 PM tomorrow. I will strive to finish the updates before 12:30 PM. I am in dire need of subscriptions; they are the motivation for my creation. Thank you all for your support!

—Luanxue de Mozhi