Chapter 516 FSG Publishing
Susan Sontag's words made Lin Weimin at a loss for words. He pondered for a moment and said, "This question stumps me. I don't know exactly why my novels sell so well. If I have to say, I think it may have something to do with how I position myself."
"What positioning?" Roger Strauss asked curiously.
"I never thought that I would become a famous writer. I am just a third-rate novelist."
Lin Weimin's words made Roger Strauss burst into laughter. "Lin, you are such a joker. I think you are the only one in the world who thinks so!"
Susan Sontag looked at Lin Weimin with a strange expression. Although she didn't understand what he said, she was deeply shocked in her heart.
Your novels have sold millions of copies, and you won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Prix Goncourt, but you call yourself a third-rate novelist. Then what are we who haven't won any awards, amateurs?
Peter Perron looked at Lin Weimin and inexplicably thought of the conversation they had had in the West End Bookstore that day.
This Chinese writer has a rather outstanding personality!
Lin Weimin shrugged. "What I mean is that we should keep a calm mindset! We writers are used to setting ourselves grand goals and profound ideas when we write, but this can sometimes backfire and make us lose our most core abilities."
"What ability?"
“Empathy!”
Lin Weimin said calmly, "When we become the masters of a world, we are high above and look down on all living things. Naturally, our works will lack warmth. In fact, there is no conflict between good literary works and good stories."
After hearing his words, Susan Sontag was thoughtful, and Roger Strauss complimented him: "You are indeed a writer who has won the Goncourt Prize. Your remarks should really be heard by those narcissists who only know how to play sophisticated tricks. Your books don't sell well, and you always blame readers for not knowing the value of your books."
Roger Strauss looked at Lin Weimin with admiration, but did not notice Susan Sontag who was silent beside him.
Is it my fault that the book doesn’t sell well?
Susan Sontag was very suspicious that Roger Strauss was just making indirect accusations, but she seemed unable to refute it because if she did, people would think she was guilty.
"Come to think of it, Lin, your novels seem to be all published through Random House, right?" Roger Strauss suddenly asked.
Lin Weimin nodded and said, "Yes, we started cooperating very early."
Following this topic, Lin Weimin told Roger Strauss about his cooperation experience with Random House. When Roger Strauss heard Lin Weimin say that they had been cooperating since 1982, he couldn't help but frown.
"The cooperation started quite early. Random House has good vision!" Roger Strauss exclaimed.
"It can only be said to be a coincidence!" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Roger Strauss observed Lin Weimin's expression and said, "Random House's distribution strength in the United States is unquestionable. Lin, the sales of your novel are so good, and their distribution strength has played an indispensable role."
Seeing Lin Weimin nodded without comment, Roger Strauss continued, "Cooperating with a purely commercial publishing house like them is actually very beneficial for some fledgling writers..."
Lin Weimin cast his gaze at Roger Strauss with curiosity, and Roger Strauss was secretly happy when he saw this.
“Generally speaking, fledgling writers have neither fame nor strength, and have no awards to show for it, so they really need the packaging and promotion of publishing houses.
Lin, please don't misunderstand, I'm not talking about you.
For foreign writers like you, especially those from China, if you don't have your own strength, no matter how hard Random House promotes you, it will be of no avail.
Speaking of the benefits of cooperating with Random House, their distribution channels not only cover the United States, but also cover many English-speaking countries. From a purely commercial perspective, cooperating with them is a very good choice.”
Having said that, Roger Strauss paused and gave Lin Weimin a kind smile.
Lin Weimin looked at Roger Strauss with a calm expression, as if waiting for him to continue speaking.
"In that case, I should also cooperate with Random House," Susan Sontag said quietly.
Roger Strauss didn't expect her to suddenly interrupt. He looked at her and said, "Susan, your problem is that you don't have any heavyweight novels. With your current fame, it won't be difficult to make money if you can write a novel above the standard."
Like a little girl vying for favor, Susan Sontag smiled when she heard Roger Strauss's words.
Roger Strauss ignored her and continued to say to Lin Weimin: "However, for an already successful writer like you, the bonus of cooperating with Random House is already very small."
Lin Weimin asked: "Why do you say that?"
Roger Strauss said with a somewhat complacent expression, "It's very simple. Because you are already famous enough, and have formed a strong word-of-mouth effect and influence in the minds of readers. These people don't need Random House to promote your book. You just need to tell these readers that you have a new book, and they will naturally flock to the bookstore, so the sales of your work are not a problem at all."
"but……"
Roger Strauss's face became serious when he said this. "For a writer, especially an excellent writer like you who is likely to go down in history, it is far from enough for the work to be a bestseller."
"Lin, do you know why many American writers don't want to be called best-selling authors?" Roger Strauss asked seriously.
Lin Weimin shook his head cooperatively.
"Because... for these writers, being a bestseller means their work is superficial and a popular read that caters to the masses."
Lin Weimin laughed, "This idea is ridiculous!"
Roger Strauss looked at him and said, "It sounds ridiculous. Why does a work that sells well become a popular book? As a bookseller, I know better than you how ridiculous this idea and statement is. But..."
Roger Strauss looked at Lin Weimin with sincerity on his face. "It is precisely this seemingly absurd statement that has become a consensus in the mainstream American literary world. You can find out for yourself how many of the award-winning works over the years are successful sellers, and how many works missed out on nominations for various literary awards because they were on the New York Times bestseller list."
Lin Weimin fell silent. He had just been following Roger Strauss's speech, but in fact he had already guessed his purpose.
"But didn't 'Burning' win the National Book Critics Circle Award?" Peter Perron at the side suddenly asked.
Roger Strauss looked at Peter Perron and said appreciatively, "Good question!"
Then he added: "It is true that the National Book Critics Circle Award is one of the three major literary awards in the United States, but its influence ranks last among the three major literary awards. Another key problem is that among Lin's works, "Burning" did not sell well!"
Roger Strauss is a bookseller. He is well aware of the sales of Lin Weimin's works in the United States and naturally knows the sales performance of "Burning" in the United States.
"If Lin hadn't won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Prix Goncourt, the sales of Burning would have been more than half of what it is now, and there would be no way to guarantee sales of even 200,000."
There is some exaggeration in Roger Strauss's words, but overall there is nothing wrong with them.
When "Burning" was first released, the sales were indeed not very good. It was only thanks to several awards that the sales of the novel were boosted.
Roger Strauss sighed: "I can only say that the sales of Burning are just right. When the judges look at the sales of a book, they are afraid that you will sell well, but if your sales are too low, they will also be entangled. It is best to maintain a level that is not too high but still has a group of loyal readers."
Lin Weimin suddenly said: "Elite group!"
Roger Strauss clapped his hands happily. "Lin, you are a wise man! You got to the point right away. That's right, this group of judges wants to maintain the supremacy of literature over the masses and keep the right to speak firmly in the hands of this elite group."
Susan Sontag couldn't help but retort: "Roger, you are here to promote your conspiracy theory again!"
"This is not a conspiracy theory, but an objective fact." Roger Strauss looked proud. "Otherwise, how do you think the works published by our FSG won so many awards?"
FSG is the abbreviation of Farrar, Strauss & Giroux. Roger Strauss continued, "Susan, we are all adults now. Don't think that only good works can win awards. Are your works in recent years very bad? Do you remember the last time you won an award? In 1977!"
At this point, the smug look on Roger Strauss's face became more and more obvious.
“FSG Publishing has been established for more than 40 years. During the 25 years from 1946 to 1970, authors under our publishing house won 15 Nobel Prizes in Literature.
Of course, Susan, you can say that our winning the award is entirely related to the fact that the United States has dominated the Western publishing industry in the past two decades.
Then let's do the math and see that from 1981 to today, FSG Publishing has still won five Nobel Prizes in Literature."
After Roger Strauss mentioned his own publishing house, his expression gradually became unrestrained and full of pride.
"Do you really think that the reason our publishing house has won so many Nobel Prizes in Literature is entirely related to the quality of the writers' works? Come on, there are no reporters here today.
Let’s be honest, if the work can’t even be shortlisted, how can it win an award?”
The atmosphere in the room fell silent after his blunt remarks.
We are all insiders in the industry, and we are actually familiar with some of the unspoken rules of award judging. It’s just that Roger Strauss’s remarks today were too abrupt, leaving no one with time to react.
Anne Libovitz looked at Roger Strauss with interest. The Roger Strauss she knew was not a young man who would speak nonsense in public, especially when there were new friends today.
Thinking of this, Anne Libovitz looked at Lin Weimin with a faint smile on her face.
(End of this chapter)
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