Chapter 509 During the Republic of China, writers still promoted their books
“How many places should I go to?”
“Not many. Shu Bin meant Yanjing, Shencheng, Huacheng and so on. We are in Xijing.”
Holy shit!
Running in a circle around China.
Fang Minghua couldn't help but remember that he went to the United States for a book signing event for the English translation of "Enter Guandong" the year before last. He took a plane and ran around the United States in a big circle, and he almost vomited while signing autographs!
But this is promoting your own book.
I also need to support Shu Bin’s work.
Fang Minghua had no choice but to agree.
"Minghua, you can stay in Yanjing for two more days and stay with my grandpa and grandma!"
"Don't worry, I'll stay with them at night, play chess with grandpa, and chat with grandma." Fang Minghua said.
"That's good. I'll hang up. Shu Bin will contact you when he gets to Yanjing. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
Fang Minghao hung up the phone. , came to the dinner table again.
“Whose phone number is it, Tangtang’s?” Grandma asked kindly.
"Well, she said she wanted me to stay in Yanjing for two more days to promote my book." Fang Minghua explained the matter briefly.
"Okay, you can stay wherever you want, as many days as you want." Grandma said lovingly.
Grandpa was holding a piece of steamed bun, but thinking about another question:
"Xiaohua, do you still need writers to sign and sell books when writing novels? Good books will naturally be read, as the saying goes. Well, the aroma of wine is not afraid of deep alleys. I read the book "Skywalker" you wrote. It is very good. People will read it without publicity."
Fang Minghua was thinking about how to answer his grandfather's question. The grandma next to him took over and said: "Who said good books don't need publicity? You don't understand. Let alone now, in the Republic of China, those literary masters still promote the books they wrote."
"Which literary master?" Fang Minghua became curious.
“There are many, including Lu Xun, Lao She, Palladium, Zhu Ziqing, and Zhang Henshui.”
“How do they promote their books?”
“Mainly It was an advertisement text written for books and periodicals. It was so long ago that I can’t remember what others wrote, but the one written by Lao She was the most interesting.” ’s: Not a novel, nothing.”
""Cat City" is a novel, and there is no real story.
"Divorce" is a novel, and it does not advocate divorce."
I can't tell that Mr. Lao She has a lot of personality.
Fang Minghua listened with great interest.
"At that time, there were no televisions and very few radios. These advertisements were mainly published in newspapers. Has your book been advertised in newspapers?" asked my grandma.
"I'm not sure about this. It's run by Shengshi Book Company and I have no control over it." Fang Minghua explained.
“You can advertise.”
Of course my grandma was born in a lady’s family. She went to a women’s university when she was young, so she has some modern economic acumen.
The next morning, Fang Minghua received a call from Shu Bin, saying that he was staying at the Songhua Lake Hotel on Andri North Street and would like him to come to the hotel to discuss the book signing in detail.
Fang Minghua knew that the hotel Shu Bin mentioned was only two stops away from the General Political Courtyard by bus, so he told his grandparents and then left the General Political Courtyard and took a bus to rush there.
In a room on the fourth floor of the hotel, Fang Minghua met Shu Bin and a young man, Jin Hai, the deputy general manager of sales at Shengshi Books.
All in suits and leather shoes, with a woolen coat on top when going out - this is how successful people dress in this era.
"Minghua, let me tell you the good news. Hainan Publishing House has agreed to put the name of our company on the publisher of your book - Joint Publishing. From now on, all books published by the company will have the title of Shengshi Books. Name.”
This is great news!
Fang Minghua took a book from Jin Hai, it was "Skywalker"
The cover is simple and solemn, with a line of words:
"Skywalker" - a close-up depiction of the past and reality of rural education in China, paying tribute to ordinary but great rural heroes.
“As the sky moves vigorously, a gentleman strives to constantly strive for self-improvement; when the terrain is prosperous, a gentleman carries his virtues with great virtue.”
On the copyright page, Fang Minghua indeed saw the book jointly published by Hainan Publishing House and Hainan Shengshi Book Publishing Company. words.
“Yes, yes, Shengshi Books finally has a reputation.” Fang Minghua praised it.
"Tell me about your arrangement."
"That's it," Shu Bin took a piece of information from Jin Hai and handed it to Fang Minghua. "Take a look and see if you have any comments."
Fang Minghua took it and took a look:
January 5, 2:30 to 4:30 pm, Wang Mansion Book signings and sales at Jing Xinhua Bookstore.
January 6, 2:30-4:30 pm, Haidian Book City
January 7, 2:30-4:00 pm, Xinhua Bookstore, Nanjing East Road, Shanghai.
All It's Xinhua Bookstore.
This is reality.
Although private bookstores are popping up in various places, Xinhua Bookstore is still the largest and most influential.
Shu Bin chose Xinhua Bookstore, a landmark bookstore in major cities.
"Teacher Fang, we have contacted the managers of various Xinhua bookstores and promoted it a week in advance. By the way, Mr. Shu also placed advertisements in newspapers in order to increase the effect." Jin Hai interrupted.
“Advertisement?” Fang Minghua was a little surprised.
“Take a look.” Jin Hai took out a newspaper from the briefcase he carried with him and handed it to Fang Minghua.
It is "Yanjing Evening News"
On the second page, Fang Minghua actually saw an advertisement. The design was very similar to the book cover, with a line of small words at the bottom: Make friends with books, and Minghua will meet you.
Specify the location and process of the event.
Hmm.
Not bad.
It is much better than the advertisement that starts with the famous XX scholar in our country.
"If the effect is good, we will also publish it in newspapers in other cities." Shu Bin said with a smile.
"Mr. Shu, my grandma does seem to have a burning gaze." Fang Minghua joked.
"Your grandma?" Shu Bin was a little confused.
"It should be my wife's grandma, a female college student from the Republic of China. She talked about writers selling books during the Republic of China, haha."
January 5th is today, and Fang Minghua was not there at noon. I went back to the General Political Courtyard, called my grandpa and grandma, had some food outside with Shu Bin and other staff, and rushed to the Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore on time.
It was very cold in Yanjing in January, and the weather was not kind to me today, with snowflakes falling in the air.
When Fang Minghua and the others arrived in a taxi, they found a long line of people lined up along the street in front of the Xinhua Bookstore, and the security personnel of the bookstore were maintaining order.
The manager of Xinhua Bookstore, surnamed Liu, was waiting at the door personally. When he saw them coming out of the taxi, he hurried forward to greet them, greeting and shaking hands with each other.
“Comrade Minghua, look how influential you are!” Manager Liu joked: “We haven’t had such a long queue at Xinhua Bookstore for a long time.”
Fang Minghua is modest and modest. After a few sentences, several people entered the bookstore, and Manager Liu said again: "It's cold today, Comrade Minghua, why don't you go up to the second floor and rest for a while, we still have some time."
Fang Minghua looked at the watch on his wrist: it was two fifteen, so he said:
“Forget it, let’s get started, it’s not good to have so many people waiting outside in the wind and snow.”
"Okay, let's start!"
The long and boring signature activity began.
People of all ages and genders come to buy books, but most of them are young people in their twenties and thirties. Most of them are the just-published "Forerunner". Of course, there are also other books. For example, "Selected Short and Novels of Minghua" and "Crossing Guandong", some people even use them as old books!
When I look at it, it’s wrinkled, so I’ve read it many times.
Old books are just old books, and Fang Minghua didn’t care to write his name on them.
As long as it’s not another author’s book.
Wait, is it an old book, or is it in English? !
《Ghostloveroutstanding》
"The Endless Love between Man and Ghost"?
Fang Minghua looked at the blond foreigner with some astonishment.
The foreigner said in somewhat broken Chinese that he was from New York, USA. He liked this book very much, so he brought it with him when he came to China for further study. He saw you signing books for sale in the newspaper, so he brought this book with him. .
Okay
Fang Minghua signed his name on the title page of the book.
It was originally planned to end at 4:30, but as a result there were too many people outside, so today's book signing event was postponed until 5:30, when Xinhua Bookstore closed its doors.
Holy shit!
I definitely won’t do it for so long tomorrow.
Fang Minghua rubbed his sore right wrist and thought to himself.
(End of this chapter)