1980 My literary era

In the third week of October, the editorial department of "Contemporary" was summoned to the conference room in the front building for a meeting.

Today, the backbone of each editorial office in the agency was called, and the meeting was chaired by Editor-in-Chief Wei Junyi.

Tan Chaoyang asked Lin Weimin: "What kind of meeting is this person who is not old and unfaithful?"

Lin Weimin was notified of the meeting by the chief editor's office, and Lin Weimin notified his colleagues in the editorial department, so Qin Chaoyang asked him.

Lin Weimin said: "I want to discuss next year's publishing route."

Lao Meng was not present at today's meeting, so there was no need to attend. Tan Chaoyang and Lin Weimin were the main members of the editorial department. They chatted for a few words, but could not figure out the specific situation.

When the meeting started, Wei Junyi spoke.

The general idea is that the direction of attention in the literary world has been changing rapidly in the past year. The most obvious phenomenon is that among the novels published, more and more people write about reform. Not only the number of published books has increased, but the subject matter has also become more comprehensive. It was wider three years ago.

Another phenomenon involved is the "novelization" of reform literature.

When the reform literature started a few years ago, it was basically short stories and novellas.

But now, more and more reform literature works appear in front of readers in the form of novels.

The more profound issue reflected by this change is that reform literature is slowly beginning to retain the spirit of reform into the narrative of the text, and continues to act on literature as a basic ideal.

To put it more bluntly, reform literature is becoming more and more like a shell, and everything is beginning to be put inside.

Therefore, reform literature has become more and more mixed and comprehensive, and story clues, character relationships, time intersections, etc. have become more complex.

Wei Junyi took as an example the novel "Heavy Wings" that was republished by the club this year.

"Heavy Wings" is a novel written by the writer Zhang Jie. It was first published by the Chinese Literature Society in 1981. This year's reprint has undergone major adjustments compared to the 1981 edition. More than a thousand words of description about livelihood were added to the first chapter alone.

"This fully shows that the subject matter field of reform literature is gradually expanding, and the care for people is becoming more subtle..."

"It has been five years since Director Qiao, the reform hero, took office. The model is single, and coupled with the passage of time, it has objectively caused readers to feel fatigued.

Pure literature cannot be limited to a single writing method and be bound to policy illustrations. Therefore, even reform literature must be more readable in order to attract more readers..."

When many colleagues heard what Wei Junyi said, they couldn't help but look at Lin Weimin with strange eyes.

Not long ago, Lin Weimin just planned to launch a book series, saying that he wanted to emphasize popularity. Today, the editor-in-chief held a meeting and said that the novels must be readable?

It's not such a coincidence, right?

Everyone reasonably suspected that Lin Weimin must have been informed by Mrs. Wei in advance that he did this.

Comrade Weimin, it's okay. Is the relationship with the leadership now at this level?

Everyone couldn't help but start to recall Lin Weimin's past contact with Mrs. Wei. Even though this kid was always scolded every time, in fact, he never suffered any disadvantages. It was all about taking advantage.

Several colleagues from the editorial department who came to the meeting thought more and more that it made sense. When they looked at Lin Weimin again, their eyes were different.

"In this year, popular literature has quietly emerged, posing considerable pressure on pure literature. The circulation of "Story Club" magazine has reached more than three million, and "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is even more exaggerated, having exceeded four hundred 10,000 this pass.

The best-selling magazine in our agency is "Contemporary", right? The largest issue has less than 2 million copies, and this gap will probably widen in the future.

Comrades, let me give you a breather here. In December, a document will be issued from above..."

When Wei Junyi said this, all the colleagues' attention was focused on him. Everyone knew that the document that she could take so seriously was definitely no small matter.

"This document discusses the issue of self-financing of journal publishing and distribution."

There was a "boom", and after Wei Junyi finished speaking these words, the conference room exploded like cold water being poured into a pot of hot oil.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, all domestic newspapers, magazines and newspapers have been backed by government agencies and state-owned units at all levels. They have been fed by the financial system, and profits and losses have never been considered.

Now, the country actually requires journals to be responsible for their own profits and losses. How many journals will have to be abandoned?

It’s not that everyone is pessimistic, but that everyone is too familiar with the current situation of domestic journals.

In the past few years, publications have sprung up in various parts of the country like mushrooms after a rain. Most of them are produced by each locality themselves, and they are basically maintained by funding from the units at all levels behind them. There are very few that can truly be responsible for their own profits and losses. And little.

The simple truth is that the sales volume of a local publication usually ranges from a few thousand to tens of thousands of copies, and some influential publications can achieve sales of more than 100,000 copies.

Calculated based on the 300,000 words per issue, no matter how low the manuscript fee standard is, the manuscript fee expenditure per issue is at least about 2,000 yuan.

In addition to labor, administration, distribution and other expenses, not counting printing costs, it is impossible to make back the original cost by selling 10,000 or 20,000 copies. It would have to be at least 50,000 copies to break even.

The problem is, despite the fact that many domestic purely literary magazines have sold hundreds of thousands or millions of copies in recent years, this is largely a survivor bias.

"People's Literature", "Harvest", "Contemporary", "October", "Flower City", "Zhongshan", "Yenjing Literature", "Shanghai Literature", "Youth Literature"...

Excluding these national first- and second-tier literary magazines, how many local publications can actually sell more than 50,000 copies per issue?

The answer is: a handful.

Once this document is issued, there is only one fate waiting for these publications: suspension of publication.

The only question mark that can be drawn is the time of suspension of publication, just to see which publication lasts longer.

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but sigh.

In the Guowen Society, we are backed by a national brand. There are first-line magazines such as "Contemporary" and "People's Literature" that sell millions of copies each issue. Even the journal "New Literature" that prefers documentary and historical materials. Historical Materials can sell for six figures per issue.

So everyone was shocked, but they didn't feel any pain about the document that was about to be issued.

In addition to shock, I felt more regretful.

Wei Junyi's speech reached the second half, and he mentioned the "Undercover Police" that the "Contemporary" editorial department had previously received from the agency for pre-editing meetings.

"Now the content of reform literature is gradually developing horizontally and developing different branches. The publication of "New Star" provides a new branch of reform literature, which is officialdom novels.

In the past year, I have also read some novels involving anti-corruption and criminal investigation. It should be said that these are variants of reform literature, and they are likely to become important branches that support the long-term development of literature in the future.

For example, "Plain Clothes Police", which was published by "Contemporary" before, was reviewed by Weimin at the time: it was very popular but not literary enough, so it was placed in the novel selection series.

This novel is very much in line with the current development direction of reform literature..."

He was praised by the leader as a good student, and "Contemporary" became famous in front of various editorial offices in the agency.

After returning to the editorial office after the meeting, everyone surrounded Lin Weimin.

Of course, what they were most concerned about was why Lin Weimin started arranging the book series so many days before the meeting.

Lin Weimin looked confused, how could he know?

He is basing his decision on his own understanding of history, and today's meeting can only be attributed to his grasp of the general trend of the literary world.

I am just standing on the shoulders of giants, and people like Mrs. Wei are far-sighted, right?

Lin Weimin couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration in his heart.

The discussion in the editorial department after the meeting was very lively. The theme of today’s meeting not only talked about the issue of reforming literature, but also discussed the direction and route of future publication.

The reason why reform literature is valued is largely related to the background of the great era.

In addition to reforming literature, what deserves more attention is how to integrate the artistry and readability of novels.

After Meng Weizai returned to the editorial office, Lin Weimin conveyed the spirit of today's meeting to him, and he pondered for a long time.

"After the development of reform literature as a literary genre in recent years, it is an indisputable fact that the genre continues to become more complex. It seems that it will be necessary to focus on this direction in the future."

Lin Weimin frowned and said: "If the works are good enough, who wouldn't want to publish them? But the fact is that many of the submitted works have old themes, clichéd plots, and flat characters. They really cannot support the big label of 'reform literature' .”

"Oh, this is a problem. Reform, reform, I didn't expect to reform myself. If we continue to develop in this way, it seems that everything can be installed here." Meng Weizai sighed.

Lin Weimin said: "That's true. If you look at "Emperor Kangxi" by Yue Erhe, it is actually an official novel, and it can also be regarded as a variant of reform literature!"

Meng Weizai smiled and said: "To put it this way, our publication can be regarded as grasping the pulse of the times in advance."

"Ha ha!"

After joking, Meng Weizai said: "Jokes aside, this is the right direction. The 'reform literature' in historical themes can be explored in this direction. However, Er Yuehe's "Emperor Kangxi" focuses on power and strategy, which is still not interesting. .”

Lin Weimin nodded, "Indeed."

Having said this, he had an idea in his mind.

"How about...I write a book?"

Meng Weizai looked at him in surprise, "You write a book? About 'reform literature' with historical themes?"

"Yes. This is a type that I haven't tried before. I think I can give it a try."

Meng Weizai's expression showed a bit of distrust, which made Lin Weimin very hurt.

"Leader, you have gone too far. I am dedicated to serving the public good. What is that look in your eyes?"

"What's wrong with my eyes? My eyes are normal. How many history books have you read? Do you dare to write novels?"

Lin Weimin argued: "I am writing a novel, not "Historical Records". The novel is the main body!"

"Okay, okay, you can write if you want. If it's really finished, maybe it will provide a new idea for those writers."

Lin Weimin joked and said, "Then this novel of mine will be their ancestor!"

"You're talking nonsense again, can't you be more careful with your mouth?"

"I know, then I'll leave first if it's okay."

Coming out of Meng Weizai's office, Lin Weimin was still thinking about the topic just now.

He wasn't joking. He hadn't written a book for more than half a year. He was indeed a little bit technical. It happened to be that he talked about this topic today, and it was a subject he had never tried before. Now that he thought about it, he felt a little eager to try it.

Recalling the drama that I watched in later generations, compared with other TV series adapted from historical novels, this TV series simply stands out from the crowd.

Lin Weimin is confident that if he changes it into a novel, the effect will be equally extraordinary.

After thinking about the content of his next work, Lin Weimin felt that the power he had accumulated in his body for half a year was rising. He hadn't felt this way for a long time.

Teacher Lin’s sword is already so thirsty!