Chapter 320 Another shady author
Li Guangfu never considered decoration as his main business. It was a good thing that he could earn half a year's income as an extra income.
The most crucial point is that Mr. Lin is an open-minded person. He has foreign exchange coupons that he cannot spend, so he can just tell him when he needs them. It is so convenient.
Although it seemed that Li Guangfu helped Teacher Lin a lot in decorating the house, in fact, because he could get foreign exchange coupons regularly, Li Guangfu also became a celebrity among his relatives and friends.
So, for Li Guangfu, helping Teacher Lin was both a honor and a benefit, and it was totally worth it.
The renovation of the courtyard house has reached such a stage now that it will not be finished until winter. In addition, the basement needs to be dehumidified, so it will be difficult to move anything in this year.
Lin Weimin and Li Guangfu chatted while they found a restaurant to have a meal.
During the conversation, they talked about Han Zhuangzhuang's house. Li Guangfu said excitedly, "Everyone in the hospital heard that Zhuangzhuang found a foreign girlfriend. No one has seen her in person, but the rumor is spreading like wildfire."
"That's true. His girlfriend originally studied abroad at Yenching University and is now a foreign teacher at Yenching University."
"Hey, your whole family is made up of cultured people."
Lin Weimin complained in his heart: Zhuangzhuang counts too?
After dinner, Lin Weimin specially sent Li Guangfu home before driving back to Shichahai.
The next day, Guowen Society.
The editorial department's recent focus has become the selected series of novels, and the office has been much busier than in the past few days.
Lin Weimin left before getting off work in the afternoon. He was going to the People's Art Theatre to watch the rehearsal of "Let the Bullets Fly".
When I arrived at the front building to get the car, I saw a young man with small eyes and a sharp face squatting at the door of the Chinese Literature Society with a sad look on his face.
Lin Weimin took a look at him and found that he had a stack of papers between his waist and abdomen, which was probably the manuscript rejected by the previous building.
Lin Weimin just walked over and seemed to remember something. He stopped and looked at the young man.
"Comrade!"
The young man raised his head. If these small eyes were put on the screen thirty years later, he would be considered a handsome guy in the Korean aesthetic.
"Are you here to submit an article?" Lin Weimin asked.
The young man with small eyes and a sharp face glanced at Lin Weimin and nodded, "Yes."
"Looking at your expression, your manuscript was not accepted?"
The young man didn't say anything. If you don't know how to chat, then stop chatting. Isn't that nonsense?
Sensing the young man's little emotion, Lin Weimin didn't take it seriously and asked with a smile: "Can I take a look at the manuscript?"
The young man looked up again and took a look at Lin Weimin.
He looks younger than me, but he is in the Chinese Literature Publishing House after all, so he might be the editor of that editorial department.
With the mentality of trying everything possible, the young man took the manuscript out of his arms and handed it to Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin glanced at the first page of the manuscript and it seemed that he was not mistaken about the face.
"Don't just stay here. Come to our office and sit for a while. I can take a look at the manuscript."
Coincidentally, he met a famous person in later generations whose manuscripts were rejected. Lin Weimin decided not to go to the People's Art Theatre and took the other person back to the editorial department.
The young man was stunned when he saw the word "Contemporary" on the door of the editorial department, then followed Lin Weimin into the office.
"Hey, Weimin, why are you back?"
Colleagues were a little surprised to see Lin Weimin, who had left early but came back. Then, when they saw the young man behind him and the manuscript in his hand, they immediately realized what was going on and their eyes were filled with curiosity.
When the young man heard everyone calling Lin Weimin's name, he seemed to realize something, his breathing became rapid, and he became a little excited, but he forced himself to calm down.
While Lin Weimin was reading the manuscript, his colleagues surrounded the young man in a friendly manner.
Now everyone is extremely sensitive to the fact that Lin Weimin has brought back authors and works to the editorial department through various channels, because this often means that Contemporary Magazine is likely to have discovered another rough gem.
The young man had never seen the world, and facing many approachable editors, he revealed all his information without hiding anything.
He was assigned to the Labor Reform Bureau of the Yanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau as a military professional and became a glorious prison guard.
My home is just opposite the Chinese Literature Society. Last year, when I passed by the Chinese Literature Society on my way to work, the idea of writing a book suddenly popped into my mind.
After staying at home for more than a year, he finally managed to write this novel.
Without a second thought, he went straight to the Chinese Literature Publishing House with great enthusiasm, but he did not expect his manuscript to be rejected directly.
After listening to the young man's narration, several colleagues felt a little confused.
You are a prison guard who has never published a short story before. Now you want to write a book just because you went out and took a look at the gate of our Chinese Literature Society?
The more you listen to this style, the more familiar it sounds.
The editor is evil, and the authors he picks up are more evil than each other.
"Okay, what are you doing? When did you develop this habit? Every time you come back to meet an author you don't know, you have to think about him first."
Lin Weimin drove away several colleagues and met the expectant gaze of the young people.
"Well, I just heard you chatting with them, so I'll call you Xiao Lu!"
"Teacher Lin, you..." When Xiao Lu heard Lin Weimin speaking, he quickly stood up.
As soon as he entered the door and saw the word "Dangdai" and heard the name "Weimin", he guessed Lin Weimin's identity.
"Don't be nervous!" Lin Weimin waved his hand and asked the other party to sit down. He spread the manuscript on the table and said carefully: "Your novel is indeed lacking in meaning."
When the young man heard what Lin Weimin said, a look of disappointment immediately appeared on his face.
I was just rejected once this afternoon. I thought that meeting Lin Weimin was a turn of events, but I didn’t expect to be rejected again.
"Don't be too discouraged. I took a look at your novel, and it has at least 400,000 words. The fact that you can handle such a long work shows your writing ability. There is no problem with the story of your novel, but it lacks a lot in terms of ideology."
Lin Weimin had never thought that he would one day use the word "ideological" as a basis for rejecting a manuscript. Seeing that the other party looked puzzled, he said, "Let me put it this way. Your novel is a very good popular work, but it is not satisfactory enough to be published in a literary magazine like Contemporary as a literary work."
When Lin Weimin said this, the young man had completely given up.
He put away the manuscript on the table and bowed slightly to Lin Weimin. "Thank you for your advice. I will go back and revise it."
He was about to turn around, but was stopped by Lin Weimin, "Don't be impatient, young man. You have to listen to the whole thing."
The young man looked at Lin Weimin with confusion on his face.
I have made it very clear just now that this manuscript does not meet your acceptance criteria.
“As I said just now, your novel is very popular overall. Although it does not meet the standards for publication in our Contemporary magazine, we are currently planning a series of selected contemporary novels.
The collection mainly includes works published in previous years and those missed gems that were not adopted. I would like to put your novel in the series. What do you think?"
After Lin Weimin said this, the young man was overjoyed.
"Book series? Teacher Lin, do you mean that my novel can be published?"
Lin Weimin shook his head and said, "To be precise, it should be published. A series of books is not a magazine, it is a published book."
I don’t care about publishing or releasing, as long as it can be printed in lead type!
The young man excitedly shook Lin Weimin's hand, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Teacher Lin!"
Lin Weimin pulled his hand out with all his strength, "Okay, okay, don't get excited yet..."
After calming the young man down, Lin Weimin reminded him that he had not read the entire manuscript and that it was a bold decision to adopt it.
In the future, we will inevitably need young people to cooperate in revising the manuscript, but this will have to be decided after colleagues in the editorial department have reviewed the manuscript.
For young people, it is a blessing to have their novel published.
Revise the manuscript? Isn't that the way it should be?
Anyway, his house is just opposite the Chinese Literature Society, so if there are any problems, we can communicate at any time. It’s so convenient.
After talking about the manuscript, Lin Weimin sent the young man away.
When he came back, Lin Weimin found that the manuscript on the table was gone.
I turned my head and looked for it, and it was in He Qizhi's hand.
Liu Yin shook his head, sighing, "I just don't understand why the authors and works you found are so shady?"
"What do you mean by ill-gotten gains?" Lin Weimin said dissatisfiedly.
"It means you are a devious person! Don't you even realize that?" Yao Shuzhi teased.
The colleagues burst into laughter.
Over there, He Qizhi, who had just read the first few tens of thousands of words, raised his head.
"Weimin, I think your requirements are a bit too high. If the quality of the article is based on the beginning, it is not impossible to publish it in our publication."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Regarding the series of books, I actually have some considerations."
When everyone heard him say this, their expressions became serious.
“As I have said before, our long-length book series is not only about selecting works that have been published, but also those that have been missed, including works that have a long waiting period for publication. Of course, this is partly to shorten the publication cycle, but more importantly, it is to give readers a sense of freshness.
In addition, as you screen the manuscripts these days, you may find that the works I want to keep are mostly popular ones.
A series of books is like old wine in new bottles. If it were all old wine, it would taste bland and would be boring to drink.
The emphasis on popularity is to distinguish ourselves from "Contemporary". Our series of books is not only intended to target the previous readership, but also to open up new readers.
If Xiao Lu's novel was of a lower overall quality, it could indeed be published, but I think it would be better to just put it in a series.
As long as the sales of the series can meet expectations, I believe the added value to Xiao Lu will not be less than that of publishing in Contemporary Magazine. "
After listening to Lin Weimin's ideas, all the colleagues pondered for a moment and had to admit that Lin Weimin's ideas were much more far-reaching than theirs.
He considers issues from the perspective of the editorial department as a whole, not just from the perspective of the quality of the manuscripts.
No wonder the society would consider giving him more responsibilities!
He Qizhi sighed in his heart and stroked Xiao Lu's manuscript with one hand. Four words were clearly written on the first page.
There are only two updates today. I am so tired, I need to take it easy.
(End of this chapter)
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