Chapter 507 Image Project
For most writers, having their work published as a textbook is something they would love to have.
Most writers love money, but compared to money, most people would rather their works be passed down through the ages.
The textbooks may not be circulated for that long, but there is absolutely no problem that it will influence one or two generations of this country.
It is difficult for any writer to resist such influence, including Lin Weimin.
However, the issue of textbooks is still just a rumor in Zheng State. Every major revision of textbooks takes at least two to three years, and now we are just listening to the news.
The days in the first month of the year passed quickly, the festive atmosphere gradually faded, and people's work and life returned to normal.
Before the Lantern Festival, colleagues from Yilin Press came to visit Lin Weimin.
Li Jingrui was originally an editor in the editorial department of Yilin. After the publishing house was established, he was appointed as the president of the publishing house.
"Yilin" magazine was founded in 1979. It is a translation publication introducing foreign literature established by JS Province at the request of higher authorities.
At that time, there were several magazines in the country that introduced foreign literature to the Chinese people, but their styles were not exactly the same.
"World Literature" is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and its style is relatively orthodox and serious; "Foreign Literature and Art" is affiliated with Shanghai Translation Publishing House and its style is too novel.
After careful consideration, "Yilin" found its own direction. Starting from the readers' perspective, it introduces popular literature related to real life abroad, as well as popular writers and works to readers.
“Open a window to understand the world”, this magazine positioning allowed Yilin to quickly gain a firm foothold in the domestic periodical industry and gain a large number of readers.
In 1988, the country began to attach importance to external public opinion propaganda. Under this circumstance, the "Yilin" magazine, because of its years of accumulated domestic and foreign translation resources, was chosen by the Press and Publication Administration and the "Yilin" editorial department was expanded into the Yilin Press.
When Yilin Press was founded, its biggest mission was to translate Chinese literary works and publish them abroad, so as to spread excellent Chinese culture and literary works to overseas countries and regions.
From an editorial department to a publishing house, Yilin was under tremendous pressure from both the top and the bottom.
The company was founded not long ago, has few publishing resources, weak financial strength, and faces too many problems.
Applications to higher authorities for funding and subsidies for various projects to “go global” for publications were nowhere to be found, so Yilin Press could only find a solution on its own.
After much discussion and research, Yilin Press decided to launch an English version of "Chinese Modern Literature Library" over the next few years. With the approval of the provincial publishing house, Yilin Press organized the topic selection.
The original plan was to include the masterpieces of several modern literary masters such as Lu, Ba, Guo, and Lao as the first batch of works in the "Chinese Modern Literature Library", but then someone raised an objection.
Among the first group of masters, except Lu Xun, very few of their works have been translated and published abroad.
To put it bluntly, he has no fame and the publishing benefits of his works are worrying.
Although the purpose of Yilin Press is to promote domestic culture, the publishing house is currently on such a weak foundation that it cannot engage in a business that will obviously lose money. Making money is the best.
After some discussion, someone set his sights on Lin Weimin.
In terms of seniority and qualifications, Lin Weimin is definitely not qualified to be included in this first batch.
But who can blame him for being so famous abroad?
I heard that his novels have sold millions of copies abroad and have won many awards. If his works can be included, it will definitely be a great boost to the new "Chinese Modern Literature Library".
The compilation of the "Library of Modern Chinese Literature" is a huge project. If Lin Weimin can achieve certain results by being the first writer of the "Library", it will be of great benefit to the promotion of the works of subsequent writers in the future.
Li Jingrui sat in Lin Weimin's office and told him in detail about Yilin Press and the "Chinese Modern Literature Library". After listening to his words, Lin Weimin pondered for a long time.
"It's not easy!" said Lin Weimin.
Li Jingrui asked: "Is there any difficulty?"
Lin Weimin said: "I have signed exclusive copyright agreements with foreign publishers, and they also have priority for renewal. I am afraid I will disappoint you."
“Ah, this…”
Li Jingrui was a little surprised. He didn't expect to encounter such a situation right at the beginning, and he got off to a bad start.
"Can you tell me in detail which works they are?" Li Jingrui asked.
“It’s the same with Farewell My Concubine, The Lover, The Horse Catcher, and Life Is Beautiful.”
These four novels are the most widely published and best-selling works of Lin Weimin.
Other works either have a relatively small publication range, such as "The Ming Dynasty 1566", which has good sales but is only published in Chinese-speaking regions such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Or it's like "Burning", which has a wide publication range, but the content is too literary and the sales are very average.
There are also early works such as "The Disguiser", "The Sound of the Wind", and "If You Are the One", but due to the subject matter, they are rarely published overseas and are basically not considered.
Li Jingrui frowned when he heard this. If that was the case, there was nothing he could do.
Lin Weimin's works are relatively few compared to other great writers. Without these novels, the content of the separate volumes is directly missing a large part.
"That's really a pity!" Li Jingrui sighed.
Lin Weimin said: "It may be too early for you to find me now. It may be more appropriate to wait for another 20 years."
His joke made Li Jingrui laugh, "I can only look forward to working with you in the future."
After chatting for a few more words, Li Jingrui said goodbye. He had to go to the China Modern Literature Museum to visit another young master to discuss the selection of specific works and other editing and publishing related matters.
After seeing Li Jingrui off, Lin Weimin was not impressed by the collection of documents published by Yilin Press.
For him, this kind of thing is more like the icing on the cake, and it is better to have just one flower among a cluster of flowers.
It neither increases his popularity abroad nor pays him much for his writings; it seems more like an image project.
The only thing worth praising is probably that he is placed on the same level as several literary masters.
Lin Weimin felt that this only benefit was not that good. A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind, and a pile that protrudes from the shore will be washed away by the current. There was no need to show off.
Li Jingrui's arrival did provide the editorial department with some new topics to talk about. Recently, everyone was talking about the possibility that Lin Weimin's novels would be included in textbooks. Now a publishing house was rushing to publish a collection of Lin Weimin's works, and they were going to publish it overseas. Everyone was discussing Lin Weimin's current historical status in the domestic literary world.
In late February, Lin Weimin made two days of intensive phone calls, notifying all his familiar teachers, colleagues, and friends. It didn't matter whether they came or not, as long as they had been notified, they had arrived.
After finding a sunny day, Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin went to get their marriage certificate, and the next step was the wedding.
Lin Weimin didn't plan to hold a grand wedding, but recently everyone mentioned the wedding whenever they saw him, and he had no choice but to hold it. Sometimes being too popular can be a problem.
After the final discussion, it was decided to hold the wedding in Shizhu’s courtyard.
This is a three-story house, and the place is big enough. Including the space inside and outside the house, it can easily accommodate thirty or fifty tables, which is more than enough to hold a wedding.
His wedding didn't involve any red tape, he just invited people over for a meal.
If we recruit everyone from Huifengtang to take care of the arrangements for two days, the wedding will be ready.
In the early years, Yanjing had eight large halls with stages for performing operas and large banquets that were large enough to accommodate five to six hundred people for dinner at the same time.
At that time, these halls were the most high-end eating places for the public in Beijing. Most of the most famous Peking Opera actors of that era had performed in "Tanghui".
By now, the eight major halls in Yanjing have long been defunct in name only, with only Huifeng Hall remaining, which specializes in Shandong cuisine.
Two days before the wedding, Lin Weimin was very busy as there were quite a lot of people coming from other places.
Some of them were students from the Institute of Literature, such as Cheng Shixu, Huang Zonghan, Jin Ying, Jiang Zilon, etc. More than ten of these students came, and those who could not come also called Lin Weimin to send their blessings.
Another part is writers discovered by Lin Weimin, such as Yu Hua, Lu Yao, Er Yuehe, etc.
The day before the wedding, Lin Weimin invited his classmates to dinner and invited several teachers who were in the Institute of Literature Research at that time.
It has been nearly nine years since I started studying at the Institute of Literature and Art. We are very happy to meet each other again through this opportunity.
During the meal we talked about how everyone has changed over the years and had endless things to say.
Among the teachers, the original directors Xu Gang and Tang Yuqiu have retired, but the others are still on the job. Xiao Jing went from being the original librarian to the director of the library, and was teased by everyone for a while.
Compared with the teachers, the changes in the students are even greater.
After finishing their studies at the Institute of Literature, most of the students returned to their respective jobs and their creative achievements were better than before. Among them, several people stood out particularly, including Lin Weimin, Jiang Zilong, Huang Anyi, and Gu Hua.
These people have now become well-known figures among young and middle-aged writers in the domestic literary world.
Among the majority of the remaining classmates, several gave up the path of writing, such as Qu Xiaowei and Zhang Lin, which made everyone very regretful.
Apart from these people, the development of others is not much different, with some at higher levels and others at lower levels.
Cheng Shixu's career was not smooth among his classmates. He won the National Excellent Short Story Award that year, and studying at the Institute of Literature became the highlight of his youth.
After studying at the Institute of Literature and Art, I was silent for several years. A few years ago, with the help of Lin Weimin, I went to Wuhan University for further studies. After returning to the provincial Institute of Literature and Art, I saw some progress and published several works in succession, which helped me to keep my job.
Cheng Shixu was very excited to meet Lin Weimin this time. If it weren't for Lin Weimin's help, he wouldn't know where his future would be.
Compared with Cheng Shixu, Jin Ying's development surprised all teachers and classmates.
No one would have thought that the clever little girl in the class would become the leader of a provincial literary association at the age of thirty.
Not only that, Jin Ying's writing performance is also quite good. She is not in the first echelon of the class, but at least she is the leader of the second echelon.
Everyone talked about their life and work over the years, and as they chatted, they couldn't help but mention Guo Yudao, who passed away young.
When friends get together, the one who is not there is always the focus of everyone’s conversation.
Guo Yudao was the first one to pass away among our classmates, and he died young. Every time we meet him, it always arouses infinite regret and sadness.
Just as everyone was immersed in the gloomy atmosphere, Cheng Shixu suddenly asked, "Hey, why didn't An Yi come this time?"
Several classmates stared at him as if he were a mentally retarded person.
(End of this chapter)
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