1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 526 Abnormal Sales

Lin Weimin is busy introducing the works of American writer Richard Yates, and some people are busy introducing his works.

One day in mid-August, Lin Weimin was working in the office when Cheng Zaochun called him to the office in the front building.

As soon as he entered, Lin Weimin saw a bloated old man sitting in Cheng Zaochun's office besides him.

Cheng Zaochun got up and introduced: "Weimin, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Guo Feng from Wandao. Mr. Guo, this is Comrade Lin Weimin."

Guo Feng got up and shook hands with Lin Weimin enthusiastically, "I've heard about Mr. Lin's name for a long time, it's rare to see him today, it's better than rumors."

Lin Weimin didn't know what to do, so he said something polite to Guo Feng.

After he sat down, Cheng Zaochun asked, "Wei Min, have your works been published in Wandao a few years ago?"

"Yes. At that time, together with several other writers, we published a collection, which was published by Lin Bai Publishing House at that time."

In 1985, Pan Yaoming of Xiangjiang Sanlian Bookstore led the publication of a collection of works by ten mainland writers including Lin Weimin for Lin Bai Publishing House of Wandao.

It's a pity that Bay Island hadn't lifted the ban at that time, and Lin Bai Publishing House didn't dare to publicize it with great fanfare. The publication aroused little repercussions in the island at that time.

Cheng Zaochun said with a smile: "Mr. Guo Feng came this time to introduce your works to Wandao in an all-round way. Do you know the set of "Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers Series" published by Wandao in 87?"

"heard about it."

Cheng Zaochun said: "The "Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers Series" is that Mr. Guo Feng obtained the authorization of our writers with his own funds, and published their works in Wandao. At that time, the ban on Wandao was not lifted. Mr. Guo dared to Be the first in the world, causing a sensation in the Bay Island publishing industry.”

Lin Weimin nodded. The "Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers Series" published by Bay Island in 87 was two years later than the collection of Lin Bai Publishing House, but the sensation was not the same. During these two years, more and more Mainland writers were introduced to the Bay Island through the series, which set off a wave of mainland fever on the island.

"A few years ago, Mr. Lin's works landed on Wandao for the first time, and I was very impressed. In the past few years, Mr. Lin's works have won many awards overseas, and our readers in Wandao also feel very honored.

The "Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers Series" has been published for two years. We hope to publish a series about your works this time, so as to introduce your works to Bay Island readers comprehensively. "

Lin Weimin was a little surprised when he heard this. "Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers Series" is a series of books. Over the past two years, more than 20 domestic writers' works have been introduced, and they are still being introduced.

The types of imported works are classified by volume, including classic literature volume, female writer literature volume, minority literature volume, poetry volume, prose volume, short story volume, and literary commentary volume.

Guo Feng said that a series of publications dedicated to his works should be published. This kind of treatment is naturally unusual.

Guo Feng smiled again and said, "I should have contacted you sooner, but in the past two years, most of my contacts with mainland writers have been through the Cultural Association..."

When Guo Feng said this, he stopped talking.

There is no need to go on, Lin Weimin has already understood what Guo Feng meant. In the first half of 88, he quit the Cultural Association because of the events of the writers' group's visit to France, and he has not returned since then.

Lin Weimin slapped the Cultural Association firmly in the face, but due to Lin Weimin's status in the country today, he dare not do anything.

Now Lin Weimin maintains superficial harmony and decency with the Cultural Association, but it is impossible for the Association to contact him to help him publish in Wandao.

This time, Guo Feng, on behalf of Wandao Xindi Literature Publishing House, intends to cooperate with Guowen Society to publish "The Selected Collection of Bay Island Writers". Taking advantage of the opportunity of cooperating with Guowen Society, he and Cheng Zaochun proposed the idea of ​​publishing Lin Weimin's works .

Guo Feng is a distinguished guest of the relevant department and has made great contributions to cross-strait cultural exchanges. Naturally, Cheng Zaochun would not refuse his request, so he called Lin Weimin over.

Cheng Zaochun and Guo Feng said a few words, and he said a few words, Lin Weimin can be regarded as having a good understanding of the ins and outs of the future.

He pondered and said: "Mr. Guo wants to publish my work in Bay Island, which is of course a good thing for me personally..."

Guo Feng then said: "Mr. Lin's works are selling well overseas. In terms of remuneration, our publishing house can settle the settlement in the form of royalties in accordance with international practice, and the royalties are divided into 13%."

For several years, Bay Island has published the works of mainland writers, and the remuneration has mostly been settled in accordance with the mainland method, with the remuneration settled by the number of words, because the regional economic development is relatively good.

When the works of mainland writers are published in the Bay Island, they can get a relatively high manuscript fee, which can usually reach about 10-20 meters per thousand characters. Converted into RMB, it is three or four times higher than the domestic manuscript remuneration standard.

And the treatment that Guo Feng gave Lin Weimin was the best in the industry.

Lin Weimin was surprised by Guo Feng's generosity and cheerfulness. In fact, he didn't understand the atmosphere of public opinion in Bay Island.

Regardless of the ice breaking between Bay Island and China in recent years, the relationship has become more and more harmonious.

However, Wandao has a history of being pro-rice for decades, and its internal atmosphere of worshiping rice and the West is even higher than that of the mainland. Lin Weimin's works have won awards in Western countries many times. After several years of continuous publicity by the news media, he In the minds of Bay Islanders, he has long been an internationally renowned writer.

Therefore, Guo Feng did not hesitate when talking about treatment.

He believes that as long as he can get the publishing rights of Lin Weimin's works in Wandao, all these costs will be worth it!
"Since Mr. Guo is so happy, then I will not be hypocritical."

Lin Weimin and Guo Feng discussed in detail the publication matters for a while, and finally agreed that Lin Weimin's works could be published with a 13% royalty, and the print run should not be less than 20 sets.

Except for a few of Lin Weimin's series that involve sensitive content, Xindi Literature Publishing House intends to package and publish the rest of the works in a set. The 20 sets are actually at least one hundred thousand volumes, which is definitely a big deal.

After negotiating for a few days to sign a specific publishing contract, before Guo Feng left, he proposed that he planned to hold an international academic conference on cross-strait literature and invited Lin Weimin to attend.

Lin Weimin resolutely rejected his invitation. This kind of place where literati gather has been a place of right and wrong since ancient times, and he doesn't want to join in the fun.

After Guo Feng left, Cheng Zaochun said to Lin Weimin: "This Mr. Guo has spent a lot of money this time!"

"What do you mean?"

Cheng Zaochun said with a smile: "You don't know yet, do you? He has published the works of so many domestic writers, and he is now considered a well-known figure in the domestic literary circle. There are rumors that he is very shrewd. , He can go as low as he can, and if he doesn't let go, he will go up."

"After all, he's a businessman!" Lin Weimin smiled and didn't care.

It is true that Guo Feng is enthusiastic about cross-strait exchanges, but in the final analysis, he is not a free worker, the purpose is to make money.

Of course, it's not right to say that people's purpose is only to make money. They call it both making money and communicating.

August 1989 belonged to "Dust Settled". Since "Contemporary" was released at the beginning of the month, "Dust Settled" has enjoyed the top publishing treatment in this journal, which seems to have heralded the success of this work.

In just one month, tens of thousands of letters from readers poured into the editorial office of "Contemporary", and newspapers all over the country had an endless stream of post-reading impressions and comments about "Dust Settled".

A month after its publication, book reviews of the novel began to appear in various literary review magazines.

Most literary works always have some negative word-of-mouth and evaluation after they are published, even Lin Weimin's works are no exception.

But whether it is in the mouth of readers or in the evaluation of critics, "Dust Settled" is surprisingly good.

Such an excellent word-of-mouth has also boosted the spread of "Dust Settled" among the public. The eighth issue of "Contemporary" in August hit a sales peak this year.

"It has sold another 200 million copies!" He Qizhi said happily.

It has been a month since the release of the eighth issue of "Contemporary", and in the previous issues, the printing volume is generally 150 million copies. At this time, the sales of the publication have basically entered the stage of long-tail sales, and the channels probably remain 30 million copies will be sold out after two months of slow digestion.

But this issue of "Contemporary" was born because of "Dust Settled", the first batch of 150 million copies of the publication has been sold to the end, and "Contemporary" printed another 60 copies based on feedback from bookstores and post offices around the world. volume, should be more or less able to meet the needs of readers.

Zou Changyi suddenly said: "Do you think there is something wrong with this year's market?"

Many colleagues in the editorial department looked at him, and He Qizhi asked, "What's wrong?"

"This is the eighth issue of this year, and only one issue of our publication has sold more than 200 million copies." Zou Changyi said.

Yao Shuzhi disagreed, saying: "The quality of the manuscripts this year is good, but there is a lack of influential works and no top students. Naturally, the results in our class are not outstanding."

The others nodded, thinking that what Yao Shuzhi said made sense.

But Zou Changyi didn't speak, instead he frowned.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

At this moment, Lin Weimin walked into the office and saw a bunch of colleagues all looking at Zou Changyi, while he had a serious face.

Yao Shuzhi said: "Everyone mentioned the sales volume of our publications just now. Chang Yi may think that our sales volume is not normal."

Lin Weimin asked with a smile, "Why is it abnormal?"

Yao Shuzhi did not answer his question, but looked at Zou Changyi.

After pondering, Zou Changyi said: "I feel that the overall sales volume this year is still low, and it is not normal that the first issue of a publication with a sales volume of more than 200 million copies appeared in August."

The expressions of other colleagues were disapproving, and they all believed that the reason for this phenomenon was the quality of the manuscript.

Lin Weimin said in a normal tone, "The decline in sales is a fact. The most important thing is to find the reason for this situation."

When everyone heard his words, they looked at him unconsciously.

"What's the reason?" Yao Shuzhi asked what everyone was thinking.

Lin Weimin said: "You can count the sales trend of "Contemporary" in the past three years, and then count the sales of "People's Literature", "Harvest", "October", "Zhongshan" and "Flower City" in the past three years, and you will know."

After Lin Weimin said this, he left the office, but his colleagues were hooked by his words.

What Lin Weimin said just now was swearing, he must know the reason. Since everyone is asked to do statistics, there must be a reason.

A few people couldn't hold back their curiosity, and they didn't even care about the review of the manuscript, and started to make statistics.

The editorial department of "Contemporary" has data, but the difficulty is that the data of several other publications, everyone can only call one by one with the cheek to ask.

After all, they are all in the same circle, and several publications occasionally link up. The editors don’t say they know each other, but they always have acquaintances. After a day of tossing, they finally got the sales data of each company for the past two years.

When it was time to get off work, the old comrades ran away cheekily, and handed over this glorious task to Tong Zhonggui. After everyone left, he was still working overtime.

After spending half an hour, Tong Zhonggui finally sorted out the sales data of these major domestic mainstream literary publications for the past three years. After comparing them, he couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"This……"

(End of this chapter)