September Review, Acknowledgments, October Update, and Extra Chapter Schedule

Thank you all. In September, the newly launched book secured 3,157 monthly votes in its first month, landing in the top 30 on the new book monthly ranking chart.

Although it feels much less successful compared to the sixth place achieved by *My Ex-Girlfriends Are All Superstars* and *The Almighty Megastar*, or the fifth place of *The Entertainment Revival*, I am already very content.

My initial goal was to break into the top 10 of the new book monthly ranking. I kept working hard on drafting chapters in hopes of reaching that milestone, but ultimately my ability is limited. Coupled with the fact that this book is unlikely to attract massive tips, miracles simply could not happen.

Currently, *This Top Idol Treats Stardom Just Like a Job* started with 1,874 subscriptions on the 9th. I wrote my way up to an average subscription of 3,300, only for it to drop back down to 3,161. Part of this was due to my deliberate choice to write longer chapters; otherwise, I might not have managed to secure the boutique badge by the twentieth day.

The decline in average subscriptions began right after the completion of the "Sweeping the Dark and Fierce Waves" storyline. Even though many people criticized me for padding the word count, the reading-while-publishing subscriptions reached their peak during the broadcast of that arc, even breaking 3,000. Once it ended, the subscriptions started dropping by several hundred every single day.

Right now, the reading-while-publishing subscriptions for the latest chapters have fallen below 900.

In other words, there are only 900 readers left who subscribe to my latest chapters on a daily basis.

I have been reflecting on this myself, considering criticisms such as the slow pacing, padding, and the show's broadcast arc running for too long. Yet, I believe my style has remained consistent; from the very beginning until now, I have written in the exact same manner. However, the drop in subscriptions proves that something went off track, and a large portion of silent readers have abandoned the book. Therefore, I will earnestly review and analyze everything moving forward.

If you have any opinions or suggestions, please leave a comment. A child has to listen to advice in order to grow, so please do not stay silent. Feel free to voice your thoughts, and I will gladly borrow some of your ideas.

Lastly, regarding the update schedule for October: when I previously posted a separate chapter asking for a push on new book monthly votes, the count was 2,184, and it ultimately ended at 3,157. That is an increase of just under 1,000 votes, so let us round it to 1,000 votes.

That translates to 20 bonus chapters.

On top of the baseline guarantee of 4,000 words per day for October, I will finish writing these 20 extra chapters.

I mentioned before that I only asked for monthly votes for September, so I will not be asking for monthly votes in October. However, the rule of adding a bonus chapter for every 50 monthly votes remains valid. Beyond that, from now on I will only ask for subscriptions, so let us do bonus chapters based on average subscriptions. Using 3,161 as the baseline, I will add one bonus chapter for every increase of 50 in the average subscription.

That is all. Once again, thank you to all the readers who have fully subscribed, partially subscribed, or read just a few chapters. Thank you to the readers who cast their monthly votes, and thank you to the fewer than 900 readers who still subscribe every day.

May you be safe, healthy, and happy.

Happy National Day.

Written by Bao Xing at 12:23 AM on October 1, 2023.