1980 My literary era

Richard Stengel left Yanjing with a full interview script, and Lin Weimin returned to work.

The first thing I did when I got to work was to sign a publishing contract for "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea".

More than a month after the novel was published, the third issue of "Contemporary" this year, which published "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea", sold 3.2 million copies, setting a sales peak for "Contemporary" in the past three years. Lin Weimin's appeal among domestic literature lovers The strength is evident.

This month has kept domestic critics very busy.

Yu Hua, a little expert in flattering, specially collected comments about "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" published in newspapers and magazines. Not counting articles in various local and municipal publications, there were many national and provincial publications. There are more than 60 articles, and this is only the first month.

In the spring of this year, "Thirteen Langs of the South China Sea" is undoubtedly the most popular and highly rated work in the domestic literary circle.

In late April, another volume of the "World Literature Masterpiece Library", a major project of the Chinese Literature Society, was released.

"World Literature Classics Library - Russian Volume".

Russian literature has a decisive influence in the world literary world, with famous writers and masterpieces emerging one after another. Therefore, the editors of the Chinese Literature Society spent countless energy and enthusiasm in the process of editing and reviewing this volume, which took nearly a year. 30 classic masterpieces and collections of works are selected.

Among them are famous works such as "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection" and "Crime and Punishment" that readers are already familiar with, as well as "Selected Novels and Short Stories by Tolstoy", "The Night Before, Father and Son" "" Selected Dramas of Ostrovsky and Chekhov" and other works that are relatively niche but of equally good quality.

Among the translators, there are many famous translators such as Zhou Yang, Feng Zikai, Jiang Lu and so on.

One volume of "World Literature Masterpiece Library - Russian Literature Volume" brings together the hard work and hard work of hundreds of days and nights by the editorial team of the Chinese Literature Society.

On the day this collection of essays was released, it once again triggered a frenzy among readers.

The hunger marketing strategy set by Lin Weimin for "World Literature Classics Library" has achieved unprecedented success. In the past two years, "World Literature Classics Library" has established an unparalleled and powerful reputation among literature lovers and fine book collectors across the country. Brand effect and word of mouth.

Especially in the second half of last year, Lin Weimin issued a categorical order to suspend the printing of French literature volumes and Chinese literature volumes indefinitely.

This move can be called crazy, and the effect was immediate. The only French literature volume and Chinese literature volume of the "World Literature Masterpiece Library" remaining in bookstores everywhere were quickly swept away.

Turning to the second-hand book market, the prices of French literature and Chinese literature volumes have risen in response. Some people even paid five times the list price to buy the books.

But even so, it is still hard to find a book on the market.

Since the release of "World Literature Masterpiece Library", the number of prints has been fixed every month. Most of them have been hidden by readers on their own bookcases. Very few are circulating in the market, which has created such a phenomenon. scene.

In two years, the "World Literature Library" has published four volumes of French, Chinese, Indian and Russian volumes. Among them, the collections of French, Chinese and Russian texts have relatively more contents in the library planning.

The "World Literature Masterpiece Library" has planned a total of 200 volumes of books, and the total content of the four countries' collections already accounts for more than half of the library's content.

It is extremely difficult for such a global library to achieve such efficiency in just two years.

More than half of the library's titles were successfully released. Not only Lin Weimin, but also president Cheng Wuchun also breathed a sigh of relief.

The Chinese Literature Society has invested a lot of time, money and energy into the "World Literature Masterpiece Library". Now the trend has been established. They do not need to worry about the library project dying midway, nor do they need to worry about the prospects of the library project. This project has become an annual publication of the Chinese Literature Society. The book series with the most stable sales volume in the book list will provide a steady flow of cash flow to the Chinese Literature Society in the future.

"Oh, at this rate, I might be able to catch up with the next National Book Award!" Cheng Wanchun said happily.

The China National Publishing Award is an award established by the Publishing Administration in 1992 and is held every two years.

The Taofen Publishing Award rewards publishers, while the China National Publishing Award rewards books and publishers. This award has represented the highest honor for domestic publications since its establishment.

It is different from literary awards because it is for publications.

The China National Publishing Award is divided into nine categories: philosophy and social sciences, literature, art, science and technology, ancient book collection, children's, education, dictionary reference books and books in ethnic languages. It also has the National Book Award Honorary Award, the National Book Award and the National Book Award. Book Award nominations are awarded in three categories.

The award was established in 1992, and the first award was held in 1994.

In the past January 1994, the Chinese Literature Society won the National Book Award for "Ramayana" and "The Complete Works of Shakespeare", and the "Complete Works of Lu Xun" won the National Honor Award, ranking first in the field of literary publishing in China's National Publishing Awards.

"World Literature Masterpiece Library" is a large library, and only half of it has been published. There is no qualification for registration at all, so the award can only be made after it is published.

If you hurry up, maybe you can participate in the next competition in 1996.

"It will be the same next time!" Lin Weimin said.

Lao Cheng glared, "It's the same for you, but it's different for me."

The next term will be in 1998, when he retired.

"Old comrade, don't be so vain." Lin Weimin teased.

"This is not called vanity, this is called knowing honor and disgrace and paying attention to honor."

"Okay, okay, don't say it's useless, I'll just distribute the novel."

Cheng Wuchun muttered: "Fuck it, let it happen, you will be the one to take the blame if anything happens."

"You can't run away either!"

Lin Weimin came to see Cheng Wuchun today about Wang Xiaobo's "The Golden Age". This novel has been in storage at the Chinese Literature Society for several years. Lin Weimin promised Wang Xiaobo that it would be published.

It has been more than a year since "The Wasted City" was published, which can be considered as a way forward for "The Golden Age".

Of course, in terms of color level, "Golden Age" is more exciting than "Dead City".

If Cheng Wanchun had a conservative character, it would have been absolutely impossible for him to agree to publish "The Golden Age".

Youya is not "Jin Ping Mei"!

But his thighs can't twist his little arms!

After confirming the publication of "The Golden Age", Lin Weimin called Wang Xiaobo to the Chinese Literature Society.

Wang Xiaobo was extremely excited when he heard that "The Golden Age" was finally going to be published.

He resigned from Yanda a few years ago and has been working as a freelance writer.

It is a pity that he has published few novels in the past two years, but has published many essays.

As a result, Wang Xiaobo did not have a good reputation in the literary world, but gained a lot of fame in the ideological world.

"How many days have you not washed your face?" Lin Weimin looked at Wang Xiaobo's unkempt appearance and couldn't help but tease.

Wang Xiaobo smiled freely and said, "When I write at home, I write whenever I think of it. If I don't have inspiration, I won't write for a few days, and I have no idea of ​​time. I don't even go out, why should I wash my face!"

This reason is very strong and there is nothing wrong with it at all.

"You still have to pay attention to your work and rest time, and go out for exercise from time to time." Lin Weimin said with concern, and then took Lu Yao as an example, "Look at Lu Yao now, he is half a cripple. If he is like that, why are you writing? ?”

Wang Xiaobo hesitated and said: "Isn't it? I feel that I am quite healthy."

"Lu Yao felt the same way at the beginning."

After scaring Wang Xiaobo a few words, Lin Weimin got down to business again.

"The Golden Age" is a novella. It is impossible to publish it independently due to its length, so it must be published as a collection of novellas.

"I've taken a look at the novellas you've published in the past few years. It wouldn't be a problem to pick out four or five to compile a collection of novellas. I'd like to hear your thoughts."

Wang Xiaobo said without hesitation: "This matter is up to you, just follow the arrangements."

He has known Lin Weimin for so many years and watched Lin Weimin go from editor-in-chief to editor-in-chief. Wang Xiaobo was so grateful that he could still think about his unpublished book. He would not raise any ideas or requests.

After he finished saying this, Lin Weimin pondered for a moment and said: "In this case, I think it would be better to compile "The Golden Age", "At Thirty", "Time flies", "Love in the Revolutionary Period", "My Yin and Yang" "These novels."

"It's up to you!" Wang Xiaobo nodded without any objection.

"Leave the editing and review matters to the First Editorial Office of Contemporary Literature. I'll have someone contact you later."

"become."

Lin Weimin asked again: "How do you plan to choose the method of payment of royalties? Is it a thousand-word royalties or a royalty share?"

Wang Xiaobo was stunned for a moment, "Can I still choose?"

Lin Weimin smiled and said: "Yes. You can choose after the royalty system is implemented. After all, for many writers, it is not easy to make their works sell well. If the work sells thousands of copies after it is published, or even less. Writers may not even have enough porridge to drink, so why don’t they rebel?”

Lin Weimin's attitude was easy-going and his words were humorous. Wang Xiaobo also laughed. He thought for a while and said, "I'd rather choose the 1,000-word remuneration!"

"What? Not confident in sales?" Lin Weimin joked.

Wang Xiaobo smiled sheepishly and said, "Learn from past mistakes."

The so-called lesson learned is "Story of the Tang Dynasty". A few years ago, the Chinese Literature Society published this collection of novels. It took two years to sell out a few thousand copies of the novel. The Chinese Literature Society has not republished it, but the sales volume in Xiangjiang is quite good. .

"Okay, then 60 yuan per thousand words." Lin Weimin said decisively.

A collection of Wang Xiaobo's five novellas was published, with a royalties of 60 yuan per thousand words for nearly 250,000 words, which is 15,000 yuan.

He made a calculation in his mind and was overjoyed. He had saved enough food and grass for several years.