Chapter 399 Writers from Shu Province
Shu Province, Da County Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
Tian Yanning looked at a letter from Xijing, which was handed over by his friend.
The letter is a handwritten letter from the general manager of Xijing Shengshi Book Publishing Company. The general idea is that after reading this book "Female Leader", I think it is acceptable and I can consider publishing it. I would like to invite the author to come to Xijing to discuss it in detail.
Tian Yanning is 37 years old and a native of Chongqing. She once joined a team in Dabashan. After the resumption of the college entrance examination, she was admitted to a technical secondary school. After graduation, she was assigned to the Daxian Regional Literary Creation Studio.
He began to publish works in 1979. He has published a large number of literary works with the theme of Daba Mountain in major literary journals across the country, which has attracted much attention from the literary world. Joined the Chinese Writers Association in 1985.
The novels "Sketch of Small Town Characters" and "Big Sword" won the first and second outstanding works awards of Sichuan Province respectively. He can be regarded as a rising star in the literary world of Sichuan Province.
However, the novel he wanted to publish this time was not a serious literature, but a popular novel. He took the letter and thought about it for a while, then walked to the next office to find his friend and partner Tan stand.
Tan Li is Tian Yanning’s fellow villager and a native of Chongqing. He is 5 years younger than him and is only 32 years old this year. The two knew each other when they were joining the queue in Daba Mountain, and they were admitted to Daxian Normal School together. After graduation, we were assigned to a regional literary creation room together. It can be said that we feel like brothers.
Tian Yanning waved to Tan Li at the door. The other party immediately understood and followed him out of the office building and stood under a ginkgo tree beside the wall.
The ginkgo tree in October has golden leaves and is very beautiful.
Of course the two of them are not here to enjoy the scenery.
Tian Yanning gave Tan Li a cigarette, lit one herself, and then said: "There is a letter from Xijing. Shengshi Company asked me to go to Xijing to negotiate the contract."
< br>"Okay, Brother Tian, then go quickly."
Tian Yanning did not speak, took a puff of cigarette and sighed slightly.
"Brother Tian, are you still worried? Didn't the Provincial Writers Association call on us to expand our creative thinking? Isn't Secretary-General Zhang also very supportive?" Tan Li said.
Secretary-General Zhang is Zhang Shiyong, Secretary-General of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
The Provincial Writers Association supports it because there is a grim reality: now the Writers Association can no longer afford to support so many expert writers!
After the reform and opening up, the enthusiasm for writing burst out among the people, and writers became one of the most fashionable professions in society. Countless young people devoted themselves to creation and wrote many excellent works, and the team of professional writers became larger and larger. Various provinces, cities, and even some counties started to run magazines and set up literary creation rooms, especially in Shu Province.
But on the other hand, popular literature represented by martial arts novels from Hong Kong and Taiwan is rapidly spreading and becoming more and more popular in the mainland. In the early 1980s, the enthusiasm of the whole people to read pure literature began to recede.
This has led to a very embarrassing fact: many purely literary magazines have experienced declining sales or even closed down, while a large number of young writers cannot publish their works and cannot receive royalties.
Tian Yanning and the others are facing this problem.
Although he has made some achievements in the literary world, he cannot support his family with this amount of royalties. As a professional writer, the Writers Association is required to pay a certain salary, but the Writers Association is also poor and cannot afford to support him. these writers.
Especially in economically backward areas like Da County, where the wages of party and government cadres are a problem, how can you still ensure your income as a writer?
As a last resort, the Provincial Writers Association encourages everyone to try commercial writing.
Look, how popular are martial arts novels? You can write martial arts.
Romance novels are also good, can lesbians write romance?
In this case, Tian Yanning created this "Female Leader" based on Hong Kong's police movies.
Serious magazines would naturally not want this kind of novel. By chance, he heard from a friend in Xijing that Xijing Shengshi Book Publishing Company specializes in publishing popular novels such as martial arts and romance, so he decided to give it a try. I asked my friend to hand it over to the leaders of Shengshi Company. Unexpectedly, it was quickly adopted.
Now that she got the invitation letter from the other party and heard the congratulations from her good brother, Tian Yanning felt mixed emotions in her heart and couldn't be happy.
He took a moment and then said: "Tan Li, I think we all loved literature at the beginning, so we were admitted to the Normal University together, and got our wish by being assigned to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. We thought we could write a literary masterpiece like Lu Yao and Fang Minghua, but unexpectedly, Finally, write something like this!"
Tan Li fell silent after hearing this.
Who doesn’t have a literary dream?
But, you have to live.
I saw other people living in commercial suites, while my family was still crowded in the tube building allocated by the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Some other people's families had already bought color TVs, but my own family didn't even have a black and white TV.
The children need money to go to school, and the parents in their hometown hope that they can send some money back. The wife is nagging that she hasn't bought a new dress for a long time
This makes him very annoyed.
He suddenly remembered the helplessness of an ordinary middle-aged man named Yin Jiahou in the novel "Troubled Life" published by Yanhe magazine this summer. In fact, why am I not another Yin Jiahou?
How many Yin family members are there in this society?
Thinking of this, Tan Li comforted him: "Brother Tian, don't think too much. Let's get over the current difficulties for the time being. When we have money in the future, we can then pick up the pen and write real literary works!""
Tian Yanning laughed after hearing this.
“I know, I’m just feeling a little emotional about it today. Tan Li, didn’t you write a book called “From Female Star to Death Row”? Give me the manuscript. I will take it with me to Xijing this time and try to get it published! "
"Okay, you're waiting. "After Tan Li finished speaking, he hurried back to the office building and returned within a few minutes with a thick stack of manuscripts.
"Okay, don't tell anyone about this yet! "Tian Yanning warned
"Don't worry, we only know each other."
"Yeah." Tian Yanning said, threw away the butt of the cigarette that was about to be finished, and turned around and entered the office building.
Tian Yanning left Daxian that night. Although he crossed Bashan to reach Hanzhong in Qin Province, it was not easy to actually reach Xijing. He wanted to take a train to Rongcheng and then go north over Bashan and Qinling Mountains.
It was already noon on the third day when Tian Yanning arrived in Xijing.
At Shengshi Book Company in Duanlumen, Tian Yanning met Zhao Hongjun, the general manager of the company.
In the general manager's office, Zhao Hongjun greeted him warmly: "Writer Tian, please sit down, would you like tea or coffee?"
"You're welcome, tea."
Tian Yanning is a little reserved. sitting on the sofa.
If someone usually calls him a writer, he would agree generously, but today.
Is this thing I wrote worthy of the muse?
Zhao Hongjun didn't care about this. After asking the newly recruited female secretary to pour tea for Tian Yanning, he sat on the sofa next to him and crossed his legs: "Writer Tian, your novel has been carefully evaluated by our company and is considered suitable for publication. What about the royalties? It’s calculated as 13 yuan per thousand words, and the remuneration for the number of printed copies is in accordance with relevant national regulations. What do you think?”
13 yuan per thousand words?
The remuneration standard is higher than that of the novels I wrote before.
So, Tian Yanning immediately agreed: "Mr. Zhao, I will do as you say. But I have a small request."
"Oh, you said?"
< br>
"Don't mention my name in the book, and don't write my personal profile."
"Oh, I understand." Zhao Hongjun smiled: "The work must have a name, right? What pen name did you choose?"
“Let’s call him Lower Riba.”
On the train, Tian Yanning had already thought of a pen name.
The thing I wrote is from a lower class person, so that’s what my pen name is.
But Zhao Hongjun shook his head.
"No, I'll think of a pen name for you."
"What's it called?"
"Semily"
(End of this chapter)