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?

from the mystery scene for a

still on the

She wasn't washed up!

he thought about it, the more it didn't add up, so he

was nothing wrong with the content or Madge's reputation, the issue

And he was right.

that the marketing efforts were concentrated on youth-popular

base was

was no splash; they were targeting

the strategy, directing the marketing team to focus on book forums, writing communities, and

sales for Seven Days broke 10,000 that day, with a steady

did it

ago, with a post

aced math in high school but barely scraped by in Literature-the kind of

engrossed in a

was

shot to fame with quirky

popular than he

of this "Procrastination Dad," and the sight of him

to search for the book title, finding it