Chapter 634 Editor Qiu is a really good person
Childhood Magazine, No. 157, Changshu Road, Shanghai.
"Childhood" magazine is different from ordinary magazines or publishing houses. It is affiliated with the China Welfare Institute and was founded in 1959. It is the first children's literature magazine in China.
Huang Anyi worked here from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, and later she became a full-time writer. Over the years, there have been staff changes, with fewer familiar faces and more unfamiliar ones.
Sister Lu is a veteran employee of the editorial department. She has been here since the founding of Childhood and will retire next year.
Lin Weimin's "Spirited Away" was sent to the publishing house on Tuesday afternoon. The editor-in-chief Qiu Shilong attached great importance to this matter. As soon as the registered letter arrived, he directly handed the manuscript to the young editor Yu Huili in the publishing house for review, and also set a time.
"Childhood" has been established for many years, and it is not without great writers who have published their works here. Many famous writers in the Chinese literary world have published their works here, such as Ba Lao, Bing Lao and so on.
But this time Lin Weimin's situation is different. There is no need to mention Lin Weimin's status in the domestic literary world today. The key point is that he actually wrote a 160,000-word fairy tale.
This is extremely rare for a writer of his level.
The field of children's literature occupies a somewhat awkward position within the larger literary category.
Good people don’t like to write and bad people can’t write.
This has led to the uneven quality of works in the field of children's literature.
If we count them carefully, there are actually quite a few classic works both at home and abroad. However, apart from these works that have been accumulated over hundreds of years, there are very few works that can make readers unforgettable or even have an epoch-making impact.
Nowadays, there are famous writers both at home and abroad entering this field. Although he wrote this work to celebrate the birth of his daughter, Qiu Shilong naturally does not dare to take it lightly as he values the reputation of a person and the influence of a tree.
Yu Huili is in her early thirties and has been working as an editor at Children's Times Publishing House since she graduated from university. Although she has six or seven years of work experience, in front of an experienced person like Sister Lu, she can only be a preliminary review editor. She and Sister Lu are in the same group, and Sister Lu is responsible for the review.
After spending two days reading the manuscript given to him by the editor-in-chief, Yu Huili could not hide her excitement and her heart was filled with amazement.
She had read many of Lin Weimin's works and knew his talent in literary creation and his varied creative style, but Yu Huili had never dreamed that he was so talented in writing children's literature.
"Spirited Away".
Yu Huili couldn't help but turn to the first page of the manuscript and stare at the title of the book on the first page. It was really a rare good one.
There is pure childlike innocence, fantastic adventures, magnificent imagination, moving emotions, and the style of the times...
Yu Huili recalled all the children's literature works she had read during her editing career, including many classics from home and abroad, but this was the first time she had seen a work like "Spirited Away".
It covers almost all the elements that a children's book can cover. It is rich in content, colorful, full of emotions, and closely related to the present. Whether it is the plot, character creation or all other aspects, Yu Huili could not find any fault with it.
Yu Huili feels that this is not only a very suitable work for children to read, but also suitable for readers of all ages.
The outstanding creative quality of this work has enabled it to transcend the scope of children's literature and possess a broader literary significance and ideological connotation.
Yu Huili even feels that the work "Spirited Away" deserves a Yanbing Literature Award.
In addition to the quality of the work itself, it is also because such outstanding children's literature works are so rare in the domestic literary world.
After being amazed, Yu Huili handed the manuscript of "Spirited Away" to Sister Lu.
"I have finished reviewing Mr. Lu's manuscript. Please take a look."
Sister Lu took a close look at the review comments written by Yu Huili. There were more than 2,000 words written on five pages of manuscript paper, which was extremely rare for an editor who had to review dozens of works every day.
If everyone follows this standard, we may not be able to review several manuscripts in a month.
"Oh my! Xiao Yu, you put so much effort into writing this opinion. Is this manuscript really that good?" Sister Lu looked left and right while wearing reading glasses. If this novel is really as Yu Huili praised, then it would be a great gift to "Childhood"!
"You will know whether it is good or not after you take a look at it. Anyway, I have been an editor for so many years, and the manuscripts I have handled are at least 80 million words, if not 100 million. The quality of this manuscript is not inferior to those well-known classic works."
Sister Lu smiled and said, "Then I'd better take a good look to see if it's as good as you say!"
Yu Huili had a reserved yet confident smile on her face. She was not confident in her own vision, but in the work "Spirited Away".
She can say responsibly that with this work, Chinese literary world has gained another classic fairy tale, which will surely become an unforgettable childhood memory for countless children.
A few days later, Lin Weimin received a call from Qiu Shilong.
"Teacher Lin, oh, Teacher Lin, you really gave us a great gift for "Childhood"!"
During the phone call, Qiu Shilong's tone could not hide his excitement.
The manuscript of "Spirited Away" was sent to him after initial and re-review by two editors, and he, as the editor-in-chief, needed to make the final review of the manuscript.
Although he had confidence in the work submitted by Lin Weimin, Qiu Shilong was still shocked after seeing the review comments given to the work by his two editors.
Both of them wrote review comments of more than a thousand words, of which only a very small paragraph was a real "opinion", and the rest was all praise for "Spirited Away".
Under the pen of the two editors, the novel "Spirited Away" has become a rare classic children's literature work in the domestic literary world, and it is hard to find an rival in the field of international children's literature in the past two or three decades.
Qiu Shilong was confident in the professional qualities of his editors. Seeing that they praised the work so highly, he couldn't wait to read it.
After reading the novel, Qiu Shilong's heart was in turmoil and he couldn't calm down for a long time. He thought for a long time, and the contents of the two review opinions flashed through his mind.
There are only four words in my mind: well-deserved.
"Oh, Teacher Lin, I really don't know what to say. I only knew that you wrote good novels with a variety of styles, but I didn't expect that you would be so outstanding in the field of children's literature after just trying your hand at it. It's really amazing!"
In response to Qiu Shilong's high praise, Lin Weimin spoke modestly.
After Qiu Shilong's praise, his emotions calmed down, and he said with a somewhat embarrassed tone: "Teacher Lin, there is something I need to tell you."
"You say."
"Normally, for a masterpiece like yours, it's only natural to publish it in one issue. Unfortunately, our publication has limited space, so we can only publish it in series..."
Lin Weimin laughed and said, "Oh! I thought it was a big deal. Since the manuscript has been handed over to you, it is up to you to decide how to publish it."
His easy-going nature made Qiu Shilong feel at ease, and he then raised something that he thought might make Lin Weimin even more embarrassed.
"Another thing is that our publication is under the Welfare Association, and the remuneration is really not comparable to the standard of your previous publications. You see, 4 per thousand words..."
Before Qiu Shilong could finish, Lin Weimin interrupted him and said, "Forget about the royalties. This novel can be considered a Children's Day gift to children all over the country. If your magazine is interested, you can use the royalties to donate some publications to rural primary schools."
Qiu Shilong didn't expect Lin Weimin to be so generous as to waive his royalties. For a moment, he didn't know what to say to express his gratitude.
Moreover, the royalties can be converted into magazines and donated directly to rural primary schools, which can not only bring the joy of reading to those rural children, but also broaden their horizons.
With such ideological awareness, it is no wonder that he became the editor-in-chief of Guowen Publishing House at such a young age. Qiu Shilong's heart is full of respect and admiration for Lin Weimin.
"No problem, then let's do as you say. 1,000 words... 60 yuan, just enough to make up 10,000 yuan in royalties. We will use all this royalties to buy magazines at our cost price, and after purchasing them, we will donate them to Hope Primary Schools in various places. What do you think?"
Qiu Shilong temporarily raised the standard of manuscript fee to 20 yuan per thousand words. Teacher Lin was so generous in his work, so the Children's Times Publishing House could not be too stingy.
They can be a little stingy when calculating royalties from writers, but they have to be more generous when it comes to charity and welfare. After all, they have the golden sign of "China Welfare Institute" on their heads.
He also knew that Lin Weimin was enthusiastic about charity. The China Youth Education Development Foundation and the Hope Project were established at his initiative and with his generous donation. Donating all the purchased magazines to the Hope Primary Schools was a way of returning the favor.
"Editor-in-Chief Qiu is very thoughtful!" Lin Weimin praised.
"We are just being generous to others. The real kindness comes from you."
Everyone carried the fancy sedan. Lin Weimin liked to do good deeds, and Qiu Shilong was happy to cooperate. Both parties were happy.
Qiu Shilong also discussed with Lin Weimin the publication date of Spirited Away. Next month happens to be Children's Day, so Qiu Shilong plans to give Spirited Away a chance to start serialization in June. It is expected to be serialized for eight issues, with each issue containing about 20,000 words.
"Everything is up to you." Lin Weimin said happily.
Qiu Shilong communicated with Lin Weimin in advance and gave him enough respect, so he naturally knew how to advance and retreat.
After discussing the publication matters, Qiu Shilong hung up the phone with Lin Weimin, and then made a special call to Huang Anyi.
The reason why "Spirited Away" was submitted to "Children's Times" was entirely because Lin Weimin and Huang Anyi were acquaintances, otherwise "Children's Literature" would be in Yanjing and "Children's Times" would not have had the chance.
"An Yi, thank you so much for thinking about our club this time."
Huang Anyi was a little flattered by Qiu Shilong's solemn thanks. It was just a recommendation of a manuscript. It shouldn't be like this, right?
"Editor-in-Chief Qiu, you are too polite. Children's Times Publishing House was my first job and it was also the place where I started my literary journey. I am very happy to be able to do my part for the development of our publication."
"Okay, okay, An Yi, you are so thoughtful. The agency really owes you a favor this time. If you need anything in the future, just give me a call."
Qiu Shilong said solemnly.
Feeling his sincerity, Huang Anyi thanked him and thought to herself, Editor-in-Chief Qiu is a really nice person.
(End of this chapter)
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