1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhang Shouren kept shaking his head and sighing, Zhou Yan's appeal far exceeded his expectations.

"October" is not a small magazine. If you put all the literary magazines in the country together, even if they are not in the first tier, they are definitely in the upper second tier.

Most of the well-known domestic writers have published their works in their magazines.

But no other writer has ever received as good a response to his work as Zhou Yan's did.

Even if some works can become a big hit, it usually takes some time, unlike this time when the magazine sold so many copies right after it was published.

Especially in recent years, literary journals have lost their central position and fewer and fewer people are paying attention to them.

People have more and more entertainment activities, and literary publications are no longer as indispensable as they once were.

Not to mention compared with the 1980s, even compared with the first few years of the 1990s, it is far worse.

For example, the reason why Jia Pingwa's "Wasteland" caused such a strong response at the time was actually related to the backward development of mass media and the control of erotic reading materials.

In just a few years, the domestic VCD market has developed rapidly, especially this year, many new VCD brands have entered the market, and people's entertainment activities have suddenly increased.

If "Wasteland" had been published this year, its sales would probably have been greatly reduced.

After all, many readers bought "Wasted City" not for its literature, but just regarded it as pornographic reading material to comfort their loneliness in the middle of the night.

Now that we have VCDs, we can use the money we would have spent on books to buy some interesting discs. Aren’t they more vivid and interesting than novels?

These changes only happened over a few years.

A glimpse of the whole picture shows that the living environment of literary publications is no longer as good as before. Major magazines want to change, but there is no good way.

Given the current environment, it is difficult to reverse the situation.

Zhang Shouren was determined to get Zhou Yan's new work. On the one hand, he really liked the novel, and on the other hand, it was also because of Zhou Yan's influence.

Now it seems that his idea at that time was correct and his goal was achieved.

"By the way, the publishing house said they want to get the single volume out as soon as possible," said Ke Yan, the leader of the novel group.

The publishing house that Ke Yan mentioned was naturally the Yenching Publishing House, and their magazine was originally under the Yenching Publishing House.

Publishing a single volume is not a difficult matter. When we were discussing serialization, I had already agreed with Zhou Yan that the single volume would be published by Yenching Publishing House.

It’s just that before, they were planning to publish the single volume after the second issue or the entire book was serialized, but now it seems that the publishing house wants to publish it earlier.

It is understandable that the publishing house wants to publish the book earlier, because the later it is published, the more difficult it is to guarantee sales.

If only two issues are published, leaving one issue unpublished, it would be fine. However, if a single volume is published after all the serials are completed, many readers will not buy it, after all, they have already read the book in the magazine.

And there is another problem, that is, after the entire series is completed, their genuine single volume may not come out yet, but the pirated single volume may come out first.

Anyway, it’s not difficult to make a pirated copy. Just tear out the content of “Don’t Let Me Go” from the three issues of “October” and you can make a complete version and then print it.

"Does that mean the second issue won't be serialized?" Zhang Shouren asked. He hadn't heard any relevant news yet.

Ke Yan nodded. "That's what I heard from them, but I don't know the details. If it's true, they should have a meeting to discuss it in the next few days."

This matter cannot be delayed because each issue of the magazine is typeset in advance. If we wait until the typeset of the next issue is completed before discussing this matter, wouldn’t it be a waste of their efforts?

Zhang Shouren didn’t care much about whether the second issue would be published or not. Now that “Don’t Let Me Go” had been published in “October” and the response was good, he could be considered a success.

As for what happens later, it has little to do with him.

……

Zhang Shouren thought that even if the publication of the book was to be decided, it might take a few days, but he did not expect that the matter would be brought up at the meeting the next day.

Moreover, the meeting is not for discussion, but for direct decision-making.

The publishing house decided to sell the single volume directly in half a month, with an initial print run of 100,000 copies.

Because the manuscripts and everything are ready, the proofreading work has been completed, and even the typesetting and book numbers have been done before, so it is very simple to sell the single volume now, and you just need to coordinate with the printing factory.

In other words, they can sell the products whenever the printing factory finishes printing.

There were two different opinions at the meeting regarding the first print run of 100,000 copies.

One side believes that the novel has only been serialized for two days and is only popular in some areas, but there is no truly valuable feedback yet. It is a bit risky to hastily print 100,000 copies for the first time.

The other side believes that the first print run of 100,000 copies is a bit conservative. Given Zhou Yan's fame, there is no pressure at all to sell 100,000 copies.

The key point is that Zhou Yan's fame is nationwide. If the first print run of 100,000 copies is not enough to buy, it would be a waste of time to rush to reprint more copies, which would affect the rhythm of distribution.

The conservatives and the radicals each have their own opinions, but the matter has already been decided, and no matter how they argue, it cannot affect the decision of the publishing house.

Zhang Shouren was assigned an errand to inform Zhou Yan that the single volume was going to be published.

Firstly, they had an obligation to inform, and secondly, they also wanted Zhou Yan to cooperate with the publicity. Later, they even hoped that Zhou Yan would cooperate with the publishing house to organize activities similar to book signing events.

When Zhou Yan received the call from Zhang Shouren, he was already in Yanjing.

He was quite surprised when he heard that the single volume would be published in half a month. He didn't expect the publishing house to be so anxious.

Zhang Shouren smiled and said, "It's not urgent, actually. Many novels are done this way. When we agreed to publish the single volume at Yanjing Publishing House, they had already started preparations."

"Since this matter has already been settled, I'll leave it to you. If there's anything you need my cooperation with, just tell me."

"There's nothing specific that requires your cooperation. It's just that the new book is about to be released, and the publisher naturally hopes that you can help promote it."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Of course I will promote my own book, don't worry about that."

"I may need your cooperation in organizing a book signing event later. I don't know..."

"As long as you're in Yanjing and confirm the time with me in advance, there should be no problem."

"If we are going to hold a book signing event, we will definitely confirm the time with you in advance. If there are any issues in this regard later, it may not be me who communicates with you. Someone from the publishing house will contact you."

"How about this, you tell the publishing house that if there is anything, just contact our studio directly. We will have someone special here to connect with them."

"Okay, no problem, as long as it can be connected."

Zhang Shouren also knew that Zhou Yan was very busy, so he expressed his understanding.

Zhou Yan said this at this time because he wanted to expand the business scope of his studio at the beginning of the new year.

Their studio originally focused on film production, soundtrack production, and music album production. The TV drama department added last year has not officially started work yet, but it is almost on track.

Now Zhou Yan wants to expand a literature section based on these sections.

Previously, he either handled his own novel business himself or asked Zhang Youan to help him handle it. He felt that this was too troublesome. After opening up this business in the studio, he could set up a department to handle the writing business. Not only could he handle his own business, but he could also handle the business of Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng.

Text is originally an integral part of the film and television industry chain, so it is reasonable to set up another department now.

Zhou Yan hung up the phone with Zhang Shouren. Wang Zuxian put half a tangerine into his mouth and said with a smile, "Is the book coming out so soon?"

The office was hot, and the tangerines were icy and refreshing. Zhou Yan finished the tangerine in his mouth and then said with a smile, "The publishing house is in a hurry."

"Please send us samples quickly. The previous sample issues have not been delivered yet."

"Oh, I forgot to tell Chief Judge Zhang about this. It's okay, I'll ask him again in a couple of days."

"Xiao Rong knows that your new novel is being serialized, and she is anxious to ask me for it. You can't buy October in Taiwan."

"Just buy a copy and send it to her. It doesn't have to be a sample."

"I was originally thinking of buying a copy and mailing it to her tomorrow, but now that I heard that it's going to be a separate volume, I'm thinking I should wait for it to come out. Otherwise, after reading the first part, she'll get anxious, just like my sister-in-law and the others."

"That's true."

After reading Never Let Me Go, the Zhou family members had different reactions.

Naturally everyone praised it, but Zhou Yan could tell that not everyone liked "Don't Let Me Go", at least not everyone liked the first part.

My grandparents probably felt that the novel was too long-winded. After reading tens of thousands of words, there was no particular meaning. The style of the novel did not quite suit their taste.

Although grandma kept saying "not bad", her reaction was completely different from when she watched "Tree Hole".

I watched "Tree Hole" before, and the approval in my grandma's eyes was almost overflowing.

My uncle Zhou Yaohua liked the novel very much and gave it a very high evaluation, believing that the style of Zhou Yan's new work was very international.

He also emphasized that it is internationalization, not Westernization.

It does not read like a Western novel, but it is very different from domestic novels. It is very readable and poses almost no obstacles to readers.

Sister-in-law Gu Fangfang also likes this novel, but she reads "Don't Let Me Go" as a suspense novel. She believes that this school must be hiding some shocking secret, and she has been looking forward to the answer being revealed.

Therefore, when Gu Fangfang learned that the secret would not be revealed until the second issue, she became very anxious and almost asked Zhou Yan for the manuscript.

In fact, if she really asked Zhou Yan for the manuscript, Zhou Yan would give it to her.

But the manuscript was in Yanjing, and he couldn't give it to him immediately.

Now, the single volume is about to be released, and my sister-in-law and the others don’t have to wait too long.

……

Zhou Yan ate a few more oranges, then stood up and walked outside. "I'm going to talk to Liu Hang about something."

"it is good."

When Zhou Yan appeared in Liu Hang's office, Liu Hang showed a surprised expression, "Boss, you came to see me?"

Normally, if Zhou Yan wanted to see him, he would call him over and rarely come to his office.

"Just now, Zhang Shouren from October called and said that Yanjing Publishing House is going to publish a single volume of Never Let Me Go. It is estimated that the book will be available in half a month."

"So fast?"

"Well, they are all prepared in advance."

"It seems that the new work has received a good response." Liu Hang smiled and looked at Zhou Yan again, waiting for Zhou Yan's next words.

Liu Hang was not in charge of the novel, so he didn't know what Zhou Yan meant by suddenly saying this.

Zhou Yan sat directly on the sofa and said with a smile, "I have been thinking about setting up a literature club. This time, I can take advantage of the release of the single volume of Never Let Me Go to finalize this matter."

"Are you going to set up a new department?" Liu Hang didn't expect that the boss would make such a big move right after returning from vacation.

Setting up a new department is not an easy task. It requires an overall plan. It is not just about setting up an office and throwing two people in to make it a new department.

It took quite a long time to get the TV drama department on track when we set it up.

This is based on the premise that they already have a film department, so the personnel are relatively easy to arrange.

Now I have to start the literature club...

I’m afraid the boss is the only one in their studio who understands literature?

Who will be in charge of this new department? Where will the staff be recruited? What will be its main business?
Seeing Liu Hang's expression suddenly become serious, Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Don't take this too seriously. The purpose of setting up this department is to help Yu Hua and I deal with literature-related matters. Such a department doesn't need many people at the beginning."

Liu Hang nodded. "I roughly understand. The new department does not have any business expansion needs for the time being."

"Yes, not yet."

"In this case, it would be easier to handle. Should we put the office in Building No. 3?"

Zhou Yan waved his hand. "It doesn't matter where the office is. There's no need to rush to decide. I want to ask you, do you know any friends in the book industry?"

"I don't have much contact with the book sector..." Liu Hang was halfway through his words when his eyes suddenly lit up, "I think of someone."

"Who?"

"Chen Hongheng."

Hearing this name, Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Isn't he a legal officer?"

Liu Hang was surprised and asked, "Boss, do you still remember him?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, when Shueisha approached us to make a collection of novels, didn't they commission him to discuss it with us?"

"Yes, it's him. Although Chen Hongheng is a legal officer, he is also mainly a copyright agent. We have been in contact for the past two years."

"How's his business going?"

"He started his own company last year, and it hasn't developed much, but he has good personal abilities and is rich in experience in this area."

"Where are they?"

"I'm in Shanghai now."

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and said, "Contact Chen Hongheng and ask him if he is willing to come to Yanjing to work. If he is willing, I will come and talk to him." (End of this chapter)