Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 509: Writers in the Republic of China Still Promoted Their Books

“How many places are you going to?”

"Not many. Shu Bin means Yanjing, Shencheng, Huacheng and our Xijing."

What the hell!

It's a circle around China.
Fang Minghua couldn't help but think of the trip he went to the United States two years ago to sign and sell the English translation of "Crossing the Guandong". He flew all the way around the United States and almost vomited from signing so many autographs!
But this is how you promote your own book.

I also have to support Shu Bin's work.

Fang Minghua had no choice but to agree.

"Minghua, you can stay in Yanjing for two more days and accompany my grandparents!"

"Don't worry, I'll stay with them at night, play chess with grandpa and chat with grandma." Fang Minghua said.

"That's good. I'm hanging up now. Shu Bin will contact you when he arrives in Yanjing. Bye."

"Goodbye."

Fang Minghao hung up the phone and went back to the dinner table.

"Who's calling? Tangtang?" grandma asked kindly.

"Well, she told me to stay in Yanjing for two more days to promote my book." Fang Minghua briefly explained the situation.

"Okay, you can stay as many days as you want." Grandma said lovingly.

Grandpa was holding a steamed bun, but thinking about another question:
"Xiaohua, do writers need to sign and sell books now? Good books will naturally attract people to read them. As the saying goes, good wine needs no bush. I read your book Skywalker, it's very good, and people will read it without any promotion."

Fang Minghua was thinking about how to answer his grandfather's question, but his grandmother next to him took over and said, "Who said that good books don't need to be promoted? You don't understand. Let alone now, even in the Republic of China, those literary masters still promoted the books they wrote."

"Which literary master?" Fang Minghua became curious.

"There are many, including Lu Xun, Lao She, Palladium, Zhu Ziqing, Zhang Henshui, and many more."

“How do they promote their books?”

"It was mainly advertising texts for books and magazines. It's been so long since I've written them that I can't remember what others wrote, but the ones written by Lao She are the most interesting."

"He advertised his own collection of Lao She's humorous poems and essays like this: It's not a novel, it's nothing."

“Cat City is a novel, not a true story.

"Divorce" is a novel, not an advocacy of divorce."

You can’t tell, but Mr. Lao She has quite a personality.

Fang Minghua listened with great interest.

"There were no televisions at that time, and there were very few radios. These promotional advertisements were mainly published in newspapers. Have you advertised your book in the newspaper?" asked grandma.

"I'm not too sure about this. It was run by Shengshi Book Company and I had no control over it," Fang Minghua explained.

“You can run an ad.”

Oh, my grandma was born into a wealthy family and went to a women's college when she was young. She has some modern economic thinking.

The next morning, Fang Minghua received a call from Shu Bin, who said that he was staying at the Songhua Lake Hotel on Andeli North Street and asked him to come to the hotel to discuss the signing and book sale in detail.

Fang Minghua knew the hotel Shu Bin was talking about. It was only two bus stops away from the General Political Department compound, so he told his grandparents, then left the General Political Department compound and took the bus there.

In a room on the fourth floor of the hotel, Fang Minghua met Shu Bin and a young man, Jin Hai, the deputy general manager of Shengshi Books in charge of sales.

They all wear suits and ties, and put on a tweed coat when going out - this is how successful people dress in this era.

"Minghua, I have good news for you. Hainan Publishing House agrees to put our company's name on the page where your book is published - Joint Publishing. From now on, all books published by the company will have the name of Shengshi Publishing."

This is great news!

Fang Minghua took a book from Jin Hai, which was "Skywalker"

The cover is simple and solemn, with a line of words written on it:

"Skywalker" - depicts the past and present of China's rural education at close range, paying tribute to the ordinary yet great rural heroes.

"Tian Xingjian, the gentleman continues to strengthen;

On the copyright page, Fang Minghua indeed saw the words "jointly published by Hainan Publishing House and Hainan Shengshi Book Publishing Company".

"Good, good, Shengshi Books has finally gained a reputation." Fang Minghua praised.

"Tell me about your arrangements."

"This is it," Shu Bin took the information Jin Hai handed over and handed it to Fang Minghua. "Take a look, do you have any comments?"

Fang Minghua took it and looked at it:
From 5:2 to 4: p.m. on January , the Xinhua Bookstore in Wangfujing will sign and sell books.

January 6, 2:4pm - :pm, Haidian Book City

January 7, 2:4pm - :pm, Xinhua Bookstore, Nanjing East Road, Shanghai.
All of them are Xinhua Bookstores.

That's the reality.

Although private bookstores have sprung up in various places, Xinhua Bookstore is still the largest and most influential.

Shu Bin chose the landmark Xinhua Bookstores in major cities.

"Teacher Fang, we have already contacted the managers of all Xinhua Bookstores and started promoting the event a week in advance. By the way, President Shu also placed an advertisement in the newspaper to amplify the effect." Jin Hai interrupted.

"Advertisement?" Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

"Take a look." Jin Hai took out a newspaper from his briefcase and handed it to Fang Minghua.

It is the Yanjing Evening News

On the second page, Fang Minghua indeed saw an advertisement. The design was very similar to the book cover, with an extra line of small words at the bottom: Make friends with books, Minghua will meet you.

Write down the specific location and process of the activity.

Um.
not bad.

It is much better than starting with "XX famous scholar from XX family in our country".

"If the effect is good, we also plan to publish it in newspapers in other cities." Shu Bin said with a smile.

"Mr. Shu, my grandma does seem to have a sharp eye." Fang Minghua joked.

"Your grandma?" Shu Bin was a little confused.

"It should be my wife's grandmother, a female college student in the Republic of China. She talked about writers selling books in the Republic of China period, haha."

January 5th is today. Fang Minghua did not return to the General Political Department compound at noon. He called his grandparents, had a quick meal outside with Shu Bin and other staff members, and then rushed to the Xinhua Bookstore in Wangfujing on time.

It was very cold in Yanjing in January, and the weather was not good today, with snowflakes falling heavily.

When Fang Minghua and his friends arrived by taxi, they found a long line along the street in front of the Xinhua Bookstore, and the bookstore's security personnel were maintaining order.

The manager of Xinhua Bookstore was named Liu. He was waiting at the door in person. When he saw them get out of the taxi, he hurried forward to greet them and they exchanged greetings and shook hands.

"Comrade Minghua, look at how influential you are!" Manager Liu joked, "We haven't seen such a long queue at Xinhua Bookstore for a long time."

Fang Minghua said a few humble words, and then they entered the bookstore. Manager Liu said, "It's cold today, Comrade Minghua, why don't you go upstairs and rest for a while? We still have some time."

Fang Minghua looked at the watch on his wrist: 2:15, so he said:

"Forget it, let's get started. It's not good to have so many people waiting outside in the snow."

"Okay, let's get started!"

The long and boring autograph session began.

There were men, women, young and old who came to buy books, but most of them were young people in their twenties and thirties. The vast majority of them bought the newly published book "Pioneer". Of course, there were other books as well, such as "Selected Short Stories of Ming Hua" and "Crossing the Guandong". Some of them even bought old books!

If it looks wrinkled, it means I have read it many times.

It’s just an old book, and Fang Minghua didn’t care to write his name on it.

As long as it’s not a book by another writer.

Wait, an old book, and in English?!
《Ghost lover outstanding》

"Ghost"?
Fang Minghua looked at the blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigner in some astonishment.

The foreigner said in broken Chinese that he was from New York, USA, and that he liked the book so much that he brought it with him when he came to China for further studies. He saw you signing books at a book sale in the newspaper, so he brought the book with him.

Ok
Fang Minghua signed his name in a flamboyant manner on the title page of the book.

The original plan was to end at 4:30, but there were too many people outside, so the book signing event was postponed to 5:30, when Xinhua Bookstore closed.

What the hell!

I definitely won’t do it for so long tomorrow.

Fang Minghua rubbed his aching right wrist, thinking to himself.

(End of this chapter)