Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Stoner was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. "60k!"

Madge was a bit dazed, her mind trailing as she asked, "What do you mean, 60k?"

"The daily sales! Yesterday, we broke through 60k! We've smashed the record set by The Weapon back in the day! In nearly ten... no, twenty years, no book has hit these numbers!"

"Ms. Madge," he stressed each word, "your new book-it's a hit!"

Not just "hot," but "hit!"

Initially, Stoner was feeling down. He was prepared for a rocky start with the new release, but he hadn't expected it to tank this badly.

A rival editor, who had been at odds with him for ages, saw his chance to throw a jab, saying Stoner had lost his touch, that he was past it for signing the book without a second thought, despite millions of eyes watching. And what was the outcome? A colossal flop.

Stoner brushed off the mockery. He was deep in thought, trying to pinpoint where things went wrong.

He had read Madge's books, and whether it was the choice of themes or the plot itself, everything seemed impeccable, each one brimming with potential to be a hit.

This time, they even led with what they believed was her best work, yet it ended up like this...

It didn't make sense!

Was it that Madge had fallen out of favor?

she had vanished from the

The Weapon and Abandoned Village School were still on

She wasn't washed up!

it didn't add up,

Madge's reputation, the issue

And he was right.

digging deeper, Stoner discovered that the marketing efforts were

base was primarily

splash;

marketing team to focus on book forums, writing communities, and

that day, with

did it truly

with a post from a

Literature-the kind of guy who'd rather die than write an essay is actually

utterly engrossed in a book, with the cover

was a

with quirky stories about his dad. So,

popular than he

followers were fans of this "Procrastination Dad," and the sight of him reading a book sent shockwaves through his

finding it was a published