It's a plot point that these stories are well-liked. The stories themselves are objectively simplistic, but in the minds of the party to whom they are supposed to be good (trying to avoid spoilers here), it can make sense that they would like them. I didn't cynically read it as the author saying their own stories are so amazing.

I do think the embedded extra meanings are well-made. Whether it would actually work and remain undiscovered by the aforementioned party is a bit besides the point for me: the fact that the author made it work at all is nicely done. A lot of 'bad' writers show only reactions and never more than shards of the actual text to avoid having to make something that lives up to the claims.