1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 520 Writer Interview
A few years ago, Lin Weimin was unknown in the United States, and he was not qualified to negotiate terms with the publishing house. At that time, it was the book that Random House picked.

But now it is different. Lin Weimin's reputation in the United States is getting better and better. Although he is not well-known to everyone, he is still well-known in the mainstream literary and theater circles of the United States, as well as among many readers and audiences.

With his current popularity, he can properly talk about the conditions and publish some of his books here that do not seem to meet the tastes of the American market and readers.

It doesn't matter whether it is a blockbuster or not, as long as more people can understand that period of history.

Lin Weimin made his attitude clear, and Roger Strauss no longer hesitated. Anyway, Lin Weimin's request was not too much, just choose one of the three and publish a book.

And there is no hard requirement on the number of prints, as long as it is not too outrageous, Lin Weimin can accept it, and Roger Strauss agreed to Lin Weimin's request.

The two chatted for more than two hours, and the matter was almost finished. Roger Strauss invited Lin Weimin to dinner to celebrate the first cooperation between Lin Weimin and FSG Publishing House.

Today's meeting is just the beginning of the cooperation. During this period of time, FSG Publishing House has learned about several of Lin Weimin's works, and finally decided to publish the works, and then there is a series of procedures such as translation, application for version number, binding design, typesetting and printing, etc. There is no single one It won't be finished in a year and a half. If the translator catches up with the hips, the time may be prolonged.

Back home at night, Lin Weimin received a call from Qiao Sen.

"Lin, why didn't you tell me when you came to the United States?" As soon as the call was connected, Qiao Sen's complaints rushed into Lin Weimin's ears.

In the past few years, almost every time Qiao Sen called him, he would mention the signing event. Over the past few years, Lin Weimin's works have accumulated a large number of loyal readers.

Lin Weimin is the first writer in the history of Random House whose works are so popular, but who has not held a signing event in the United States.

"If I hadn't seen the interview in The New Yorker, I would have almost let you go!"

There was a bit of joy in Qiao Sen's complaints.

"Joseon, I'm here for my honeymoon this time."

"You promised me!" Qiao Sen said resentfully.

Lin Weimin knew he was wrong, and under Qiao Sen's pleading, he finally agreed to go to the headquarters of Random House tomorrow for a detailed discussion.

The next day, at the invitation of Qiao Sen, Lin Weimin came to the headquarters of Random House in New York.

The Random House Building, also known as the Empire Park Apartments, is located on Broadway. It is not only the headquarters of Random House, but also a high-end residential building.

Both the apartment and Random House have separate entrances. The entrance of the apartment is on 56th Street, while the entrance of Random House is on Broadway. Lin Weimin saw Qiao Sen when he came to the entrance of the building.

Qiao Sen enthusiastically pulled Lin Weimin into the elevator. The office of Random House is on the 27th floor. He took Lin Weimin for a tour, met with several senior executives of Random House, and then went to the conference room to chat Lin Weimin's activities during this time.

Lin Weimin hadn't contacted Qiao Sen for more than a month after he came to New York. He still knew about Lin Weimin's coming to New York from the "New Yorker" report, so he naturally complained about Lin Weimin.

But the complaints are all complaints. Qiao Sen has not been idle since contacting Lin Weimin last night, and finally made Lin Weimin look forward to coming to New York. He must be full of interviews, speeches, and signings to make up for Lin Weimin. Years of slack in publicity work.

Lin Weimin looked at the itinerary that Qiao Sen pulled out for him. If it was at this level, he wouldn't be free for at least a month.

"Too much! Too much!"

Lin Weimin snatched the pen from Qiao Sen's hand and scratched it on the itinerary. Qiao Sen took it and looked at it, and directly broke his bone.

Qiao Sen said anxiously: "Lin, there are too few. You haven't participated in a single event since you published your work in the United States. How can such a few events be enough?"

Lin Weimin waved his hand, "It's not for winning awards, there's no need to hold so many activities. Besides, I came to the United States for my honeymoon, not for work."

Seeing Lin Weimin's tough attitude, Qiao Sen couldn't help feeling regretful, "Okay, let's do this first. Next time you come to the United States, give me more time and be sure to tell me in advance!"

Seeing the expression on Qiao Sen's face, Lin Weimin nodded helplessly.

Then he remembered the cooperation with Roger Strauss, and he had to talk to Johnson about it.

When Lin Weimin told Qiao Sen that he was going to cooperate with FSG Publishing House, he was shocked.

"Lin, are you dissatisfied with the cooperation with our publishing house?"

"Uh... dissatisfaction is out of the question. The main reason is that Mr. Strauss is willing to publish my works that have not been published in the United States."

Qiao Sen instantly understood the reason why Lin Weimin agreed to cooperate with FSG Publishing House. This is indeed a very difficult condition to refuse.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help feeling remorse in his heart.

Random House should have signed an exclusive and exclusive cooperation agreement with Lin Weimin back then, but now, FSG Publishing House suddenly appeared, although now it only publishes a few of the remaining works selected by Random House, but there is such a thing as cooperation. Once there is a second time.

Maybe at some point Lin Weimin will be drawn to their side. By then, Random House will suffer a great loss!

While Qiao Sen was remorseful, he couldn't help but curse at the high-level executives who made the decision when signing the agreement with Lin Weimin.

When Random House wanted to publish Lin Weimin's works on a large scale, it had the opportunity to obtain the exclusive publishing rights of all Lin Weimin's works, including subsequent works.

Everything has advantages and disadvantages. If such an agreement is signed, the price paid is to publish all works that Lin Weimin has created.

However, after Random House's deliberation, it felt that several of Lin Weimin's works lacked the appeal to the American people, and that publishing them was basically equivalent to losing money, so the contract was amended immediately.

A few years ago, there was nothing wrong with this idea.

Lin Weimin is just a little-known Chinese writer in the United States. It is almost impossible for his works to enter the American market except through Random House. Random House is in the absolute advantage of the cooperation between the two parties, so naturally there is no need to worry.

But no one thought that the wind direction of the cooperation between the two parties would be a mutual exchange of offense and defense in just a few years.

Before Lin Weimin won the Goncourt Prize for Literature, Qiao Sen had considered whether to renegotiate and sign an exclusive publishing agreement with Lin Weimin, but this proposal was once again rejected by the top management.

The reason why the proposal was rejected is also very simple. If you want to sign this exclusive publishing agreement halfway, you must pay Lin Weimin a fee. Given the popularity of Lin Weimin's works in the United States, this fee will not be a small amount. The company is afraid that Lin Weimin will The lion opened its mouth wide.

Rather than doing this, it is better to wait for the ongoing publishing contract to expire, change the content of the contract when re-signing, and then give Lin Weimin a little sweetness, so the price of going with the flow may be much smaller.

Qiao Sen smiled wryly in his heart. The company's idea cannot be said to be wrong, but there is a premise that no other publishing houses are chasing Lin Weimin. The shortcomings of rigidity and arrogance of large companies are fully reflected in the cooperation between Random House and Lin Weimin.

Facing the current situation, Qiao Sen had nothing to do but smile wryly.

The best thing to do now is to give Lin Weimin a sum of money immediately, and then immediately sign an exclusive publishing agreement with him.

But Qiao Sen knew that his idea was almost impossible to realize. The agreement that had not been signed at the beginning had to be signed now, and the price to be paid would only be greater than before.

This also means that the high-level decision-making was wrong. Qiao Sen has been working in the workplace for so many years, and he understands that if this happens, he may be the first to be the scapegoat.

Therefore, he wisely chose silence.

What Qiao Sen is more concerned about is the contract renewal of Lin Weimin's works. According to the current trend, Lin Weimin has at least two or three novels that can continue to sell well. As long as he can hold the contracts of these novels, his work performance will be high. will not be erased.

Facing Qiao Sen's question, Lin Weimin said relaxedly: "Under the same conditions, your publishing house is of course the first choice."

Hearing Lin Weimin's words, Qiao Sen felt a little at ease. The previous contract was also signed in this way, but hearing such words from Lin Weimin's mouth still made him feel at ease.

It took a certain amount of time for Random House to prepare various activities. Lin Weimin waited for a few days, but did not wait for the event arrangement of Random House. Instead, he received a call from Roger Strauss.

Roger Strauss' tone on the phone was a little excited, "Lin, I'm going to give you a big meeting gift this time!"

The news that excited Roger Strauss also aroused Lin Weimin's curiosity.

"I've got you an interview with a writer for The Paris Review!"

"The Paris Review, I have read their publication." Lin Weimin said.

After Roger Strauss finished the news, seeing Lin Weimin's usual tone, he couldn't help reminding: "Lin, you must pay attention to this interview. You don't understand the importance of this long interview of "Paris Review" in the American literary world!"

"Paris Review" has the word Paris in its name, but it is actually a quarterly magazine of American literature. It was born in 1953. The published works are mainly novels and poems. The publications are mainly divided into art, culture, interviews and literature. There are several sections, among which "Interview with Writers" is the most popular among readers, and it is also the biggest feature of "The Paris Review" standing in the American literary world.

Since the first issue of the EM Foster interview in 1953, each issue of The Paris Review has invited a contemporary writer to conduct a lengthy interview. So far, there have been more than 30 lengthy interviews in more than 140 years, covering the decades in the middle and late [-]th century. Almost all the most important writers in world literature.

Among them, there are many writers familiar to Chinese people, such as Hemingway, Milan Kundera, Marquez, Haruki Murakami, Stephen King...

The decades-old “Writer Interview” is almost synonymous with The Paris Review.

After popularizing Lin Weimin’s science about the weight of the Paris Review and writer’s interviews, Roger Strauss concluded: “Lin, this interview represents the recognition of your literary status by the mainstream American literary circles!”

Roger Strauss is not too cautious. The interview with the writer of "Paris Review" seems to be an ordinary interview, but it has a very special meaning.

There is a way of making stars in the Chinese entertainment industry in later generations called lifting coffee, and the people of Wandao are the most proficient at playing it.

If they want to promote a newcomer who has no reputation and no works, they will choose to invest in a big production, and then find a bunch of well-known stars to play supporting roles for the newcomer.

When the work is released, the audience will see that so many celebrities are supporting roles, and they will subtly regard the new protagonists as big stars.

In this way, it only takes a few years and a few works to turn an unknown newcomer into a popular star.

The interview style of the writers of the "Paris Review" will naturally not be so low, and they will not take the initiative to do this kind of thing, but if Lin Weimin can be featured in the "Paris Review", the effect he can receive is indeed similar to "raising a coffee" wonderful.

(End of this chapter)