I Married the President

Chapter 381: Chapter 381: To Wear the Crown, One Must Bear Its Weight

Just then, in the minute her attention had wavered, Editor Redbird sent another message—

Editor Redbird: Dear, your book is doing great! Remember to ask your readers for monthly tickets and make a push for the Hot List. I really want to see a true original author win the grand prize for originality on the literary stage. If you don’t do anything, those ’greats’ who get to the top by padding their stats are going to win again.

Claire Sinclair read the message twice, not quite understanding what she meant, so she replied with a ”?”.

Editor Redbird: You don’t actually think Noelle Yariel is the only plagiarist at CloudScript Books, do you? I know of so many more. Sigh... It’s a shame we’re furious but can’t say a word. The boss sets the rules, and none of us can break them. We’re counting on you.

Claire Sinclair couldn’t resist asking, ”Are the monthly tickets good for anything?”

Editor Redbird: In layman’s terms, first place for monthly tickets gets a cash prize. On a more prestigious note, it qualifies you for the year-end Originality Grand Prize selection—you know, like that gala where you completely showed up Noelle Yariel...

Mrs. Quincy: Oh, then forget it. I’m not interested in winning an award with no real merit.

Editor Redbird: Alright then, dear. Just remember to update on schedule.

Claire Sinclair sent back a smiley emoji and closed the chat window.

But a few minutes later, Redbird sent another message: By the way, dear, your readers are teaming up to flood our customer service with requests. They’re demanding you create a fan group.

Mrs. Quincy: ???

Editor Redbird: The customer service department is really feeling the heat. They said they’ve gotten over a thousand requests for your fan group since yesterday. Any thoughts on what you want to do?

’So I’ve made trouble for the customer service reps...’

Claire Sinclair understood. ”I’ll set up a fan group tomorrow,” she replied.

Editor Redbird: Okay, and make a few of them! I’m afraid one group won’t be enough to hold all your fans.

Mrs. Quincy: Alright.

’Sigh... Just for writing a novel, there’s so much extra crap to deal with.’

Claire Sinclair sighed. She didn’t want to deal with it anymore. ’Time to get back to work.’

-

Redbird was right. One fan group wasn’t nearly enough.

The first group Claire Sinclair created filled up in less than half an hour. She had no choice but to create another, which also filled up in no time. She ended up having to create four groups before there was enough space.

The groups were too noisy, so she muted all four of them and appointed a few of the most enthusiastic readers as administrators.

’One of them... seemed to be Ethan Kingsley.’

’That guy is about to run for president. How could he possibly have time to manage my fan group?’

Claire Sinclair couldn’t make sense of it, and she couldn’t be bothered to ask.

Just as she was about to focus on her work again, a temporary chat window suddenly popped up on her computer.

Mrs. Quincy’s Loyal Fan: Author! I’m a huge fan, I absolutely love your work! I wanted to tell you something—someone on the Kong Kong Forums is trying to smear your name. They’re saying you pad your stats, but I’d never believe it in a million years!

Claire Sinclair glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of her screen. She had already wasted nearly an hour of her workday setting up those four groups and really didn’t want to get sidetracked by this kind of drama.

So, she quickly typed out a reply to the reader: ”He who wears the crown must bear its weight. I’m busy. This is unimportant.”

After sending the reply, Claire Sinclair simply closed QQ to avoid any more annoyances.

She had just managed to finish her manuscript for the day when her phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID read: Harrison Lynch.

Claire Sinclair answered the phone, ”Hello?”

”Reporter Sinclair, I’ve found a lead. I’m downstairs from your place right now. Can you come down quickly? I have to head somewhere else to look for more evidence soon.”