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Barret’s eyes widened instantly, “Good Lord, this is unbelievable! She actually survived?!”
“Yes,” Joseph said, “and furthermore, she discovered she possessed divine power and could float in an endless grey mist…”
“How marvelous! What’s the name of the novel?”
“It’s called ‘The Master of Besties.\'”
…
After Barret left, Joseph continued to the next author, “The story you are going to write is about a nobleman who was locked in the Bastille due to mental illness.
“This young man, named Fer Lee, claimed that when he closed his eyes, he would enter a magical world.
“In that world, there was an evil wizard who captured many deformed or sickly young boys and girls to brew an Elixir of Immortality. And Fer Lee was one of those captured…”
…
When Joseph turned his attention to Bomasha, this most famous old writer in all of France looked somewhat impatient, “Oh, your Highness, what about my story?”
Joseph immediately thought of his most revered online fiction writer from his past life—Tianhaishan. Every one of his books would rapidly become popular throughout the country, nearly a step away from the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he was also extremely handsome, the dream lover of nine hundred million girls.
Joseph was so familiar with every one of Tianhaishan’s books that he blurted out, “This novel is called ‘Madam, Please Stop’…”
The day passed quickly. At twilight, Joseph received four manuscripts.
It was no wonder Bomasha and his peers were famed writers in France; their novels were extremely vivid. Whether it was character portrayal or plot description, their writing exuded an air of masterfulness, making for an intoxicating read.
However, Joseph found that each person’s submission was only four pages long, at most around two thousand words.
He had to subtly suggest that the great authors could write a bit more each day.
Bomasha and the others looked at each other. They were fascinated with their stories, so much so that they had skipped lunch. This was already more than double their normal output of words.
And yet, the Crown Prince seemed to think it was not enough!
After they returned, they each summoned their disciples or writer friends to help, not so much to earn the extra few livres. These great writers were not short of money, they mainly wanted to write faster in order to hear the rest of the story from the Crown Prince as soon as possible.
On Joseph’s side, he sent someone to deliver the manuscripts to the ‘Paris Commercial News’ newspaper overnight, asking Denico to print them as soon as possible.
The next day as dawn broke, Denico brought a proof copy and hurried to the Palace of Versailles to report the first publication situation after the redesign to Joseph.
Joseph briefly flipped through the two newspapers.
One was the ‘Paris Commercial News.’ The overall style was still based on the theme of ‘freedom and ideals,’ covering market trends and business insights. What was different was that one whole side of the second page was dedicated to a novel called ‘Breaking the Firmament.’ The third page was an explanation of the content of the new tax law.
The other was the newly published ‘News and Pictures Reports’—the publishing license could be processed by noon. Of course, that was the speed exclusive to the Crown Prince. Normally, applying for a license would take at least two months at best.
‘News and Pictures Reports’ was less polite, with a front-page title “Delving into the Deep Reasons Why the New Tax Law Continuously Fails to Register.” The second page was ‘The Master of Besties.’ The other pages mostly related to the tax law and also interspersed with hot news from around France.
As for the pictures, as lithographic printing had not yet been introduced, they only included previously engraved baseplates of Parisian landscapes. In the future, they would publish a large number of news illustrations. But in this era without photographs, they could only hire artists to draw illustrations.
Joseph was quite satisfied with Denico’s work; indeed, it was a family that had been in the newspaper business for three generations.
Once these two newspapers appeared in the hands of the Parisian people, the Great Noble Group would no longer be able to monopolize the channels of public opinion.
Upon seeing the Crown Prince had finished reviewing the proof copies, Denico immediately reported, “Your Highness, as per your instructions, both newspapers are priced at 3 livres for a month’s subscription.
“I feel I must remind you, we will be incurring a serious loss at this price.”
Most of the daily newspapers at the time cost between 6 and 8 livres a month, and the weekly publications ranged from 1 livre and 10 sous to 2 livres.
The “Paris Commercial News” and “News & Picture Paper” both being dailies, 3 livres was definitely a selling price at a loss.
Joseph nodded indifferently, “It’s okay, let’s sell it at that price. Once we get lithographic printing sorted out, the cost should drop below 3 livres per month.”
In fact, even if they operated at a loss, he did not mind—once the newspapers’ circulation surged, they could definitely turn around their losses just from advertisement revenue.
Seeing his firm conviction, Denico could only continue to report the next item of business, “Your Highness, as for the ‘newsboys’ you mentioned before, I’ve managed to recruit over 40.”
He hesitated for a moment, cautiously saying, “I feel that not many people might be willing to buy newspapers on the streets of Paris.”
Newsboys were exactly the new sales strategy for newspapers that Joseph had in mind.
At present, the newspaper industry across European countries mainly used a model of subscription in advance, followed by “newspaper deliverymen” delivering to the hands of customers.
The newsboys that later generations would find so familiar had not yet appeared.
One of the main reasons that had constrained retail newspaper sales was the expensive price. An average newspaper cost 4 to 6 sous, while the daily wage for an ordinary craftsman was only 5 to 10 sous. Very few people would impulsively buy a newspaper.
Now, Joseph had pressed the price of a newspaper down to 2 sous, with plans to drop it further to 1 sous, or even lower in the future. At that price, many people could afford it.
Joseph was well aware that street retail was the best channel for newspaper sales!
Newsboys shouting out the highlights of the newspapers could easily attract the interest of passers-by who would readily buy a copy. Moreover, the newsboys could also sell other items on the side, using their profits to offset the cost of the newspapers.
As for “employing child labor”…
That concept didn’t even exist at this time.
In every European country at the moment, it was common to see children as young as seven or eight working in the workshops. They were an important economic pillar for their families.
Selling newspapers, a relatively easy and well-paid job, would probably soon have people vying for it.
After instructing Denico on a few more matters, the newspaper manager took his leave and returned to Paris.
What they didn’t yet know was that by then, the two newspapers had already stirred up quite a storm in Paris.
On the streets of Paris, someone heard a child waving a newspaper and shouting:
“Get your paper! 2 sous a copy! Read the latest novel—Alchemy Youth dumped by his fiancée! Can he gain justice after three years?”
The man, who had just received his pay yesterday, bought a copy out of curiosity. He immediately became engrossed in the enthralling story on the second page, reading as he walked until he bumped into a tree and realized he had taken the wrong path.