Zhang Shouren kept shaking his head and lamenting that Zhou Yan's appeal far exceeded his expectations.
"October" is not a small magazine. If you put all the literary magazines in the country together, if they are not in the first echelon, they are definitely in the upper reaches of the second echelon.
Most of the well-known domestic writers have published their works in their magazines.
But never before has a writer published a work that has been as well received as Zhou Yan's.
Even if some works become popular, it usually takes some time, unlike this time when the magazine was released and sold so many.
Especially in recent years, literary journals have been unable to stay in the center, and fewer and fewer people are paying attention to them.
People are engaging in more and more entertainment activities, and literary publications are no longer as indispensable as they once were.
Not to mention comparing it with the 1980s, even compared with the first few years of the 1990s, it was much worse.
For example, Jia Pingwa's "The Wasted City" had such a violent response at the time, which was actually related to the backward development of mass media and the control of erotic readings.
In just a few years, the domestic VCD market has developed rapidly. Especially this year, many new VCD brands have entered the market, and people's entertainment activities have suddenly increased.
If "The Wasted City" had been released this year, sales would have been greatly reduced.
After all, the reason why many readers bought "The Wasted City" was not for literature, but just as a pornographic book to comfort their loneliness late at night.
Now that we have VCDs and the money to buy books, we can buy a few interesting discs. Isn't it more lively and interesting than novels?
These changes only happened in a few years.
A glimpse of the leopard shows that the living environment of literary publications is no longer what it used to be. Major magazines want to change it, but there is no good way.
The general environment is such that it is difficult to reverse the situation.
Zhang Shouren had to win Zhou Yan's new novel. On the one hand, he really liked the novel, and on the other hand, it was also because of Zhou Yan's influence.
It seems now that his idea was correct and his goal was achieved.
"By the way, the publishing house said they want to get the single book out as soon as possible." said Ke Yan, the leader of the novel team.
The publishing house that Ke Yan mentioned naturally refers to Yanjing Publishing House, and their magazine was originally located under Yanjing Publishing House.
Publishing a single volume is not troublesome. When we were talking about serialization, we had already agreed with Zhou Yan that the single volume would be published by Yanjing Publishing House.
But before, they were preparing to finish the second serialization issue, or wait until the entire series was completed before publishing a single volume. Now it seems that the publisher hopes to publish it sooner.
It's understandable that the publisher wants to publish it sooner, because the later it's published, the harder it is to guarantee sales.
If there are only two issues, it would be okay to leave one issue unpublished. But if the series is finished and then a single volume is released, many readers will not buy it. After all, they have read the book in the magazine.
And there is another problem, that is, after all serialization is completed, their genuine single volumes may not be released, and the pirated single volumes will be released first.
Anyway, it is not difficult to pirate copies. You only need to tear out the contents of "Never Let Me Go" from the three issues of "October" to make a complete copy and then print it.
"You mean the second issue won't be serialized?" Zhang Shouren asked. He hadn't heard any relevant news yet.
Ke Yan nodded, "I heard them say that, but I don't know the details. If it is true, there should be a meeting in the next few days to talk about it."
This matter cannot be delayed, because each issue of the magazine is typeset in advance. If they wait until the next issue is typed, it will be a waste of their efforts.
Zhang Shouren doesn't care too much about whether to publish the second issue or not. Now that "Don't Let Me Go" has been published in "October" and the response is good, he can be considered a success.
As for what happens next, it has little to do with him.
……
Zhang Shouren thought that even if the issue of the single book was to be decided, it might take a few days, but what he didn't expect was that the matter would be discussed in a meeting the next day.
Moreover, the meeting was not a discussion, but a direct decision.
The publishing house decided to sell the single volume directly in half a month, with an initial printing of 100,000 copies.
Because everything about the manuscript is ready-made, the proofreading work has been completed long ago, and even the typesetting and ISBN have been done before. Therefore, it is very simple to sell the single volume now, as long as you coordinate with the printing house.
In other words, when the printing factory can finish printing, they can sell it.
Regarding the first printing of 100,000 copies, there were two different opinions at the meeting.
One party believed that the novel had only been serialized for two days and was only partially popular, with no truly valuable feedback, so it was a bit risky to have a first printing of 100,000 copies.
The other side believes that the first printing of 100,000 copies is a bit conservative. According to Zhou Yan's reputation, there is no pressure at all to sell 100,000 copies.
The key point is that Zhou Yan's reputation is nationwide. If the first 100,000 copies printed are not enough to buy, it will be a waste of time to rush back to print more copies and affect the rhythm of distribution.
The conservatives and the radicals disagreed, but the matter was already settled, and no matter how they argued, it could not affect the publisher's decision.
Zhang Shouren received an errand to inform Zhou Yan about the publication of the single volume.
First, they had an obligation to inform, and second, they also wanted Zhou Yan to cooperate with the publicity. Later, they even hoped that Zhou Yan could cooperate with the publishing house to organize activities similar to book signings.
When Zhou Yan received Zhang Shouren's call, he was already in Yanjing.
When he heard that the single volume would be published in half a month, he was quite surprised. He didn't expect that the publishing house was so anxious.
Zhang Shouren smiled and said, "Actually, it's not too urgent. Many novels are done this way. It was previously agreed that when Yanjing Publishing House publishes a single volume, they will have already started preparations."
"Since this matter has been settled before, I leave it to you. If you need my cooperation, just tell me."
"There is nothing specific that requires your cooperation. It's just that a new book is about to be released, so the publisher naturally hopes that you can help promote it more."
Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Of course I will promote my own books, so don't worry about that."
"I may need your cooperation in holding a book signing later, I don't know..."
"As long as you are in Yanjing and you confirm the time with me in advance, it should be no problem."
"If I want to hold a book signing, I will definitely confirm the time with you in advance. If there are any matters in this regard later, I may not be the one to communicate with you. There will be a dedicated person from the publishing house to contact you."
"Well, you tell the publishing house and if you have any questions, just contact our studio directly. There will be dedicated people in the studio to contact them."
"Okay, no problem, as long as we can connect."
Zhang Shouren also knew that Zhou Yan was usually very busy, so he understood this.
Zhou Yan said this now because he wanted to expand the business scope of the studio at the beginning of the new year.
Their studio was originally mainly engaged in film production, soundtrack production and music album production. The TV series department added last year has not officially started work, but it is almost on track.
Now Zhou Yan wants to expand a literary section based on these sections.
In the past, he had to handle the business of his own novels by himself, or Zhang Youan helped to handle it. He felt that this was too troublesome. After opening this business in the studio, he could set up a department to handle the writing business. Not only did he handle his own business, but he also handled the business of Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng.
Text has always been a part of the film and television industry chain, and now it is reasonable to have an additional department.
Zhou Yan hung up the phone on Zhang Shouren. Next to him, Wang Zuxian put half a sugar orange into his mouth and said with a smile, "Is the single book going to be released so soon?"
It was very hot inside the office, and the sugar orange ice was cool. It was quite refreshing in the mouth. Zhou Yan cleared the sugar orange from his mouth, and then smiled and said, "The publishing house is in a hurry."
"Hurry up and send us samples. We didn't even send the previous samples."
"Oh, I forgot to tell Chief Judge Zhang about this. It's okay. I'll ask him for it in two days."
"Xiao Rong knows that your new novel is serialized, and he is anxious to ask me for it. "October" is not available in Taiwan."
"Just buy a copy and send it to her. You don't have to have a sample."
"I originally wanted to buy a copy and send it to her tomorrow, but now that I heard that a single volume is going to be released, I'm wondering if I should wait for the single volume to come out. Otherwise, she will be more anxious after reading the first part, just like a sister-in-law. They are the same.”
"That's true."
Please...you...collect_6_9_书_吧 (六//九//书//吧)
After reading "Never Let Me Go", the Zhou family members had different reactions.
Of course everyone was praising it, but Zhou Yan could tell that not everyone liked "Never Let Me Go", at least not everyone liked the first part.
My grandparents probably felt that this novel was too long-winded and had no special meaning after reading tens of thousands of words. The style of the novel did not suit their taste.
Although grandma kept saying "it's good", her reaction was completely different from when she watched "Tree Hole".
I watched "Tree Hole" before, and the approval in my grandma's eyes almost overflowed.
Uncle Zhou Yaohua liked this novel very much and gave it a very high evaluation. He thought that the style of Zhou Yan's new work was very international.
He also emphasized that it is internationalization, not Westernization.
It doesn't read like a Western novel, but it is very different from domestic novels. It is easy to read and has almost no obstacles for readers.
Sister-in-law Gu Fangfang also likes this novel, but she reads "Never Let Me Go" as a suspense novel. She thinks that this school must be hiding some shocking secret, and she has been looking forward to the answer. .
Therefore, when she learned that the secret would not be revealed until the second issue, Gu Fangfang was very anxious and almost asked Zhou Yan for the manuscript.
In fact, if she really asked Zhou Yan for the manuscript, Zhou Yan would give it to her.
But the manuscript was in Yanjing, so he couldn't give it to him right away.
Well now, the single volume is about to be released, so my sister-in-law and the others don’t have to wait too long.
……
Zhou Yan ate a few more oranges, then got up and walked outside, "I'm going to talk to Liu Hang about something."
"Okay."
When Zhou Yan appeared in Liu Hang's office, Liu Hang showed a surprised expression, "Boss, are you looking for me?"
Normally, if Zhou Yan wanted to see him, he would call him and rarely come to his office.
"Tell me, Zhang Shouren from "October" just called and said that Yanjing Publishing House is going to publish a single volume of "Never Let Me Go". It is expected that the book will be on sale in half a month."
"So fast?"
"Well, they have prepared it in advance."
"It seems that the response to the new work is good." Liu Hang smiled and looked at Zhou Yan again, waiting for Zhou Yan's next words.
Liu Hang was not responsible for the novel, so Liu Hang didn't know what Zhou Yan meant when he suddenly said this.
Zhou Yan sat directly on the sofa and said with a smile, "I was originally thinking of setting up a literature department, and this time I just used the single book release of "Never Let Me Go" to settle the matter."
"Are we going to set up a new department?" Liu Hang didn't expect that his boss would make such a big move just after he returned from vacation.
Establishing a new department is not a simple matter. It requires an overall plan. It doesn't mean setting up an office and throwing two people in to create a new department.
The previous establishment of the TV drama department also took a long time to get on the right track.
This is under the premise that they already have a film department, so the staff is relatively easy to arrange.
Now we have to do the literature department...
I'm afraid the boss is the only person in their studio who understands literature, right?
When this new department is established, who will be in charge? Where do you recruit people from? What is the main business?
Seeing Liu Hang's expression suddenly becoming serious, Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Don't take this too hard. The purpose of setting up this department is to help me and Yu Hua deal with literature-related matters. Like this The department doesn’t need many people at the beginning.”
Liu Hang nodded, "I roughly understand that the new department has no business expansion needs for the time being."
"Yes, not yet."
"In this case, to make things easier, the office is located in Building 3?"
Zhou Yan waved his hand, "It doesn't matter where the office is. There's no need to rush to decide. I want to ask you, do you have any friends in the book section?"
"I don't have much contact with the book sector..." Liu Hang said halfway, his eyes suddenly lit up, "I was thinking of someone."
"Who?"
"Chen Hongheng."
Hearing this name, Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows and said, "Isn't he a legal practitioner?"
Liu Hang said in surprise, "Boss, do you still remember him?"
Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, Shueisha asked us to make a novel collection before. Didn't he entrust him to talk to us?"
"Yes, that's him. Although Chen Hongheng is a legal attorney, he is mainly a copyright agent. We have been in contact for the past two years."
"How is his business doing?"
"Last year he started his own company. There was no special development, but he has good personal abilities and rich experience in this area."
"Where are they?"
"Now in Shanghai."
Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "Contact Chen Hongheng and ask him if he is willing to come to Yanjing to work. If so, I will come and talk to him." (End of Chapter)