1980 My Literary Era

Chapter 62 I am an editor at "Contemporary"
The sky is gloomy, the north wind is howling, and the snowflakes are falling profusely. This is the first snow in Yanjing this year.

Lin Weimin parked his bicycle in the shed, stretched his arms, and ran into the red brick building with small steps, carrying a black briefcase.

"Pit-spit-spit!"

The thick curtain at the door blocked the wind and snow, and Lin Weimin took a few mouthfuls of air, as if he wanted to spit out the wind and snow that had filled his mouth.

"The weather! It's so fucking cold! My feet are numb."

He ran up to the second floor and pushed open the door of the editorial department office, "Hey, don't let me pick up manuscripts in the future. This weather is too miserable!"

Several old editors who were immersed in reviewing the manuscript raised their heads and looked at him with a kind smile on his face.

Lin Weimin understands the subtext of these people, you newcomer don't know how to behave well?
Newcomers have no human rights!

Lin Weimin put the briefcase on the desk, picked up the enamel jar, and picked up the thermos bottle to pour himself a glass of water. After drinking the warm hot water, he finally felt a little warm.

He took out the manuscript he had just received, ready to take a good look at it.

The manuscript is written by an old Yanjing writer who has been writing since the 50s. He has just entered the editorial department of "Contemporary" and is still in the learning stage. The source of manuscripts is basically no manuscripts except amateur authors, so the editorial department will give him Assigned two old writers, let him familiarize himself with the business first.

Lin Weimin made an appointment with the old writer today to pick up the manuscripts. He didn't want to suffer from the heavy snow this morning.

Looking at the content of the manuscript, he frowned, feeling that today's crimes were all in vain.

His eyes were on the manuscript, and he read a page like a toothache and sighed, attracting the attention of other people in the office.

"I said you're right?" Xiao Yao at the opposite table, the one with no name, asked him curiously.

"I don't know if it won't happen or not, but this novel has too many problems. Every step of its development is like stereotyped essays. There are no surprises."

Xiao Yao said: "Cheeky doesn't mean it's bad."

"That's true, but the problem is that people can guess the ending at a glance, which is boring. Who wants to read such lukewarm articles?"

"Bring it to me to see."

Lin Weimin handed out the manuscript in his hand, and then looked out the window.

There is heavy snowfall, which is rare in Yanjing in November. It seems that next year will be a bumper harvest year.

He couldn't help but think of his hometown in the Northeast.

After graduating from the Institute of Literature and Research in October, the work transfer order of "Contemporary" was sent to the Northeast, and he went back and tossed for half a month to complete the transfer.

The house in his hometown was dilapidated due to the constant occupancy. Lin Weimin asked his neighbors if anyone had written or sent a telegram looking for him, but the neighbors said no.

Lin Weimin was disappointed, his parents had passed away, and logically there was still an elder sister, but they had lost contact over the years, and couldn't get in touch no matter what.

He sold his old house for 800 yuan.Oh, it can’t be said to be sold this year, but it was exchanged for 800 yuan and returned to Yanjing.

He didn't have a place to stay in Yanjing, so the editorial department arranged a separate room for him in the guest house on the second floor as a dormitory.

Since then, Lin Weimin's work and life have been locked in this red brick building at No. 166 Chaonei Street, and he occasionally goes out to meet friends.

The atmosphere in the office was quiet, and the hot water in the enamel tank on the table was steaming. Xiao Yao's sudden sound interrupted Lin Weimin's thoughts.

"The content is really unsatisfactory. Go back and talk to the old comrades to see if you can change it."

Lin Weimin shook his head, "That's enough. As a writer, the terrible thing is not that the writing is poor, but that the thinking has fallen into a rut, and no matter how you change it, it's a set of things."

It happened that at this moment, Tan Chaoyang walked into the office with a magazine in his hand.

"what's the topic?"

Lin Weimin stood up, "Director, I'm discussing the manuscript I just received."

Qin Chaoyang nodded noncommittally, "Be patient with the old comrades, he has reacted to me, you are just as big or small as he is."

"Leader, you can't listen to the old comrade's one-sided words. I just discuss with him the direction and method of novel creation. There is no disrespect for the old comrade!"

"Okay, don't get excited, the old comrade didn't say anything, don't act guilty here."

Lin Weimin said without confidence: "I don't have one."

At this moment, he noticed the magazine in Tan Chaoyang's hand.

Qin Chaoyang put things on the table, "Let's have a look, the sample of the album is out."

Lin Weimin was overwhelmed with surprise. He picked up the sample issue, and sure enough, he saw a line of subtitles on the familiar solid-color cover of "Contemporary", "Contemporary Spy Fiction Album".

The title of the album did not use the one suggested by Lin Weimin, but this did not prevent him from being excited.

It took more than four months from the moment the idea came to his mind to the publication of the sample publication. Not only he himself had to wait hard, but the students in the class also waited hard. this matter.

This time there is finally an explanation!

Lin Weimin flipped through the sample magazine, the more he read it, the more he liked it.

"This is the first time our magazine published an album, and it was the only one before it became a bimonthly magazine." Tan Chaoyang sighed.

Lin Weimin raised his head, "Director, is the matter of the bimonthly magazine really finalized?"

Other colleagues in the office also cast attention.

Qin Zhaoyang nodded, "It's settled. From January, we will officially change from quarterly to bimonthly."

"Contemporary" was a quarterly publication when it was first published. The first issue was published in June [-], and was warmly welcomed by readers. Seventy thousand copies of the first issue were printed and distributed to bookstores, and soon sold out.

The second issue was reprinted to [-] copies, and it sold out quickly.

Seeing that the sales in bookstores could not meet the growing subscription needs of readers, at the end of 1980, the agency decided to change to post office distribution from 30. After the implementation of the post office distribution policy, the circulation of "Contemporary" continued to increase. In the third issue of this year, the circulation has exceeded [-] copies.

Over the past year, readers have written in and responded, saying that reading the quarterly magazine is not enjoyable, and waiting for three months is too long, and they have made suggestions to the editorial department to shorten the period.

Recently, the agency and the editorial department have been discussing the possibility of shortening the publication period, and now it is finally settled.

Changing from a quarterly to a bimonthly, the workload of the editors in the editorial department suddenly increased by half, but everyone was not dissatisfied when they heard the news, on the contrary, they all showed joy and excitement.

The popularity of the magazine means that your work has been affirmed by readers.The higher the sales, the better the efficiency of the agency, and their work is valuable.

In the early 80s, people's ideas were still simple.

　In the evening, I received a temporary notice from the editor. In order to avoid the risk of review, the names of the characters and institutions in the book will be revised.It was changed to two o'clock in the middle of the night, and the change was finally completed. From now on, the name of the person and the name of the organization will be based on the new one.If there are mistakes or omissions, everyone can help to point them out.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)