Chapter 598: Pure literature is not popular
“Minghua, Shengshi Books would like my novel?!” Chen Zhongshi was surprised when he heard this.
"Why don't you like it? Although I didn't read the content of your novel carefully, but just because you are Chen Zhongshi and you have this novel that has been written for five years, how can the quality be so bad? "Fang Minghua asked back.
"Minghua, to be honest, I am not convinced by anyone who says that the literary level of my book is low. But I dare not refute those who say that the sales volume will not be good. Nowadays, pure literature is not as popular as before. ." Chen Zhongshi said in a self-deprecating tone.
I’m not confident.
Your book has high literary value and is also a best-seller!
Of course, if you say this now, the other party will think it is just flattery, so Fang Minghua said: "Teacher Chen, how about letting the boss of Shengshi Books take a look first? You are not in a hurry anyway."
"Alright." Chen Zhongshi agreed.
"If you don't like it, I will submit it to "Contemporary" again."
Fang Minghua smiled and did not refute. He just asked me if he could take the manuscript back and contacted Shengshi Books. I'll also read it on the side.
Chen Zhongshi also agreed.
He can trust Fang Minghua.
The two said goodbye, Chen Zhongshi returned to Bailuyuan, while Fang Minghua drove back to his cabin.
Song Tangtang had already gone to Yanjing, and there was no one at home. Fang Minghua made himself a cup of tea after returning home, and sat on the sofa to read the manuscript of this novel.
"White Deer Plain" was actually something he read before coming to this era, and he read the revised version that won the first prize.
However, there are still some differences between this draft and the final revised version in some plots.
The main difference is that many explicit descriptions about Tian Xiaoe have been deleted, such as the first meeting with Hei Wa, the second meeting with Lu Zilin, and the incident between Tian Xiaoe and Bai Xiaowen. Everything is written in great detail in this first draft.
Sister's
Before I came to this era, I had been influenced by island country movies on the Internet. When I saw these bold and explicit descriptions, I also felt strange in my heart.
Forget it, I won’t read it.
My wife is not here, and I feel uncomfortable after watching too much.
Fang Minghua put down the manuscript.
In fact, if you think about it, Bailuyuan's erotic description is almost on par with "The Wasted City".
Unfortunately, the fate of the two books was completely different.
One won the top prize and the other was banned.
But now is not the time to lament. After getting the manuscript of "White Deer Plain", the next step to consider is publishing and marketing.
Fang Minghua walked to the TV cabinet, picked up the landline phone, and dialed a number. It was called Shu Bin from Shengshi Books.
"Mr. Su, I am Minghua." Fang Minghua said.
Su Bin's Mandarin with a strong Hunan flavor came from the other end of the microphone
"Minghua, why are you so polite to me? What is your name, Mr. Su? Just call me Su Bin. .”
"Okay, Su Bin, I have the manuscript of a novel in my hand, written by Chen Zhongshi from our province."
"Chen Zhongshi? Vice Chairman of your Writers Association?"
"Yes, that's him. , spent five years writing a novel of more than 400,000 words, called "White Deer Plain". I thought it was quite good, both in terms of literary quality and readability. "
< br>"Five years? Isn't that like Lu Yao's "Ordinary World"? Writers like you in Qin Province can really sink their bodies and never stop talking without surprising." Su Bin sighed on the phone.
"Please send the manuscript over, please. I'd better come to Xijing. I want to meet Chen Zhongshi in person." "Okay, call me when you go to Xijing, and I will contact you for you."
< br>
Over in Haikou, Su Bin hung up the phone and dialed another number: "Office? Book me a ticket to Xijing, the sooner the better!"
Fang Minghua is the second I received a call from Su Bin that afternoon, saying that he had arrived in Xijing and checked into the Shangri-La Golden Flower Hotel on the East Second Ring Road.
"Okay, I'll come over now."
Fang Minghua put the manuscript of "White Deer Plain" into his briefcase, then went out and drove straight to the Jinhua Hotel. In a room on the 10th floor, he met Su Bin, there is a young man coming with him.
After the introduction, Fang Minghua learned that this person's name was Zhou Ming. He graduated from Wuhan University last year and went south to "break out". He majored in publishing and editing. His current position is Su Bin's assistant.
Zhou Ming was a little excited when he saw Fang Ming's words, and held his hand and said. "Chairman Fang, I've heard about your name a long time ago."
"You're welcome." Fang Minghua said with a smile: "I heard that Wuhan University's publishing and editing major is quite good."
"It's not bad." Zhou Ming was quite proud: "But the books are all dead. I followed Mr. Su and learned a lot this year."
Hmm. Students from prestigious universities have a very good attitude. modesty.
After chatting for a few words, we got to the point. Fang Minghua took out the manuscript and handed it to Su Bin.
"What I mean is that you read it first, and then go find Chen Zhongshi, how about it?"
"Okay, I'll try to finish it as soon as possible."
Fang Minghua invites us to come together in the evening I went out to have a meal as a way to catch the wind and wash away the dust for you, but Su Bin declined.
"Minghua, I know your drinking capacity. It's very strong. You won't be able to read the manuscript at night after drinking. Let's wait until the business is done."
Fang Minghua didn't force it anymore.
Two days later, this morning Fang Minghua had just returned home from eating spicy soup when he received a call from Su Bin from the hotel.
He said that he had finished reading the manuscript and would he please come to the hotel to communicate with each other.
Fang Minghua did not hesitate and drove straight to the Golden Flower Hotel.
When he saw Su Bin and the others, he went straight to the point: "You guys saw it, what do you think?"
"Zhou Ming, tell me." Su Bin said.
Zhou Ming was not polite, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Teacher Minghua, Mr. Su and I exchanged opinions after reading it. We feel that this book has high literary value and is a realistic work. . But its realism is different from realism like Lu Yao's "Ordinary World".
"In the book", subconsciousness, irrationality, magic, death consciousness, sexual instinct, etc. are used extensively. Modernist techniques, especially Latin American magical realism, the first sentence in the book is imitating the beginning of "One Hundred Years of Solitude""
Fang Minghua nodded after hearing this.
That's quite true.
"What about from your publisher's perspective?" he asked again.
Zhou Ming hesitated for a moment and glanced at Su Bin who was sitting next to him unconsciously. After receiving encouragement from the other party, he said: "If you think about it from a publishing perspective. From the perspective of the overall environment, the current pure Literature is no longer popular, and sales are not very good, except for novels like Wang Shuo's, but Wang Shuo's novels are not pure literature."
"In addition, this book contains a lot of erotica. The description may be criticized by readers and literary critics after publication, which will affect the sales of the novel.”
Fang Minghua didn’t say anything after hearing this.
After a while, a sentence suddenly came up: "What if this book can win the next Mao Dun Literature Award?"
(End of this chapter)