Rebirth in America

In mid-May 1952, Alex handed over the draft of the third novel in the Harry Potter series to Carl as promised.

In fact, he had already finished writing this novel, but he had been holding on to it. When I have free time, I will look through it, find out the bugs, and fix them. Or lay the groundwork to prepare for future plots.

As time went by, the book written by Alex was slowly accepted by Americans. There are various novel settings, unexpected plot arrangements, and very exciting fighting scenes. Everything is much better than Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".

In terms of literary literacy, he may not be as good as Tolkien, but in terms of popular knowledge, Tolkien is far behind Alex. What's more, Alex's target users are very clear, that is, children, so there is no need to write in such a literary and youthful style.

After Karl collected the manuscript, he said: "Alex, the publisher would like to arrange a signing event for you. What do you think?"

Alex stared at Carl with wide eyes. He really didn't expect that there would be such an event. He, a lazy person, didn't want to sit in front of a table and sign autographs and messages to the readers in attendance with a silly smile.

"No! I don't want to do any autograph signing activities!" Alex refused bluntly.

Karl couldn't help but sigh, he had known the result for a long time. In fact, Bantam Company had such an idea after the first part of the Harry Potter series was released. At that time, before Carl could ask Alex, he was blocked by the Carpenters.

At that time, Alex was rejected because he was too young to participate in any book signing activities. Especially at that time, Alex and Richard's adventure at the McCanntown Tavern in Atlanta had not yet subsided, and the Carpenters did not want to let their sons take any risks at all.

Now that the Carpenters were a little more relaxed about Alex, Bantam Books finally got the license from them. Unexpectedly, when Alex arrived, he was rejected directly.

Karl knew that although Alex was young, he was extremely opinionated. If he decided on something, no one could change his mind. Unless he is allowed to change his mind, it is really a very difficult thing.

Karl tried to guide and said: "Carrying out autograph signing activities will help the sales of this third volume, and it can also be regarded as repaying the enthusiasm of book fans. You know, the sales volume of this series of books has reached more than five million."

The Harry Potter series, influenced by the fame of the Carpenter brothers, sells more than one million copies of each book every year. For two consecutive years, the sales of the first two books alone have exceeded 5 million. In Karl's opinion, this is quite an achievement. But from Alex's point of view, it's not worth mentioning.

You know, even though the book market in later generations was eroded and shrunk by various entertainment methods, this book was still able to sell hundreds of millions of copies a year, which shows how awesome Aunt Rowling is. Although the current Harry Potter series is very different from the original version, in Alex's opinion, his modifications are even better than the original version! There is no reason why she should lose to Aunt Luo Lin.

Alex wondered if it was because he didn't engage in this activity or that activity that he couldn't sell his books. This was not going to work.

"Okay! Let's arrange a book signing event. The venue will be in New York. I don't want to go to other places. Flying back and forth is too troublesome." Alex finally agreed to Carl's request.

As early as more than a year ago, Alex and Richard were used to being chased for autographs. They specially asked someone to help design a set of signatures, and Alex chose the simplest and most convenient sample. It only takes one stroke to finish writing his name, very easily.

The marketing department of Bantam Books was very efficient. They quickly launched the advertising campaign, and soon many people saw the slogan.

"Magic boy Alex is about to do a signing event for his third novel!"

The impact of this advertisement was so great that when Alex arrived at Times Square in New York on the day of the book signing event, he discovered that the place had already been surrounded by book fans. He really didn't expect that so many book fans would be present. He thought it would be a big deal if there were only a few hundred people at most, but looking at the scene, thousands or tens of thousands of people came.

"Alex! Alex! We want Alex!" the fans shouted rhythmically.

The book fans cheered when Alex appeared in front of everyone. They pushed forward one after another, causing the police who were maintaining order to be overwhelmed and almost lost control.

The person in charge of this signing event also looked pale. He did not expect that there would be so many people. When he saw the crowd at the scene, he knew something was going to be bad and quickly asked the New York Police Department for more manpower. However, what I didn't expect was that people from the police station were sent over, but it was still not enough.

"Alex, sing a song!"

"Sing a song!"

Someone in the crowd yelled, obviously a Carpenter Brothers fan. Alex and Richard rarely appear in such public occasions. Since the release of their first record, they have gradually stopped participating in live singing events. For any other artist, doing this would be tantamount to seeking death. However, the Carpenter brothers are different. Although they cannot say that every record they release reaches the top of the charts, they are more successful because of their stable performance, good quality and high level.

Especially after appearing on a New York TV show, the popularity of the two of them has increased a lot. Coupled with the "Little Fugitive" that won the Venice Film Festival award, the popularity of these brothers has been at its peak. In contrast, the Carpenter brothers basically did not participate in tours and did not arrange concerts and other activities. It’s so hard to keep their fans waiting.

At this book signing event arranged by Bantam Books, only Alex showed up, which was also a very rare thing. Fans of the Carpenters. Book fans, movie fans, etc., all took notice of the news and used various means to come to New York Times Square to wait.

"What should we do? What should we do!" As the editor-in-chief, Karl also had to attend. He never expected that so many people would be present. If you are not careful, this will cause a big commotion. There were many children at the scene. If a stampede occurred, it would be a real tragedy.

Alex had never seen such a scene, but he was still very calm and said: "Then let's sing one. Since they asked for it, they have to satisfy it."

The staff present immediately brought in various equipment and even set up a temporary stage. As for the accompanying band, that was easier, just a phone call from Carpenter Records.

Soon, everything was ready. Alex walked to the center of the stage under the gaze of everyone.

"Hello everyone!" Alex greeted people with a smile. He looked at the people present, including children, adults and elderly people. Men and women, white and black, all kinds of people.

Everyone cheered when they saw Alex appear. In an instant, the entire square was filled with this sound.

After Alex waited for the cheers to subside slightly, he continued: "I didn't plan to sing when I came here today. After all, I haven't applied to the New York Police Department for an open-air concert. If it violates the regulations, maybe I You will be arrested and thrown into prison. If you want to see me then, it will be much easier. You can just go to the prison to visit me."

Everyone burst out laughing at Alex's words, and the originally tense atmosphere relaxed. They then calmed down and watched what Alex would do next.

"However, I think singing one or two songs shouldn't be considered a concert. Besides, if you have a concert, you have to charge tickets. I didn't charge your tickets. Please remember this. When the time comes, When your honor asks, you will have something to say."

After hearing what Alex said, there was another burst of laughter.

After the laughter subsided, Alex gestured to the band members and said: "'AnAngel'!"

With the melodious accompaniment, Alex sang this song. This song is from the Carpenter Brothers' third album, and it once topped the weekly charts on Billboard. Many Carpenter Brothers fans loved this song and as soon as they heard the intro, they knew it was this song and they all fell silent.

The Carpenter Brothers' song style is divided into two stages. The first stage is the stage where Alex has the greatest influence. During this period, the songs Alex wrote were basically songs from later generations of Declan, all of which highlighted the "cute" elements of the two brothers. Both his and Richard's voices are very special and have a strong sense of personal identification. Declan's songs are also very suitable for the two of them to sing.

However, just relying on "cuteness" to please people is not enough. This era was the time of rapid development and change in the United States. World War II had just ended, people were beginning to renovate their homes, and skyscrapers in big cities were growing like mushrooms after a rain. It can be said that the United States in the 1950s was on the road to rapid urbanization just like China in the 21st century.

The fast-paced life has created a demand for fast-paced music. Rock music also emerged during this period. Of course, there are elements of rock music in the songs written by Alex, but most of them appear in a soft and gentle way. People are also very interested in this kind of music.

By the second stage of the Carpenter Brothers, when Richard began to exert his strength, Richard was more influenced by rock music. The music he created was very different from his later music. He tried to incorporate the rock styles of Elvis, Bill and others into it, and he walked out of a country rock style without any teacher.

This road is a very wide road. In fact, Alex took this road at the beginning, but he didn't go that far. Richard has gone further than Alex, and he is bolder and crazier, which is all reflected in the song. People just loved this style of music, and they were pleasantly surprised by the variety of styles in the Carpenters' songs.

However, it was Alex who sang now, and he did not sing the song that Richard wrote. This song "AnAngel" has very high requirements for the singer. Without a good voice, it is impossible to sing with that kind of flavor.

"My wish to have your wings came true last night in my dream. I chased the butterflies until the light of dawn illuminated my eyes. Tonight's sky attracted my eyes because they saw a field of angels... ....”

As Alex sang, everyone gradually calmed down and listened attentively. In fact, when singing live, most singers cannot perform as well as they do in the recording studio. After all, the atmosphere in the recording studio is different, and you can sing over and over again. Listening to the same singer's records and live performances will have two different effects, and many singers with poor skills will miss out because of this.

Alex would have been like this, but he used the superpower "imitating memory". With this ability, every lyric he sang was as perfect as the record. Because of this, many people found that Alex's live singing level was very high, at least no one would say that his singing skills were poor.

After singing two songs in a row, Alex refused to continue singing because it was not a concert. He jumped off the stage and sat down at the autograph table. Most of those who came to the scene in person bought a Harry Potter book. Some people even bought a whole set, which they had never seen before, and some bought them specially for collection.

This book signing event was very successful. On this day alone, hundreds of thousands of copies of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" were sold across the country.

As for the autograph session in Times Square, New York, Alex signed one person every few seconds on average, and he signed for three hours non-stop until he could no longer lift his right hand. Even so, many people still didn't get his signed book in the end. These people left very disappointed, but they were given official certificates from the event. They can use this certificate to pick up a new book promotion poster and go back.

"I will never agree to this kind of autograph signing activity again. It's so exhausting!" Alex complained in his heart and secretly made up his mind.