Chapter 664: Good-looking is the most important thing (Silver Alliance Extra 2)
It was quite a sight to see the twelve editors of the Ragdoll series gathered in the conference room. In terms of staff size, this editorial team has surpassed several editorial offices in the publishing house.
The editorial team leader is Lin Weimin himself, and the deputy team leader is Gao Xianjun, who is the director of the second editorial department of contemporary literature. He joined the publishing house at the same time as Li Xin and has outstanding professional skills.
After everyone arrived, Lin Weimin cleared his throat and everyone's eyes immediately turned to him.
“I won’t waste my time talking nonsense. The purpose of today’s meeting is mainly to communicate with you about the selection criteria for the Ragdoll series.
When the editorial team was first established, I told everyone about the selection criteria for our series of books, which I summarized in twelve words: no taboos, story first, readers' first choice.
These dozen words are easy to understand, but the difficulty lies in whether we can abandon some of the previous single review standards during the review process. "
At this point, Lin Weimin's tone softened a little.
"I know that all of you here are elites of our Guowen Press, and several of our senior editors are highly respected. In the past, when reviewing manuscripts, the attitude and position you have upheld has always been fair, objective, and based on the literature itself.
What is different about this series of books of Ragdoll is that the readers we want to attract are not just the existing literature lovers, but all readers who are interested in literature as much as possible.
There seems to be little difference between the two, but it is obvious that the latter requires a lower reading threshold.
But a low reading threshold does not mean that the quality of the work is poor..."
As Lin Weimin spoke, he pushed the manuscript of "The Flower Season and Rainy Season" towards Gao Xianjun, who took it.
When he saw the title of the book on the homepage, the content of the novel immediately flashed through his mind. He was deeply impressed by this novel, which was about campus life and youth growth.
The author's writing style is a bit immature, but its temperament is fresh, natural and unconventional. If it were not for its slightly poor literary quality, it would have passed the review.
The editor-in-chief brought out this novel. Could it be that...
Lin Weimin signaled Gao Xianjun to pass the manuscript of the novel on. After everyone read it, they all had some impression of the novel.
"I'm sure everyone has read "The Season of Flowers and Rain". Let me explain first, I have put it back on the list of those that have passed the review. Let's first talk about the reasons for eliminating this novel!"
Everyone looked at each other, and no one spoke first.
As the deputy team leader, Gao Xianjun could only say, "What can I say about this novel? The author is very young, has a lot of ideas in writing, and writes well. The youth, hazy campus life and emotions are well written. Even a person in his forties like me can relate to it. If there are any problems, it is mainly because the literary quality of this novel is relatively poor and it lacks some dramatic conflicts. Therefore, we eliminated this novel during the review stage."
Lin Weimin nodded after listening, "Xianjun is right, he mentioned both the advantages and disadvantages, then let me talk about my opinion."
Everyone looked at him, expecting Lin Weimin to give a long speech explaining why he kept the novel, but unexpectedly he only uttered a few words.
“This novel is great!”
Some people hadn't reacted yet and were waiting for Lin Weimin's follow-up. After waiting for a long time, they realized that he had already finished speaking.
When everyone was puzzled, Lin Weimin said again: "No taboos, the story comes first, and readers are the first choice."
Combined with Lin Weimin’s words just now, everyone present suddenly understood what this so-called “audit standard” should be.
Qin Chaoyang smiled and said, "It seems that our thinking was not broad enough before."
Lin Weimin nodded slightly and said, "The series of books by Buhuhu is a pioneering effort by our Guowen Publishing House to bring forth something new and fresh. You should be bolder and not restrict yourself with past experience."
At this time, Li Xiang, a young editor at the desk, suddenly asked, "Editor-in-Chief, if this is the case, why don't we just publish popular literature?"
Li Xiang's words expressed the thoughts of many people present. Yes, if "good looking" is the only criterion for review, then why not just publish popular literature?
Facing Li Xiang's questioning, Lin Weimin's face was calm, and he said calmly: "Have you ever thought about this question, when did we start to simply divide literature into popular literature and pure literature? What is the criterion for this judgment? During the Republic of China period, Mr. Zhang Henshui's Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School should be classified as popular literature, so was "Dream of Red Mansions" considered popular literature in Cao Xueqin's era? If we go back further, many of Tang Xianzu's miscellaneous works are about talented scholars and beautiful women, can they be considered popular literature?"
Lin Weimin's series of questions remained unanswered, but everyone must have had their own thoughts.
"Li Xiang's words just now seem to tacitly assume that popular literature is definitely better than pure literature in terms of reading experience. So let me ask you another question: is there no good work in pure literature?
If pure literature means being obscure and ugly, then what is the meaning of its existence?
Is it destined to become official literature like eight-legged essays?"
Lin Weimin's words came one after another, and his expression became more serious as he spoke. In the end, his words were sonorous and powerful, and his eyes were staring at everyone present.
The meeting room fell into a brief silence. People were not intimidated by Lin Weimin's serious attitude, but were immersed in what he had just said.
It's a wake-up call!
"Alas!" When everyone was silent, Qin Chaoyang, the most senior editor present, let out a helpless sigh.
Although he didn't want to admit it in his heart, he had to admit that Lin Weimin was right.
Nowadays, many writers’ works blindly pursue the so-called literary, ideological, and artistic qualities, pursue innovation in writing forms and diversity in writing techniques, but ignore the most essential content of literature.
Zhu Guangqian believed that literature has four major functions: expressing emotions, reasoning, narrating stories, and describing things, but he never mentioned the literary or ideological functions.
As contemporary literature has developed to this point, some people have gone astray, and there are many of them.
"Editor-in-chief, I think everyone should understand what you mean, but they haven't changed their mindset yet. After all, it's a working habit for so many years," said Gao Xianjun.
Lin Weimin said: "It is normal that habits cannot be changed for a while, but thoughts must be changed. Well, that's all for today. I hope everyone can adjust as soon as possible and select more good books for the Buhuhu series."
After saying these words, Lin Weimin announced the adjournment of the meeting.
Then Gao Xianjun and Qin Chaoyang were left behind. "I have read all four manuscripts sent by the editorial team. The World of Suffering is pretty good, so let's put it in the first batch of books. Another one is Season of Flowers and Rains. This novel can also be included. Together with Jia Pingwa's Wasted City, these three novels can be considered the first batch of novels in our Ragdoll Series."
Lin Weimin then instructed, "Xianjun, you are responsible for contacting several authors and asking them to prepare to go to Beijing to sign contracts. Also, how are the communications with the famous authors that we are contacting recently going?"
"Wang Meng and Liang Xiaosheng have already come up with ideas for new books, but Jin Ying and Tang Kangmei have not yet come up with any ideas. By the way, Jin Ying also said that she has persuaded Huang Anyi to participate in the Buhuhu series of books."
Lin Weimin was a little surprised. "Oh? I really don't know that. I'll call and ask later."
He added, "So that means there are eight writers. Both the quantity and quality are very good. We should make the signing ceremony grand. You should contact these writers as soon as possible and finalize the schedule. Put the works aside for the time being. Anyway, we already have the first batch of works."
Gao Xianjun nodded, "I understand."
Lin Weimin turned to Tan Chaoyang and said, "Comrade Tan, what do you think of what I just said?"
Qin Chaoyang gave a thumbs up, "Great!"
"Your attitude is too perfunctory."
"So what? Do you still need me to flatter you?"
"No need to flatter me. You are the pillar of the editorial team. I am just listening to the voices of the masses!"
Qin Chaoyang put away his joking expression and said, "You are right. It is very cruel and realistic. Pure literature has evolved to this day and has accumulated many problems. It is not wrong to stick to the old ways, but it is tantamount to chronic suicide."
Although Qin Chaoyang is old, his thoughts are more active and open, and he agrees with Lin Weimin's ideas.
"real?"
"What do you have that's worth me lying to you about?"
"You tricked me into going to a restaurant!"
spit!
What do I need from you for a bite of mutton hotpot?
The meeting officially ended, and everyone’s thoughts were unified. Now it all depends on everyone’s performance.
Lin Weimin is only one person and it is impossible for him to always focus all his energy on the editorial team's manuscript review. After two months of development, the reputation of the Bu Lao Hu series in China has reached a peak and has been gradually declining.
The next step should be to witness a miracle... Phew, we must create another wave of popularity to bring the Ragdoll series of books back into the public eye, and then take advantage of the opportunity to launch the first batch of works.
"Hey, An Yi, tell me, if you want to participate in the Tiger Book Series, why don't you just tell me directly?"
"Oh, was it Jinying who insisted on dragging you along?"
"I guess she's just embarrassed. After all, she's the deputy head of the Provincial Literary Association. Sister Tang was dragged into this by her."
"It's okay. Wang Meng is watching you. What are you afraid of? With him here, who would pay attention to you guys?"
"Okay. Don't worry, take your time to write. We are just holding a signing ceremony. Our series of books is based on two aspects. There are not only new works by famous authors, but also a large number of solicited articles. Signing the contract first is just for publicity."
…
After finishing his phone call with Huang Anyi, Lin Weimin looked at the time. It was already late, so he packed up his things and left work early.
He drove all the way to Yanying Studio. Yesterday, Cheng Kaige called him and said that the rough cut of "Farewell My Concubine" was out and asked him to take a look.
When we arrived at the screening room of Yanying, most of the main creators of the crew were there, as well as Xu Feng and Michael Phillips, the two investors and producers.
It is already March, and the Cannes Film Festival is in two months. The rough cut represents the final quality of the film to a large extent, so the two of them cannot help but pay attention to it. After all, each of them contributed 4 million US dollars, which is real money.
On this point, Lin Weimin seemed much more calm.
After everyone greeted each other, the movie officially began.
Familiar logos and sound effects flashed by, a door opened, and Overlord and Concubine Yu walked in hand in hand.
The voiceover asked, "What do you do?"
Ba Wang replied: "Oh, I'm here to rehearse for the Peking Opera."
Voice-over: "Oh, it's you two. I'm a big fan of yours."
…
The beams of light scattered and then gathered on the stage, revealing two figures: Overlord and Concubine Yu.
Gentlemen, please give me some monthly tickets.
(End of this chapter)
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