After Bao Lixin left Rongcheng Literature and Art Publishing House, he quickly found new employers with several authors he had poached.
The several authors poached by Bao Lixin were all selected through an essay competition. Wen Ying felt that the best-level author was a male author. His writing style was unique and his novels were quite profound. It didn't matter much if one of his books didn't become a hit. With his skills, he would sooner or later occupy a place in the bestseller market.
The poaching of this male author is the biggest loss for Chengdu Literature and Art Publishing House.
Wen Ying thought that Bao Lixin would focus on developing this male author in the future, but she didn't expect that Bao Lixin would promote another female author to participate in the variety show this time.
The information provided by Mrs. Wang was very detailed.
"Blue Whale, 19 years old, currently studying at Shanghai University. In 2006, he participated in the 'Tianjiao Spark Cup' and won second prize in the novel category. That same year, he published the novel 'Gentle Her.'"
Wen Ying carefully reviewed the information again and asked Mrs. Wang with a smile, "How many tens of thousands of copies of Blue Whale's book have been sold?"
Mrs. Wang curled her lips. "She won second prize in the novel category of the essay competition. The first print run was 50,000 copies, and Bao Lixin reprinted 100,000 copies for her. Anyway, I haven't heard of a second reprint yet, and the total sales volume hasn't even exceeded 150,000 copies."
In the current physical book market, if a book has been on the market for almost a year and its total sales volume does not exceed 150,000 copies, such a result can only be considered mediocre.
The male author that Wen Ying favored won the first prize in the novel category of the essay competition. The first print run of his novel was 70,000 copies, and later an additional 150,000 copies were reprinted. So far, there has been no news of a second reprint. The total sales volume does not exceed 220,000 copies, which is not considered a big hit.
The male author just lacked the skills to master the story structure. The story itself was fine and the plot twists were novel. After he won the essay competition, Tianjiao bought the film and television rights.
In the long run, Wen Ying is more optimistic about the development of the male author.
As for Blue Whale, the writing is quite good, but the story lacks creativity and has a bit of a literary tone, so it only won second prize.
Although "Gentle Her" was published, Tianjiao did not buy the copyright. Such books are more about expressing the author's own emotions, lack a full plot, and have little value in film and television adaptation.
There were two second prizes in the novel category, but the copyright of the other second prize winner was bought.
Maybe because of this, Blue Whale was somewhat dissatisfied, and Bao Lixin poached Blue Whale without much effort.
Tianjiao and Wen Ying both feel that Blue Whale's book has no value for film or television adaptation. During this variety show recording, I wonder what connections Bao Lixin used to get Blue Whale on the guest list. It seems that he wants to promote Blue Whale.
Why praise Blue Whale instead of the male author who won the first prize?
——Blue Whale’s talent in writing novels may be lacking, but his appearance is very outstanding. There are photos of several authors posted on the information compiled by Mrs. Wang, and Blue Whale’s photo is very conspicuous.
The male author is not good-looking and is not as popular as Blue Whale when he appears on variety shows.
The photo of the blue whale is not photoshopped. Wen Ying saw the real blue whale during the award ceremony, and it looks like this!
If any other publishing house discovered a female author like Blue Whale, they would definitely promote her as a "beautiful girl writer" and build her into an idol writer.
However, Rongcheng Literature and Art Publishing House was previously edited by Zou Weijun, a relatively pure individual who prefers authors to focus on their work. It doesn't matter if your current work isn't good enough; write a couple more to practice. Once your skills improve, the publishing house will naturally invest resources in promoting it!
Blue Whale is capable of standing out from all the contestants and winning the second prize in the long-form category.
Zou Weijun hopes that Blue Whale will calm down and spend a year or two to polish out a work that is better than his debut work "Gentle Her"... Obviously, Blue Whale himself does not think so.
"Aunt Dong, Blue Whale must have a new product coming out."
The tone of "Gentle Her" has been set. It's been on the market for almost a year and hasn't become a bestseller yet. No matter how hard it tries now, it's unlikely to become a hit. Furthermore, "Gentle Her" was published by Rongcheng Literature and Art Publishing House, and Bao Lixin has already resigned, so how could he possibly contribute to Rongcheng Literature and Art Publishing House's promotion? Putting Blue Whale on a variety show at this time must be to promote Blue Whale's new book!
Mrs. Wang pondered, "I still don't know what the subject of Blue Whale's new book is."
This is a bit abnormal.
Since Bao Lixin wanted to push Blue Whale to the top, why did he keep the news secret?
Wen Ying still smiled and said, "Don't worry, the ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her parents-in-law. We will know during the recording."
Wen Ying's trip went very smoothly. Apart from being asked for an autograph on the plane, there were no setbacks or accidents. When she got off the plane, Director Fan came to pick her up in person. Wen Ying suppressed a smile and said Director Fan was too polite. Director Fan looked behind Wen Ying and could not hide his disappointment:
"Director Yuan didn't come?"
Mrs. Wang feigned dissatisfaction, "Director Fan, Director Yuan didn't come, but I did!"
Director Fan's eyes lit up.
"Manager Dong, you hosted the copyright promotion meeting for 'Star River and You' last year, right? Oh, Director Yuan isn't here, so it's the same if I talk to Manager Dong."
With someone like Mrs. Wang, Director Fan can always talk to her about anything.
Wen Ying sat in the nanny car, listening to the two chattering all the way. Mrs. Wang agreed to everything Director Fan said. When they arrived at the hotel, Director Fan asked Mrs. Wang when the contract would be signed. Mrs. Wang opened her eyes innocently and said, "What contract? I'm only in charge of the public relations department. I have no say in the signing of the contract."
Director Fan: ...
It would be strange if I couldn’t make the decision!
Director Fan maintained his composure. "That's fine. As long as Manager Dong approves of our cooperation, our chances of signing a contract with your company are very high. I can sense Manager Dong's influence on your company."
Mrs. Wang is thick-skinned, and Director Fan is no less shameless.
Wen Ying was watching the excitement from the side when another car stopped and the door opened. The person in the lead was actually Bao Lixin.
Behind Bao Lixin followed the blue whale.
This girl is really good-looking.
She has waist-length hair, fair skin, and looks delicate and artistic. She has the same style as Song Chan.
It was not a big deal to just see Bao Lixin and Blue Whale, because an old acquaintance of Wen Ying got out of the car.
"Aunt Dong, look—"
Wen Ying reminded quietly. Mrs. Wang looked in the direction Wen Ying pointed and was also stunned: "Why are they mixed up together?"
Director Fan also saw the person coming.
Director Fan is a very busy man. He doesn’t know Bao Lixin and Blue Whale, but he knows another person.
"Why is Guan here too?"
Mr. Guan and Liang Dan have been quite well behaved recently, and Director Fan doesn't care much about them.
Normally, it is inevitable to deal with Liang Dan, and there is no need to meet Director Guan. Director Fan does not think much of this gigolo. Now the atmosphere of chatting with Mrs. Wang is just right, and it is inevitable that he will feel uncomfortable when meeting this gigolo.
Director Fan withdrew his gaze. Wen Ying was also wondering why Bao Lixin was getting together with General Guan. Then she changed her mind and realized that the only way out for Bao Lixin was to get together with General Guan. Everyone knew that General Guan and Tianjiao didn't get along!
Wen Ying had a flash of inspiration: "Should Blue Whale's new book follow the operating model of "Galaxy and You"?"
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